I agree with Hollis on this one, Cool boat's but........

And yes I do believe that he knew he was building boats for drug runners, heck that's why the older Cig.'s have such big deck hatch's, so they could put a whole bale of pot through them!!!!!

RiverGirl,
Nice post, I agree with everything you brought up. Sounds like you are more informed than many on this board regarding the history of our sport. Nice to see that you're into this stuff.

Now don't take this the wrong way RiverGirl but,,,,,, I think its way-cool that a lady is as into this stuff as much as you are, most just are not. (you are a woman, right??)

It would be nice to hear more of what you have to say:cool:

Dave

I ranted and raved the name Don Aronow for years. Man if there was anybody that I wanted to be like it was him. I've been in his office and even used his bathroom. I couldn't help but poke my head in his HUGE black marble shower and check out the secret exit door. The more I found about Mr Aronow and the more business deals I did in the high performance boat market my attitude changed. Once I started getting the short end of the stick on a few deals I kinda resented the fact that the guy I worshiped was just like the people shorting me. Does this make any sense? Anyway yea he was brilliant , a great racer and a jump started the high performance boating industry but as a person with morales and a honest business person - NO WAY . I guess the part that really get's me is sleeping with everybody's wives. Man that sucks and that's one game I'm not interested in - BH

CROOK...as everybody was back then!!!

This bit confuses me, ..It takes two to Tango!
If someones wife sleeps with someone else, she is betraying her husband way more than the guy she's cheeting with is, SHE has an agreement (signed) with him stating she would be true to him, and one would also asume there would be more than just a little moral obligation towards her own husband too.
If you're worried your wife may sleep with some cool guy that shows interest, change ya wife, don't blame the cool guy, he ow's you jack ****.

It looks like I was high bidder on the book Speed Kills on eBay. I have been wanting to get this book for a while but never ordered it. Looks like I'll get the chance to read it now.

joker what was your take on blue thunder (book) theories?

The boat in post 35 is a 45 footer that was built after Don Died, Don's wife sold the company to a company from Atlanta called Invest-Corp, they also owned Gucci hence the building of what was known as the" Gucci Boat". The president of Aronow was Gary Garbrecht and production manager was Byng Goode. The designer was Rob Brady who was the one who designed the Cigarette revolution. The molds for the 37 and 45 were sold to Magic. And no that is not Ralph Martin, and I cannot think of his last name even though I worked with him for a couple of years.

great post Geo, thanks for the info.

I just remembered its Ralph Johnson

dreamer:

I thought the Blue Thunder book had some pretty accurate findings. I gotta admit once I started reading the book I couldn't put it down. I was at the Cigarette plant 4 times in the Spring of 2002 and that was the same time I was reading the book. I really didn't form my complete opinion on Mr Aronow until I talked to some of the people that did business w/ him. Notice I call him Mr. Aronow because there is still some respect there. I guess the other thing that bothered me was how George Bush idolized the man and was a big fan of his. Mr Aronow worked that deal beautifully and sold the govt all those slow - undependable cats to chase the thugs , then turned around and sold company to Kramer. Man talk about balls , he had em and liked to show em ! BH

I have a copy of spped kills and am looking for blue thunder. And any other documentation on Mr. Aronow. The guy did a lot for offshore boats, and his business deals are shady. My dad had a 77 cigarette mistress and the cabin was from the factory "race" or empty with a toilet which whn flushed would open a 6" hole in the hull and sink the boat. The hatch was 2' x 2'. If anyone wants to borrow speed kills I will be willing to mail it whenever I get back to Texas.

Ernie

Yea Mike I did the same thing. I crawled into the mold graveyard and saw all the old tooling laying everywhere. I even tried to go have lunch at Fort Apache' Bar and it had been close for 10 years - haha. BH

Like these

#2

#3

#4

speed kills
 

Hey ernie,
I'd love to borrow your copy of SpeedKills if you would. I do not have a copy of blue thunder to swap with you though :( I'll keep looking for one. Let me know, I'm a quick reader ... unlike my typing skills lol.

TIA (I tried to PM you .. but mail box is full)

Donzi....back in the day............

