Sunshine Baby's First Showing- St. Petersburg Motor Classic

 

It was a perfect day for the St. Petersburg Motor Classic in beautiful Straub Park next to the yacht club downtown St. Petersburg, FL.  Ray Gassner's Sunshine Baby IV raced here in the 1960's and after several years, she has returned to her home port. Ray was a member of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club so it is fitting she's back home.  This is her first big event on her journey to being on display at various shows and a running exhibition at select boating events.

Here are some pictures from the show along with a few pictures taken off site.

                             Jim Aid, 2.5 liter Mod champ and captain of the Sunshine Baby project.

                                   Tom D"Eath, one of the few to have raced the Sunshine Baby

          Memorabilia from past races including race suits, blown pistons and even a propeller.

Fans were taking a lot of pictures!

                                1,200 Horsepower from a Chrysler 392 Hemi and Potvin Blower

       Talking about the 'old days' of hydroplane racing.  Brent McLean of original pit crew on right.

                                             Tom D'Eath's race helmet from the '70's

                                                  Some of the history of the Sunshine Baby

                                               Important facts about the Sunshine Baby

                                       Best Presentation Award-Not bad for her first show.

         Watch this site for more information about the Sunshine Baby as we get her ready to run again. 

                     Carcamerastory.com  Publisher  Paul Ziegler, Author "Echoes From The Glen"

                                          Follow on Instagram @Wownowpics

Famous Racing Hydroplane Sunshine Baby Comes Home To St. Petersburg

 Yes, the Sunshine Baby that was originally home to St. Petersburg, Florida in the '60's and '70's has come home with the help of racer, Jim Aid who made the arrangements for its return. The plan is to do a light restoration and put it on display at various events and do a demonstration run or two at vintage boat races. 

The story about the Sunshine Baby is facinating and will be the subject of a future, detailed history. The story of the return to 'home' decades later will be documented on this blog over the winter.  Suffice it to say the 'Baby' was one of the winingest, fastest boats in the country with its Chrysler Hemi built by none other than Big Daddy Don Garlits. It holds the straight line speed record for its class at 173 MPH!

I made the trip to Lake Michigan a few miles north of Detroit in October with Jim to pick up the boat and trailer it back to St. Petersburg. We stopped along the way to visit the Don Garlits drag racing museum and even got a chance to show Don the boat still housing the Hemi he built in 1960!  Don was impressed as well as surprised by our visit.

So here are some pictures with a 'preview' showing at a Tampa Bay Cafe' Racer's lunch. Breaking news on the 'Baby' - it will be on display at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club's annual car show February 4th, 2024.

Here she is from the several shots I took while bringing her back home with Jim Aid.

                                                               The End - For Now

                            Watch for updates after the Holidays-  See you in 2024!

Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher  Carcamerastory.com   Follow on Instagram @Wownowpics

Orange Cup Regatta Lakeland Florida 2023

 

             October 20-22 in Lakeland, FL, the 85th running of the Orange Cup Regatta

                   Pre race festivities included the Cypress Gardens Skiers- Impressive!

This post will feature several photos from an action packed race weekend.  I was one of the 'Crew' for Jim Aid and the A33 'In Cahoots Again' team.  Jim had a stellar weekend, winning all eight of the eight heats he was in. As far as I know no other team ran as many heats.

Here's several pictures to give you an idea of what it was like to be there. It was a perfect weather weekend, down here in sunny  Florida.

Get ready to race!

 Jim Aid on the charge!

One of two flip overs- no injuries except a battered boat.

Screaming- Class winner!

The winner of eight out of eight heats- Jim Aid!

                          Not a good day for the Penzoil team- a massive flip over; no one hurt.

                                              Thank you to all the volunteers and rescue crew!

                                            Thanks to the crew of the A33- Well done.

                  See you next year- Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher

                  Carcamerastory. Follow at Instagram @wownowpics

Must See Raiti's Rides Testing An Astounding Elantra N

 Joe Raiti from Raiti's Rides is one of my favorite You Tube reviewers.  He's as good as they get and I'm highlighting this today to spread the word about how good The Hyundai Elantra N is.  And to show Joe is a straight shooter- he owns a new, Civic Type R.  There's no knocks on this rockin' Cyber Gray rocket.

You gotta see this and wait until you hear the 1/4 mile time set by this mildly tuned 'N'.

And here's my Cyber Gray 'N' with a Six Speed

Click Here to Watch:

This will Change Your Thinking About Hyundai

Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher Carcamerastory.com

Author of "Echoes From The Glen"       Follow on Instagram @wownowpics

HSR Classic Watkins Glen International 2023

 Here are some pictures from the June HSR Classic at Watkins Glen International. I took pictures for two friends that were racing there so that's why the multiple pictures of some of the same cars.

I never like it when cars crash, especially vintage cars.  I know how much work goes into restoring them and the heartbreak when something goes wrong. Having said that, I did capture one paticular crash sequence that tells this story of heartbreak.  I hope both the Datsun Z and the BMW get restored back to their original glory.

Take a look:

                  And now for some happier photos:

That's all for now.   Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Brought to you by Paul Ziegler, Publisher Carcamerastory.com   Follow on Instagram @wownowpics