Gar Wood Speedster

The Speedster is next to the much larger Baby Gar model from the 1920s as the most well-known and sought-after boat model of the Gar Wood brand, yet it was only produced fourteen times in its production period and was the smallest racing boat built before World War II by Gar Wood. It was using the standard 16 ft runabout as a base, which was introduced one year earlier in 1933.[4] The Speedster was Gar Wood's maritime version of the European sports cars, which in the early and mid 1930s raised considerable attention in the United States.[5] At the same time, the Speedster was seen by many as the smaller version of Gar Wood's famous Miss Americas,[6] his large racing boats packed with several Miller V-16 or Packard V-12 engines, with which he captured six times the world's water speed record and won several times the prestigious Gold Cup and the famous Harmsworth Trophy.[7]

The Speedster was made of African mahogany and was a single, aft cockpit racer, powered by various six-cylinder engines during its production period.[8] In its first year of production, the Speedster was offered at a price of US$1,195 (thus, more than double the price of e.g. a standard Ford V8 at that time), fitted with a standard Chrysler engine.[9] In its final year of production, the entry price of a Speedster increased to US$1,565 and US$2,045 for the Racing Speedster model, the latter featuring a canvas deck,[10] a two blade propeller and fitted with the largest engine (a 175 hp Gray Fire Ball) available.[11] In most of the fourteen original Speedsters, a six-cylinder Gray marine engine was installed, yet other engine options were available with Chrysler Crown, Gray Marine 244, Gray Fire Ball and Lycoming 223, bringing it to a maximum speed of about 45 mph (39 kn; 72 km/h).[12]

As an option in the first two years, it was possible to equip the Speedster also with a 225 Scripps V-8, but none of the original Speedsters were ever equipped with an eight-cylinder engine directly at the factory.[13] Fitting a 225 cubic inch engine into the Speedster was though important and also used by Gar Wood for marketing purposes (here, promising a top speed with the V-8 engine of up to 55 mph (48 kn; 89 km/h),[14] as in October 1934 the new 225 racing class was established by the American Power Boat Association, for which the Gar Wood Speedster could now be entered.[15] Today, the special design of this boat with aft seating is commonly known as a Gentleman's runabout or racer.[16]

Image of Ed Hancock (Plant Manager), George Joachim (Sr Forman) and Nap Lisee (Master Boat Designer) - from left to right

Ed Hancock and Charles Lussier in the Gar Wood Speedster prototype, 1934

Before the original Gar Wood factory records were rediscovered in the mid-1990s, it was assumed and widely published (among others in the Rusty Rudder Journal and Classic Boating's 1991 issue)[17] that Edward J. Noble, president of the Lifesaver Candy company, was the customer who persuaded Garfield Wood to produce a small fleet of racing boats for himself and his friends to run on the St. Lawrence river.[18] Hence, even today, many different authorities and various media source from this first research idea established in early 1991.[19] Yet, although this theory was considerably conceivable, it could never be assured and based on the old factory records, the same researchers (Anthony Mollica and Bill Northup) corrected their findings accordingly: It was more likely that the customers, who influenced Gar Wood in building the Speedster, were the Bourne and Thayer families of the Thousand Islands instead, buying three of the fourteen produced original Speedsters in 1935.[20] Although Edward J. Noble did own a Baby Gar model, he never in fact owned a Gar Wood Speedster, though his daughter, Mrs June Noble Larkin, did.[21] Thus, despite Gar Wood boats were highly prestigious (a Gar Wood boat had a price mark-up of about 1.5 to 2.5 over a comparable Chris-Craft model of same size[22]) and the brand even used their famous customers since the 1920s as a reference in their advertizing,[23] the only famous person known to have owned a Gar Wood Speedster as its very first owner was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[24]

Based on the factory production records, the first model ever produced was the prototype used by Phil Wood, Garfield Wood's brother in late July, 1934. It was powered with an 85 hp Chrysler Marine engine and it still exists today.[25] This was the boat that was used by Gar Wood for all of its sales material (showing reporter Charles Lussier and Gar Wood's Plant Manager Ed Hancock on board) and the first public appearance in a Motor Boating article in October 1934.[26] Another eight boats, including "Miss Behave" and "Miss Chief", were produced in 1935. One of these was sold to Algiers (powered with a 92 hp Chrysler) and one to Paris. Except the Algiers boat, all of these were powered with a 115 hp Gray Marine engine. Another single Speedster was produced in 1936 and delivered to Paris and onwards via Switzerland to Persia. Another four Speedsters were produced but not sold until 1939 (one Speedster, which sold to Detroit) and 1941 (two sold to Ohio, one to Kentucky). One of these four boats was powered with a 165 hp Lycoming engine, which was the largest, factory-installed engine ever fitted into an original Speedster.[27]

Of the fourteen original Speedsters, only seven are known to have survived. Of all Speedsters built, most known and researched is the history of the following Speedsters:

Miss Behave

Miss Step (with George Bourne), Miss Me (showing Alfred Severin Bourne), and Miss Chief (with AD Thayer at the helm) in the Thousand Islands, picture taken around 1935/36

