that is a bit of irony. who woulda figured breaking and entering into the old factory would yield such a find:eek: :D :D

I will post a thing or two more whne i have time of what we ended up getting from the plant

Cool pictures Marc!!! Thanks for posting them. It was nice meeting you and your beautiful girlfriend Cherie.:)

Craig

lol

Late in the day on Saturday, I took some friends over to 188th street because they hadnt been there in over 2 years . . they gasped when we rounded the corner.

:(

:cool: cool stuff Boatme .... :D ;)

((See if you find my future boat order @ the 2005 time frame! lol))

That's awesome, Just think of what happened behind them walls in past years :)

SO!!! what did you take?????

I gave myself an unguided tour a couple of times over the last week.

Very interesting to say the least.Very sad it has to go.

Boatme, you did not even put a dent in all the good stuff;) Thanks for leaving the rest behind.

This pic's right in front of the office. Date's on the pic

Another....... 38...Seahawk 540's #3's

Anyone remember this one? I think it was the 1st poker run boat from cig. My wife next to it. She really liked this one but it was'nt for sale.

Another of Seahawk

Scott Layman of Cigarette and my wife tryin to make a deal on this 35 cafe with 500's & SSMIII's. WOW!!! 127K NEW!!! Seemed like too much money, did'nt do it.

500 hawks in the cafe

# 3's on the cafe

This 38 is still around and in the same condition as when it was new. It's here on lake Michigan and Jimmy runs it in our COPS organization here out of Chicago.

Mike.......You're correct about the stairs, they did go up to Dons office. Unfortunatly, if you look at the date on the pics, you'll see they were taken only days after Don was killed, and we (no one) was allowed up there as it was LOCKED.

I did read the books, they are 75% bull$hit. They were written to make money and tell the unknowing what they expected to hear. Although, there is some truth to some of it, just not as much as most people now believe.

The spot where I am standing, taking this pic, is where Dons car was stopped when he was shot. This was his last view through his winshield.

This is the way it used to be, the good ol days. I dont know if the date on the pic is readable. 188th ave entrance, some things just dont change for the better.

Next to the main office. This is right where that round door is, to the port side of the boat.

Mike: Dons original office, and the one I think you were referring to, was on the second floor of the Cigs main office. I can't say for sure, but from the way everyone there talked, it sure seemed like Don used this room for his own personal use. (business? entertainment? pleasure? .......minds wander). This was on the right (south) side of the street.

At that time, Cigarette had 4 buildings. Scott Layman took us for a full day tour through everything, all the buildings. I only wish I had taken pics of EVERYTHING. My wife kept sayin, put that camera away, you look like a tourist. If we could only go back in time.

#52
 

Frank,

That was Ralph Martin's and Norval Stahly's 38 Cigarette ' The Dealer ' that they raced and ran some of their poker runs in. They where partners together in Everglades Marina at the time.

Hey Frank,
Post 52

I was really surprised to see your post about this boat.
This is the "Light My Fire" CIG that is out of the basin at Michigan City.
It belongs to a friend of mine from Illinois.
It was in one of the buildings at Doyne's until the water level shrank.

Dennis

Re: #52
 

Jamie..... You must've been around awhile. I know not too many people on this board, I'm talkin about the younger crowd, would've known that.
At that time Everglades had 2 locations. The bigger one was in Ft Lauderdale.
Do you remember when Norval and the Martins had their fallin out? Supossedly over some money matters and some theft. Mid 90's. Who knows, there's always 2 sides to every story, and all I heard was Stahlys version. It might of all been bull$hit anyway.
In about fall of I think 97 or it might have been 98, Norval hired my friend Jeff Riss to take over the business when the Martins had left. Norval had a home here in Bloomington Ill among many others. Jeff was the manager, rigger, engine builder and did most all the high perf work on most of the boats that went through there. He was there till Norval died and the family decided to sell the business within the next year. He then went to K/E and built engines for them until 01 when he moved back to the Chicago area and started his own full service performance marine business. The business is now called RPM ( Riss Performance Marine).They're an hour from Chicago, in Ransom Ill right by Seneca Ill. (815-509-0927 & 509-0929).

A real shame that Everglades is now gone (demolished). It was like one of the last cool high perf marine places left on the water. Here's a pic of Jeff at Everglades with a 35 Fountain that he completely redid after the owner sank the boat. New EVERYTHING!!!

Another of the new blower engs

Dennis...... did'nt know that boat was still around, let alone in our backyard. Call me........ we need to talk.
Frank

some more boats at the Cig plant south side of street.

I haven't seen those boats in many years. Craig Barrie. A change order we did that almost everyday. cb

10X-

Is the boat in post #58 a triple bolster boat?

LS JR.

Don's last office on the Cigarette property was on the north side of the street (with round top door) next to layup room. Don occupied that office for about a year after selling Cigarette in late 1981. It was two floors.

I believe Alan Brown (Brownie) occupied the offices afterward for awhile when designing a new line of boats for Cigarette.

