The Story Of Tru-Jen and the Masport Cup

[bry3500]

Ok..not exactly motorsport, but it's related and a great story.
Does anyone know the origins of the Ferrari V12 that powered Frank Gatland's Mystic Miss
http://www.suha.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:the-story-of-tru-jen&catid=43:unlimiteds-downunder-&Itemid=71

[bry3500]

In July 1968 Knight set a World Speed Record on the Christchurch Estuary. His attention then turned to the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand powerboat racing, the Masport Cup. “Road Runner”, another Knight creation fitted with a Ford V8 engine sourced from circuit racer Paul Fahey....

[pallmall]

Oh, it is certainly motorsport. Used to go to all the races at Karapiro and Flat Rock and a few other places through the mid sixties. Mystic Miss with the Ferrari engine was by favourite.

[bob homewood]

Could you imagine trying to have a race at Flat Rock ,in these times.or Bottle Top Bay

[bry3500]

Nelson speedboat driver Doug Cameron stands beside the burnt-out wreck of the once-proud hydroplane, 'Miss Print IV.' The short life of the former national speed record holder (149mph at Lake Rotoiti in November, 1971) ended in flames in the same shed in which Doug spent thousands of hours building her. He had been working on the boat but went home leaving a battery charger connected. He thinks this could be the only cause of the blaze. A spark might have ignited the two or three gallons of fuel in the craft's tanks. Worth about $16,000, 'Miss Print IV' was insured for $10,000. Doug's previous boat, 'Miss Print III,' disintegrated when racing on Lake Karapiro in 1970, and Cameron broke his neck.
"That's it," he said, as he viewed the remains of 'Miss Print IV." "I've finished with speedboat racing."

[woody]

Peters boat that set the world record was Bel Air, powered by a Ford V6. Latimer Lodge that Peter owned was destroyed in the earthquake. Has been demolished and ready to build a new hotel.

[bry3500]

Lake Rotoiti Nelson !960s

[bry3500]

Lake Rotoiti cont'd

[bry3500]

[video=youtube;MJIBJoleaNo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJIBJoleaNo&feature=related[/video][video=youtube;9Vm3hDcV1UU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vm3hDcV1UU[/video]

[bry3500]

[video=youtube;04Reh5w8XIQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Reh5w8XIQ&feature=related[/video]

[David McKinney]

Ok..not exactly motorsport, but it's related and a great story.
Does anyone know the origins of the Ferrari V12 that powered Frank Gatland's Mystic Miss
http://www.suha.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:the-story-of-tru-jen&catid=43:unlimiteds-downunder-&Itemid=71

I've got a note of it somewhere. It was specially imported (ie, not removed from an NZ racing car), either from the factory or from Luigi Chinetti in New York. I think it might have been a 410 (4.9 litres) but wouldn't swear to it

[bry3500]

I've got a note of it somewhere. It was specially imported (ie, not removed from an NZ racing car), either from the factory or from Luigi Chinetti in New York. I think it might have been a 410 (4.9 litres) but wouldn't swear to it

David - i was wondering ,initially, if it had something to do with the Morrari , as they appeared about the same time,,,but of course the Squalo was a V8 , not a V12,, I read somewhere that it was a 3.5 litre engine. Mystic Miss still survives and is in NSW somewhere, but now powered by a Chevy.

[pallmall]

Squalo was a 4.

[bry3500]

cheers Pall Mall

[bob homewood]

I've got a note of it somewhere. It was specially imported (ie, not removed from an NZ racing car), either from the factory or from Luigi Chinetti in New York. I think it might have been a 410 (4.9 litres) but wouldn't swear to it

David ,that is how it was told to me quite some time ago ,my informant who was very close to it at that time ,unfortunately has passed away in the last couple of years ,Frank Gatland was another "local " in our area and at one time he was also prominent in NZ gliding

[David McKinney]

Sounds as if your source might be the same as mine, Bob
Did Bill Stephenson (the man who built Pukekohe) have something to so with Mystic Miss?

[Neville Milne]

It seems to me, to be hard to think of 'Tru Jen' and the Masport Cup, without remembering Southward's 'Red Head'.
Certainly, Southward dominated the Masport Cup for a decade, as a fair and generous competitor.
Many of the race boats ( and cars) of that era, were built using surplus WWll materials, an area in which Len Southward ( later 'Sir' Leonard ) was very familiar. Along with Gillies and some others, Southward purchased tons and tons of surplus war materials...especially aircraft engines, which he would dismantle to recover scarce and precious metals....these providing the wherwithal to develop his first attempt at a seamless tube manufacturing machine.
The time I first met him, all of his rather random and eclectic collection of vintage ephemera was stored in an adjunct to a factory in the Petone area. he had approached the company I worked for to see if we could assist with providing or manufacturing replacement big end bearings for the GM-Allison V-1710 that resided in Red Head.
We could not, but we did look at machining the existing bearings. pinning them to the rods and then using inserts from, ISTR, a Ford Thames Trader Diesel. Finally, I believe, we signed an authorization in order that he could secure an Import Lic. to procure the correct replacements. I don't think, though, it was his intention to ever actually race Red Head again....possible he wanted to have the engine as a 'runner' for display purposes.
BTW..as I recall Bill Stevenson and/or his company, was closely associated with Slip Ray and Mystic Miss...and probably others since then.

Apologies for the digression(s)
neville Milne

[Rod Grimwood]

David: Bill Stephenson had a couple of other boats named the same that raced in Offshore. Bills late grandson Paul raced one of them before his untimely death from Meningococcal C which he contracted from a scrape while playing a pre season rugby game. Bill Stephenson, There is a man who sure put alot into alot of different areas, and was always a very approachable gentleman to have a chat with.

[pallmall]

Sounds as if your source might be the same as mine, Bob
Did Bill Stephenson (the man who built Pukekohe) have something to so with Mystic Miss?

Yes, but it is Stevenson.

[Rod Grimwood]

just picked that up, Da, Yea should know better