In 1935, Miss Behave was one of four Speedsters originally delivered to Fitzgerald & Lee,[28] Gar Wood's highest volume dealer before WWII, based in Alexandria Bay. Miss Behave, then called in fact "Miss Step", was purchased by the Bourne and Thayer families together with Miss Me and Miss Chief and it is today exhibited at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York.[29] Miss Behave was originally powered with a 115 hp six cylinder flat head Gray marine engine, owned first by George Bourne, fourth son of Frederick Gilbert Bourne, based on Dark Island.[30] It is one of the few original survivors, donated to the museum by Mrs. June Noble Larkin.[31] Mrs. Noble Larkin, daughter of Edward J. Noble, bought the boat before 1968 together with her first husband, David Shiverick Smith, from its second owner (who also changed the name from Miss Step to Miss Behave) Fred McNally,[32] and kept the boat after the divorce in 1968, when she got remarried to Frank Yoakum Larkin.[33] Most of the reproduction speedsters built today are based on the original drawings of Miss Behave, taken during her restoration by the Turcotte Brothers in the early 1990s.[34] Miss Behave's sister boat, "Miss Me", was owned by Alfred Severin Bourne, third son of Frederick Gilbert Bourne with its fate currently still uncertain.

Miss Persia

Miss Persia (front-right) at the Chicago Boat Show, May 1936

Letter from July 1936 between Gar Wood Distributors Theobald Quinn and André Couteau about delivery and production changes of the Speedster for the Shah of Iran - written on S.S. Normandie's last day's journey with the Quinns and Miss Persia arriving back in Le Havre (North of France).

In 1936, only one Speedster was likely produced for the important Spring exhibition at the Chicago Boat Show in May that year,[40] where the Speedster model was shown for the last time at a Gar Wood fair stand due to decreasing interest by the Gar Wood dealers in the proceeding years. A few weeks later, on June 24, 1936, it was transported to New York harbor, sailing eastbound on July 1 on board the SS Normandie to Garfield Wood's French distributor Theobald M. Quinn to Paris. From here, it was delivered onwards to the Swiss Gar Wood distributor André Couteau. This boat (model 606) was purchased by Reza Shah as a present for his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who studied at Lake Geneva in Switzerland until May 1936.[41] Originally, this model was powered with a six-cylinder 125 hp Gray marine engine and, thus, was the original Speedster with the second-largest engine ever built.[42] It was re-powered in 1947 with a seldom six-cylinder 1M-245 R Packard Marine racing engine, which was used by Mohammad Reza likely until 1950, at that time being part of the Ramsar Palace inventory, located at the Caspian Sea, the summer residence of the royal family.[43] Its remains were rediscovered in 2016 and since, its hundred percent factory-correct recreation named "Miss Persia" is well documented and today part of a German collection, again powered with its rare six-cylinder Packard Marine racing engine.

Further, to the very detailed history of the above original Speedsters, the following two original Speedsters have been with their long-time owners for decades according to the records of the ACBS:[44]

Several companies and individuals based in the US and abroad produced exact copies of the Gar Wood Speedster. Commonly known as reproduction companies are the three Miss Behave Inc. Speedsters built by Rogers Marina in Alexandria Bay[45] in 1963,[46] fifteen Wellington versions in the 1980s built in Wilson, NY, and the six 16 ft replicas of the Turcotte Brothers based in Watervliet, NY, during the 1990s.

Image of a Universal 188hp V-8 engine used by Miss Behave Inc. of Rogers Marina for the three reproduction Speedsters built.

1963 Miss Behave Inc. Speedster with David Roger Sr. at helm - notice the "Miss Behave" logo on the side, the additional air intake scoops on the engine hatches, the non-original bow light and the wrong windshield brackets used.

Main differences between the above three small reproduction series can be found in the quality of reproduction, the engines installed and the original Speedster that served as a base: While both the Miss Behave Inc. and Turcotte Brothers' Speedsters were based on the original Miss Behave, the Wellington versions were based on Nostalgia. Further, while the three Miss Behave Inc. Speedsters used general available hardware, the Turcotte and Wellington versions used both exact copies of the original Speedsters' hardware. Also, the Wellington versions were all featuring a fiberglass bottom, sides and transom, marking the biggest difference to the original Speedsters.[47] Finally, the craftsmen behind Miss Behave Inc., David Rogers Sr. and Jr., chose to equip all three Speedsters with a 188hp Universal "Little King" V-8 engine[48] supplied by Universal Motor Company based in Oskosh, Wis.. Contrastingly, the Wellington Speedsters featured a Crusader Marine V-6 engine with 165hp only, while four Turcotte Speedsters were delivered with V-6 and two more with V-8 marine engines.

• Garfield Wood

• Antique Boat Museum
• Official Gar Wood Boats Society - Info on Miss Behave
• German Gar Wood Speedster Collection - Info on Miss Persia
• New York Heritage Research Portal Gar Wood Collection
• The Antique & Classic Boat Society