Maltese Magnum...........

History is history.
If he slept with someones wife she was a whore, many out there, that is for sure, like used Bayliners..

He was a part of powerboat history, no doubt.
I have read all 3 books, he certainly was no angel, not many successful business men are.
And I am okay with all that! :)
Bryan

(lucky to own a personal piece of jewelry of his!)

Wish I had the opportunity to have met the man......

Ok......and what might that be if I may be so bold?????

SPITFIRE, I will do my best to recall the facts, I have the original documents in the bank box from the 2nd hand seller.
Of course history gets twisted, but I am a believer in some things, especially when you have them.
Story; I guess he order a specially made Donzi logo 14K Gold necklaces/pendant, and three silver ones, and he never paid the bill, after ordering them, then he wanted to order a new Rolex and had to pay the bill for it and the gold pendant to complete the transaction, it had been on Ebay several years by a guy who bought a gold shop in Fla and who knew Don.
I finally bought it year before last. It was mint and of all the Donzi/Cig folks we know said it is to be the only one ever seen.
Being the optimist I believe, who else would have ordered such an item, the price was reasonable too after sitting for years.
Bryan
(unsure of how many wives wore it!)
Mine does now...

Well I might as well tell you the story. My mom and her 1st husband lived in N. Miami in the early 80's. She was a waitress at Vinny's , a popular Iitalian restaurant in Miami. That is where she met Mr Aronow and wound up being romanced by him. Well one thing led to another and use your imagination. My mom and her 1st husband divorced and she moved to Georgia. I was born exactly 9 months after she moved here. My mom married a great guy while she was pregnant with me and they are still married now. There ya have it! BH

So you are the missing Aronow "love child"???? WOW!b Thats heavy

This was from way before the 80's.
Thanks for sharing the data, share more.

Bryan

Brian.........are you saying that Don is in fact your father??? Or are you saying that Don broke up your mom's first marriage..............or both.....Rich

One of us is drinking too much...
I know who my father is.
I just bought a piece of Don's jewerly collection.
Damn, let me refill my glass, SpitFire share more data, glad it was a happy ending.
Bryan

(Bryan with a Y )

I could never really figure out why my mom got so upset when I started racing. I just found alot of this out last year (from my aunt) and it was a big shock to me. I'm 6'4 brn hair and eyes and my mom refuses to talk about it. My parents hate the racing thing and now I'm learning why. My cousins are coming up from Miami Christmas and I'm going to pick their brain. BH

OK, woke the wife, I am now in the dog house!
Joker, great data, thanks for sharing it...
I will be watching this thread.
Bryan Tuvell
HRPA

Joker, if you don`t mind me asking...How old are you?

Early 80`s?? are you 20-23 yrs old?

..or are you messing with us?:eek:

What a load of doo doo! That bauble is the Chisholm/Donzi emblem. It was plagiarized from the town symbol of a small town in Brittany, as I recall. Aronow would would never have been within 50 feet of it! Real men would have a Mercedes looking propellor around their wench's neck!

Thanks for clearing that up for us Brownie.
Bryan

YOU'VE BEEN X'D by THE JOKER - hahahahaha.

Hey ya gotta admit it sounded pretty good - my girlfriend dared me to do that . BH

The Joker huh........should be the Bull $hitter.........;)

all I gotta say if it wasn't for the likes of Don we all be riding in bayliners and talking on the deck boat boards.

true super hereos are always flawed a little that's what makes them more appealing to the average Joe
Babe Ruth was no saint, Mike Jordan has his demons,
doesn't mean they are not admired any less.

Matty
womenizing, going fast,gambling..
those are a few of my favorite things....:p

Yes Don had allot of influence on the beginning of offshore in the US. But does anyone really believe offshore boats wouldn't exist in the US with out him? Surely there where and are others that designed and built boats before or during his era???

Brian

The missing Aronow "love child"... ahahahahahah...:p
What a load of doo doo.....

My thoughts exactly .. Brownie :D

ThirdBird....
The last time I checked, I was a female.:rolleyes:


:D :p