Don Aronow the man , myth , and legend
 

looks like all that good reading :rolleyes: in the kramer thread is dieing down so i thought ide start a thread about the victim.



what kind of man was he?
who here actually got to meet him?

ide like to learn more about him and i cant think of a better source then oso

I just bought a copy of BLUE THUNDER off EBAY. Its a pretty rare book I guess, but looks to be some interesting reading about Don.

Re: Don Aronow the man , myth , and legend
 

Cmon bro! He was a racin fool.

I did alot of research and used to worship this guy until I found out the truth about him. Big Time womanizer and would screw your wife if you turned your back. He also had to get the better end of any business deal. I met a guy that worked for him for years and he told me several deals that Don screwed him on. As a business person I would not of liked him and in my opinion just another crook with a high performance boating EGO! He should of paid Myer Lansky that money back and never sold the gov't cat contract to Ben. He might be around today! BH

If you want to know about him read "Speed Kills' and "The King of Thunderboat Row". Those have much more facts than "blue Thunder". "Speed Kill" is by far the most factual of the three. "The King of Thunderboat Row" has great pictures and is a great coffee table book. Blue thunder I did not like nor even gave any credibility to. It is more like a conspiracy theory.

About Racing: He still is the only racer to launch off of a wave and hit the bottom of a helicopter which since made the rule to regulate the height of them today when flying. He destroyed more boats in his racing career than anyone I can think of all for the glory of winning. Back then it was like gladiators going boat racing. Very few boats would even make it through the race because of such extreme conditions. The good old days.

blue thunder.......

another

Met him many a times when I was young.
I think the last time was when I was 13-14...
What a character.

I personally thought Blue Thunder had a lot more going for it than did Speed Kills.....In any case I thought it was a better read.......

As for the "womanizer" stuff: So what! Cripes, even the president did that!!!!

As for getting the "better end of any business deal": Thats what you're supposed to do in a business deal!! He was just smarted than the rest of doped-up idiots he was dealing with.

If you look at his accomplishments you can only come to one conclusion,,,,, this guy was good at what he did. That includes racing. Aronow raced when it was truely "off-shore" racing, not this closed circuit, calm water, pickle-fork bull**** they run today. He ran with no helmet, no canopy, no race suit, no nothing. And he won!!! He did not only win because his boats were fast and strong but because HE was strong. Those were races of attrition and not just mechanical attrition but human attrition.

He was a cool and charismatic man. He knew his business better than anyone else, period. No one could compete with his product success (that's why they bought his companies). Thats the amazing part of his success; He'd sell a successful company then start another and be right back on top again,,,,,, absolutley amazing and unequalled,,,,,,,, to this day.

So, don't be looking for some saint within his soul, don't look for some ethical leader, don't look for what YOU might think makes him a great guy. Personally, I think he was as cool as they come. If a few wives strayed from home to be with "The Don", well, its not like he raped them. They were looking for it just like he was. And, if a few guys got "screwed" in a business deal, tough s**t. Its a nasty world out there and the smart tough guys usually win.

Don Aronow was a smart tough guy!!! I wish he was still with us. (I wish John Lennon was here too)

Re: Re: Don Aronow the man , myth , and legend
 

cigracer38, Where did you get that pic?

Nice Post Third Bird..........most excellent!!

Re: Re: Re: Don Aronow the man , myth , and legend
 

I have it on my wall. You can order copies from his son. I will find the address and post it.

I agree Spitfire, great post.

the guy was an animal, I wish I could have met him.

Kurt

3rd Bird:

The gentleman that told me about the screwy deals builds some pretty good after market stuff these days , I talked to him in detail in Daytona this year. No your not supposed to screw people on business deals and what if he screwed your wife? He was a snake to say the least. I've always hated people that try and screw your gal when you turn your back , you could wind up dead that way - hmmmmmmm. He also renigged on his no compete contracts. Great racer yes as a person , well that is questionable. BH

Joker, I don`t live my life that way but he sure had some charisma.

