Between Wayne and Lars, this is the internet spot to visit.:) Both are really bringing back racing history with pictures and their writings.
Ye Olde Desert Geezer :cool:
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Between Wayne and Lars, this is the internet spot to visit.:) Both are really bringing back racing history with pictures and their writings.
Ye Olde Desert Geezer :cool:
Thank you,
I built the Piraya 17' myself 1972-73 and used it 5 years, and nobody could beat me in that boat.
Very difficult to drive, feels more like a Cat than V-hull.
I have been told it looks like an Italian Dalapieta.
Kenty Sjoholm in Sweden that owns the molds, likes everything from Italy, so that is possible.
The big Offshore Race that happens once a year in Sweden is Roslagsloppet, and in 1976 I rigged the Piraya 17' with one of the first and very hot
Evinrude FT 19 S.
Bertil Wik was the copilot and we set the speed record, and I think it still holds.
More stories later about this boat
any Mod50 shots?:eek::cool:
Fast Fred,
My first year in OE/Mod 50/F3 was 1975 as a factory driver for OMC in Europe, and
my last race as a driver in F3 was Paris 6 hours 1986.
My brother Lennart Strom raced F3 for many year to, and I was involved as a F3 Team
owner for some time.
Right now I am at the INDY 500, and when I am back home the Racing stories will continue.....
My plan is to write year by year, so next year is 1974
been to the Indy 500, ya 220mph is far more impressive in person:cool:
<TABLE class=ipbtable cellSpacing=1><TBODY><TR><TD class=post1 id=post-main-260616 vAlign=top width="100%">Hi again Ron,
After today's phone call, I wrote a short story about Ron Hill and his prop shop at www.Boatlife.se , where I write my Racing story's.
In a nice way I bragged about all the good props you made for me when I was Racing and said that I really recommend Ron Hill to buy props from.
I hour later, there was a responds from Sture Sjoeberg in Sweden saying that don't say you know Sture Sjoeberg because I owe Ron $ 350.00 for a prop he purchased from me 20 years ago and Bertil Wik return it to me..
Bad casting, I guess.
See, what racing story's can do.
Regards
Lars Strom
I wrote back and asked Lars are you sure he owes ME???
Lars wrote back and said:
Ron,
Sture Sjoeberg owes you $ 350.00.
Lars
Keep up the great posts, talk with you after INDY.
ADD:
I never like to look back and worry about things, but often wonder how many props I've loaned out that I never got paid for... One year at Parker, Freddy Hartman walks up to me with a nice 30 cleaver in his hand....He says is this your prop Ron? I said I made it. He asked how much is a new one? I said $500. Freddy hands me $500 and said he'd borrowed it in the middle of the race a year before and he'd never paid me for it, figured I'd planned to take it back this year...Truth was, I never remember, even to this day, of giving him that prop....Got rid of that $500 without too much trouble that night at Sports Valley!!! No, that was Rod's $500 I spent at Sports Valley.....
See, Rod always liked racing at The Parker Enduro, and I'd make him pay for half the gas and half the entry fee...We'd have a big dinner for everyone of our crew and all...and the bill would be about $500. Rod would always give me his half ofthe gas and entry fee just about the time the bill came....Well, easy come, easy go!
Hey Lars...Tell us how you made MILLIONS OF U.S. DOLLARS while living in Sweden.....(LEGALLY)!!!!
Tell us more stories about Erick.....I never liked him flying those helicopters!!!
MORE PICTURES..PICTURES ARE GREAT!
I was selling Paul Kalb props like crazy when you were racing OE...seems that is when you were buying props from me!!!! Come to Parker and run a new E-Tec Evinrude, you must have one friend still there!!!! (At Evinrude)...Your English is much better than my Swedish!!!
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Ron Hill wrote:
Hey Lars...Tell us how you made MILLIONS OF U.S. DOLLARS while living in Sweden.....(LEGALLY)!!!!
///
Ha, ha Ron,
I am getting to that, but it started 1982 and went on for four years.
My good relationship as a dealer and my succesful Racing with OMC made this re/export to the
USA possible.
Many thousands of outboards was shipped back to the USA, and it was legal,
but not legal if you read the stickers OMC put on the Evinrude boxes sent
to Europe.
It is a long and interesting story but sensative, many people was upset for
some time and when I get to year 1982 of the Racing stories I will include
that.
1974 was a very good year for my Racing, and Huzells/Evinrude bought me a new SE Clerici Cat and OMC Belgium paid
for 6 races in Europe.
Huzells-Evinrude Sweden paid for 12 more.
My best memory is from Evian, France where I defended my SE European championship.
Over 40 boats in this race, the SE class was very popular in the mid seventy's.
The Italian drivers was still upset from the year before when I "stole" the race in Finland so they teamed up to try to run me over in every start.
My new Clerici boat and the way I could fly it, was perfect for this 2 point race course, two mile long.
(Jim Wagner told me I was way faster then the Factory OE boat).
Normally a race was 4 heat and 3 of them counts, and the big Lake Geneva was very ruff.
In the final heat when I was up front, one of the Italian drivers slowed down waiting for me to lap him and then he
hit my boat on purpose in the turn, but I was lucky to bring it home in first place.
On top of that, the top Italian drivers ended up disqualified for not legal modifications to the engines.
The final
result with me as the Champ was ready 4 AM Monday morning with very angry and upset Bonvicini brothers from Italy.
Earlier that year one of my sponsors Melins Motor made very nice stickers with a picture of my boat saying I was the 1973 European Champion, but they never told me that the printing office made a mistake, putting year 1974 on the first set of stickers so in the pit area after the race, they put a new sticker on my boat saying
I was the 1974 European Champion and that made the Italians even more upset!!!!
I never told them the true story about the sticker screw up.
OMC's factory SE driver Roger Jenkins was not happy at all after losing to me for the second year, so he made the decision to give up the SE class and go to
the new OE class for the future.
What Jenkins did not know at that time, was that OMC had a plan to hire me also as a factory OE
driver for the 1975 race season.
Back in Scandinavia I won lots of Races, including the 2 hours of Duvnasviken and the Scandinavian
Championship plus many smaller races.
Well, I flipped the SE boat a few times without hurting myself to bad and raced the Piraya offshore boat with
great success (Wins) in Roslagsloppet and many more races.
The final race 1974 was Paris 6 hours, but my plan is to make a story about all my 11 Paris 6 hours.
In my opinion Paris 6 hours was the best and most prestigious Outboard race in history.
Maybe the Lake Havasu City race was better, but I never got the opportunity to race there.
Next story is about my 1975 racing year.
Started in South Africa where Jimbo McConnell and I
raced the BP 200.
1975 was a very busy year for me and my first year as a professional driver for Outboard Marine Corporation.
I have a letter from OMC and Jack Leak in my safe-deposit box in Florida, and that is the best letter I have ever received.
Hopefully Ribban is posting some mixed photos from 1974 here.
I am guessing Lars, that the 1975 race in South Africa was your first race for that 1975 season. The Sunshine Series. Jim Mckean raced Pro stuff in the Sunshine Series and I regret never to take up the offer. There was a driver from South Africa that raced SE and OE that came to Berlin in 1976. I have to look up his name to see if you remember him. Most of the guys I knew from South Africa were of the former British colonies. This guy was Africaaner from the Dutch colonies. He spoke with a different accent.
more pictures..