1946 Gold Cup Remembered

By Fred Farley - Unlimited Hydroplane Historian

After time-out for World War II, Gold Cup racing resumed in 1946 with a rejuvenated format in evidence.

The 732 cubic inch piston limitation had been abolished. This was necessary because there were no suitable engines being manufactured in the sizes prescribed by the then-current rules.

And virtually all hull restrictions were abandoned. For the first time since 1921, the Gold Cup was truly a wide-open race. From 1946 to 1950, any APBA inboard hydroplane over 10 feet in length with internal combustion power could theoretically participate.

This was the genesis of the modern Unlimited Class.

The term "Unlimited" applied specifically to inboard cubic inch piston displacement size--not hull size. Jet engines and outboard motors were not allowed.

Seventeen operating boats comprised the largest starting field in Gold Cup history in 1946. Two of these were 135 Cubic Inch Class hydroplanes; ten were 225s and only five were out-and-out Gold Cup boats. Twelve of the seventeen starters fell victims to mechanical difficulties during the qualifying heats (1-A and 1-B). This left a field of five to carry on through the final two heats.

When 1939-41 Gold Cup winner Guy Simmons first advertised his defending champion MY SIN for sale, he had a much higher dollar figure in mind. Simmons eventually sold the G-13 to bandleader Guy Lombardo for a much lower price because he wanted Lombardo to have it. Lombardo had been a successful 225 Cubic Inch Class pilot before the war.

The race for which MY SIN/TEMPO VI is best remembered is the 1946 Gold Cup. This was the first major Unlimited event to be run after the war.

TEMPO VI used the same Miller engine set-up that had worked so well for Simmons before the war. (In later years, an Allison was substituted.)

Lombardo had his hands full on race day. Indeed, Dan Arena in the new Allison-powered three-pointer, MISS GOLDEN GATE III, made TEMPO VI work for it.

But the old MY SIN would not be denied. She became the first boat since EL LAGARTO (in 1935) to win three Gold Cups. And, in so doing, TEMPO VI broke the long-standing Gold Cup heat record of 70.412, set in 1920 on a 5-mile course by Gar Wood in the Liberty-powered MISS AMERICA I, with a mark of 70.890 for the 30-mile distance on a 3-mile course.

In 1920, Lombardo had been a youthful witness when Wood set the record. Now, twenty-six years later, the positions were reversed. The cup was presented to Guy in 1946 by the great Gar himself.

MISS GOLDEN GATE III--soon to be renamed MISS GREAT LAKES by new owner Albin Fallon--is one of the most significant boats in the annals of Gold Cup racing. MISS GOLDEN GATE III failed to finish the 1946 race but raised the Gold Cup lap record to over 77 miles per hour.

More importantly, she was the first boat to be built with an Allison engine in mind. MISS GREAT LAKES was likewise the first to win a race (the 1946 President’s Cup) with a modern power source and did so in record time.

At 26-1/2 feet in length, MISS GREAT LAKES is now considered rather short by today’s standards. But in 1946, she was the biggest boat out there at a time when most Gold Cup contenders measured closer to 20 feet.

As it turned out, the craft wasn’t large enough to handle all that horsepower. Consequently, she was a wild rider. As a test bed for the war surplus Allison, she served her purpose well. Following and as a result of MISS GREAT LAKES, the accepted configuration for post-war piston-powered Unlimiteds has been more in the 28 to 30-foot range.

The modern era of Unlimited hydroplane racing began with the 1946 Gold Cup. MISS GOLDEN GATE III used a substantially stock 1710-cubic inch Allison, salvaged from a P-38 fighter plane. The engine was installed aircraft-style in the boat, as opposed to the present day practice of reversing the engine for use in a hydroplane.

In the years to come, “the good old Allison” would become to Unlimited racing what the Offenhauser is to Indianapolis.

Interestingly enough, the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine made its debut at the same time as the Allison. Also in the pits at Detroit in 1946 was the MISS WINDSOR, a step hydroplane that never could seem to answer the starter’s gun but served to introduce “the mighty Merlin” to the racing world.

MISS GOLDEN GATE III arrived in the Motor City virtually untested. With Dan Arena at the wheel and his brother Gene Arena along side as riding mechanic, the yellow-painted three-pointer ran conservatively in the first two 30-mile heats.

Going into the final round, the Arena team had 600 points for two second-place finishes. This compared to 800 points for the favored TEMPO VI and Lombardo, who had the fastest lap of the day at 73.294. (This compared to the previous high of 72.707 set by ALAGI in 1938.)

For the Third Heat, Dan and Gene decided to go for broke and see what the Allison engine could really do.

With the world watching, MISS GOLDEN GATE III thundered into the lead, leaving TEMPO VI, BUCKEYE BABY, BLITZ II, and ALJO V far astern. ABC-TV announcer Don Dunphy excitedly described the action as Dan Arena kept going faster and faster, breaking Lombardo’s mark on every lap and setting a new Gold Cup record of 77.911 miles per hour in the process.

As the Arenas lengthened their lead on that historic September 2, reaching straightaway speeds of 100 miles per hour, they noticed something strange about their wild-riding juggernaut. It was trying to propride!

Unlike the classic tail-dragging Ventnor three-pointers of the 1930s with propellers that were completely submerged, MISS GOLDEN GATE III was trying to ride much higher up on the three points with the propeller only partly submerged.

According to Dan Arena, the boat would only do this sporadically, but the tendency was definitely there. It was a concept that would reach fruition four years later with the Ted Jones-designed SLO-MO-SHUN IV.

After nine of ten laps, MISS GOLDEN GATE III was two miles ahead of TEMPO VI. The craft, which had only had about twenty minutes of water testing prior to race day, was in a class by itself.

Old-timers of Detroit River racing could not help but compare the raw competitiveness of MISS GOLDEN GATE III to that of Gar Wood’s MISS AMERICA VII. (The “VII” was a brand new boat in 1928 and won the Harmsworth Trophy in record time with the varnish still wet--a contender right out of the box!)

Unfortunately, the GOLDEN GATE’s oil pressure gauge was not working properly. The engine was completely dry of oil. With three-quarters of a lap to the checkered flag, the Allison blew a rod. MISS GOLDEN GATE III slid to a halt. Guy Lombardo inherited the lead and claimed the victory.

Dan Arena speculated that his boat ran the entire Third Heat and half of the Second Heat without any lubrication. This is an eloquent testimonial to the durability of the Allison V-12, which is reputed to be the strongest engine ever built.

And while TEMPO VI had won the Gold Cup, there was no doubt as to which boat was the new star of the racing world. MISS GOLDEN GATE III--the first Thunderboat--had made its mark.

It should be noted that one of the 135 Class participants at the 1946 Gold Cup was Al D’Eath, driver of LY BEE. Al is the father of Tom D’Eath, winner of the 1976 Gold Cup with MISS U.S. and the 1989 and 1990 Gold Cups with MISS BUDWEISER.