Southside building upstairs was built out in 1981/82 by Jerry Jacoby with entertainment room and guest bedroom. Two offices were downstairs.

Later the upstairs was rebuilt to house Cigarette Offices. Craig Barrie occupied the South East office for many years.

I believe the lower two offices were rebuilt as the Cigarette Clothing Store.

Don never occupied the southside offices.

AC

#52 The Dealer
 

Frank,

I heard a little of both sides, but mainly heard Norval's side of the story about the separation with Ralph . . they had split up in 1996 I think. I bought my Cigarette there in August 1995 and Ralph was still there at that time. I went to work as a broker there in August 1997 and Ralph was long gone, already having established Martin Marine. I dont remember your friend Jeff Riss, but I left in June 1998. I didnt realize that Louise had finally sold the properly . . I had heard that a developer was chomping at the bit to buy the property to put up some high dollar condo's . . I'm sad now to know that its been bulldozed . . no more 188th, no more Everglades . . damn, that place was the ORIGINAL and ONLY place to buy a powerful offshore for a long, long time starting way back in the late 70's.

You and I met briefly at the Chicago C.O.P.S. dinner party a few weeks back . . . I was there with my girlfriend Gail, a blonde whom you spoke with also . . ironically, I was wearing an Everglades Marina shirt that night :)

AC......You could be very correct on that. It has been some time since I've been there to remember what we're discussin. My wife & I were there for about 3 weeks lookin to buy another boat, not just at Cig but through alot of so. Fla. We got there about 1 week after Don was shot. I asked ALOT of questions then, and found that the more I asked, the less people wanted to talk to me. Everyone was real uptight. I just don't remember any offices being on the north side of 188th, just the buildings where the boats were molded, rigged, and assembled.
Never the less, I was like a kid in a candy store goin from building to building trying to enjoy what I was experiencing. NOTHIN like that up here in Chgo.
BTW... here's a pic of the Cig we had then. 35 flatdeck with Hawk 540/575hp nat asp engs, Stellings, SSMIII's, on a good day it would see 78-79 down there.

Jamie.... Now I remember who you are when you mentioned the shirt. We also remember talkin to Gail, but could'nt figure out who she was with.
It must've been oct 98 that Jeff moved down there to work, cause it was right before the pheasant hunting season here and he and I hunted all of his dads farms every week till 98 when he was gone.
We were trying to buy Everglades in Jan 01, with a couple of BIG $$$$$ investors, for around 2.5 mil when all of a sudden some Greek guy named Gus, from Miami who owned a bunch of floating casinos, heard about it and offered her 6.1!!!!!!!. During the 3 wks that we were down there in Feb 01, one morning we got a ph call and was told that Gus was shot to death in his BMW at a stop light just west of Everglades at I believe A1A. So much for his 6.1. But now they wanted ridiculas money and laughed at 2.5 so we bailed. Heard Stewy was renting or leasing the place for somethin to do with his Fla poker run club. Last fall Jeff was down there delivering a boat and said nothin left but piles of debre.

Does the backround in this pic bring back memories?

Jamie....... Are you's goin to the COPS dinner party in Grand Rapids Mich on March 6th? We're still decidin between that or a pheasants forever banquet in La Salle Co.
Was this 42 Fountain there when you were there in 97. Norval still owned it when he died in 00. It had staggered, I believe 900sc's and #6's in it then. We took that one out alot, and maannnn did it ROCK. was 1 of many S/C boats I ran that made me a believer out of supercharged engs.
Have many interesting stories of what went on there. Send me a pm and we'll exchange #'s
Frank

Gus was the guy that started the Mr Submarine sub sandwich chains down there. Made a killing ( no pun intended ) when he sold out.

Stu was there for a while . . has a new place up in Pompano now.

I believe it was back then, but I cant say for sure now as I hav'nt seen it for a long time. From what I remember, it was a 3 man bolster with a back seat, a cabin, and interior, and was not staggered eng setup.

Yeah....... you're 100% correct!!!! I still have alot of the newspaper articles from the days after he was killed. You have a VERY good memory!!!!!

great thread:D

Frank,

we probably wont make the C.O.P.S. Grand Rapids event unless some of our other plans change. Looks to be huge though ! 70 plus people and counting.

Yeah, that red/white 42 Lightning was there . . staggered Merc SC800's and wet 6's . . . had an engine alignment / stringer issue and it never ran to its true potential . . it WAS an all red boat, with gold leaf trim, and they added the white flame job and the all white interior to it because they had had the boat there for sale for so long they wanted people to think it was a different boat . . it didnt work. . . I have some great ariel shots of that boat, with that paint job, along with Norvals all red 47 CS Lightning with the triple 525's & 3A's from the Easter 1997 Poker Run . . .

I'll PM and call ya.

Yep, 35 Flat Deck is still to this day pretty hard to beat for all around fun. Handles easy around the dock, runs pretty good in the rough, and was built not to fall apart.

AC

You got it!!! Had no things comin loose issues with it. That boat took the rough stuff like a hot knife goin through butter. Now lookin back..... I kinda miss it.
Pretty easy to work on too.