Joker,
If he'd screwed my wife, I wouldn't let her wash it off!!!!!:D :D :D

Yea he had a way of getting what he wanted. I'd like to see a thread titled " The real men / women of Cigarette" as in the 2nd & 3rd generation laminaters & craftsmen from Columbia / Cuba( boat builders that actually do the work). They are my heroes! BH

I had a brief encounter with Don Aronow in 1986.
Self confidence, rugged good looks and a real salesman.

Whatever you want to believe, he was intentionally murdered. Most people aren't intentionally murdered for nothing. Everyone hates Ben for running drugs(in ships not boats though). Don knowingly supplied smugglers with boats custom built for drug running. Where do you draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable???

When it is legal or illegal.

Its called murder......

Re: Re: Re: Re: Don Aronow the man , myth , and legend
 

If anybody can help me figure out why everytime I scan a picture (using MGI photosuite) it defaults to a bitmap and then when I save it as a jpg, it accepts it, But when I try to upload to OSO it is an invalid file:confused: I have plenty of those pictures from that race that I can scan and post.

i'm with you thirdbird. Go to bed Joker

Twin Screws:

You've always been a S H I T H E A D. Go play with your virtual Cig - BH

Some people in Offshore Powerboating were jealous of Don Aronows larger than life status. Ben Kramer was one of them. Well, Ben is incarcerated. Don is dead. But, the jealousy emotion is still evident.

Have you got full size versions of these pics? If so, would you e-mail em to me please? One of my favorite boats. Yeah yeah, heavy n slow, but in 5 - 7' seas they rock!! :) :) :)

Scott B

Blue Thunder is a must read if your into this stuff - BH

I am sorry but that cat looks like a-s-s. Cig's and Apaches are cool but the cat thing is bad. I wish he was still around because I am sure he would have thrown money at the cat boats till he got it right.

"Aronow knowingly supplied boats custom built for drug running"????????

I've read everything there is to read on Don Aronow, I never read that. He built boats to customer specs, of course. But what are you saying, he built special little dope boxes in the bildge??? Come on!! Thats just plain BS! Where the heck did you dig that little tidbit up?

In any event, even if he did build boats with special little dope boxes in the bildge (which I'm sure he did not), why not?!?!? He was a custom boat builder. If I were him and someone walked in my office to order a boat with "strange compartments" and then plunked 300k in cash on my desk,,,,,,,, you know what I'd be telling the layup boys? "Get at it boys and I want those funny little compartments just like the customer ordered".

I mean really now, is Don the bad guy? The government wants this and the other guys want that,,,,,,, just build it and take the money. His place was not to be the righteous, do-gooder, I-build-only-pure-boats, I'm-going-to-have-to-turn-you-in-to-George Senior boat builder!!!!!

He built the best s$$t on the market at the time.

I suppose I'm ranting here but,,,,, I really get irrated when people start judging character like it really matters for a boat builder. He built good friggin' boats and he sold them, lots of them. If you want puritans, go to church,,,,,,,,, oh wait, I forgot. They all ream little boys colens out!!:mad:

Yes ThirdBird, the customer is always right!

ttt

Nice Picture of Ralphy running the boat in post #7

Aronow 47 I believe.......

another......

Ralph????? ....Martin??

Hey SpitFire ... that almost looks like a Magic....;)

I think some are forgetting he is why we have some of the best Performance Boats on the Market today.
Cigarette, Magnum, Formula, and many more.

I think he deserves some respect, regardless.
Everyone involved in the industry back then,
good or bad deserves credit.
The industry wouldn’t have the intriguing history without them. We woudn’t have the Thunder Boat Row, or get to experience the “Good Ol' days”
of how Performance Boating came about.
Good or Bad!

I’m just sorry that I didn’t have the opportunity to meet him!

I am VERY grateful that I have had the opportunity to meet many that were involved.
And, that I was able to experience the Thunder Boat Row, (Gasoline Alley) before it was destroyed.
I wish them all well…..

Happy Holidays!
Michelle.:)

some say he was a very shroud business man...

ina good way.. he would go out and get the best of the best.. lay-up man.. rigger.. and paint men to work on his boats..

Hi Michelle.....I agree....It is a very intriguing history to say the least....I am surprised that Hollywood hasn't capitalized on it yet....Hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year......Rich