HEMI Surf 'n' Turf

Words & Photos By: Roger Meiners

Tom Mittler has a passion for racers—both cars and boats. He has worked for years to create a collection of each type, which he stores in Michigan and Indiana. He races a few of the cars in selected events, and drives them all periodically—including his racing boats.

Two notable examples in his portfolio are Mopar powered; one a HEMI®-powered road racer and the other a HEMI-powered watercraft. He also has a Chrysler marine engine, a 6-cylinder flathead Spitfire, beautifully finished and displayed on a stand.

The HEMI road racer is one of the famous Cunningham C-2R-Chryslers that raced overseas and won important victories in the United States in 1951. The C-2Rs were the first Chrysler-powered Cunningham-badged racers built by Briggs Cunningham, a noted sportsman and winner of the America’s Cup. Three were built during the year. All raced at the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in June. They won two of the biggest races in America that year; at Elkhart Lake, Wis., and Watkins Glen, N.Y. The Elkhart Lake win, June 26, 1951, by John Fitch, was the third-ever racing victory by a HEMI.

Later the Cunningham-HEMI racers were converted for road use and sold. One of the cars was destroyed. Mittler’s car, found in Germany several years ago, is one of the two remaining competition cars. It has been converted back to race trim.

The watercraft is a famous DeSoto-powered hydroplane named Z-Z-Zip. It competed in the American Power Boat Association (APBA) “266” class from 1955 to 1971. It was built by Joe Guess in California and made famous by boat racing legend Sid Street, of Kansas City, Mo.

“It is a most unusual boat – sponsons far forward,” says Jeff Titus, a well-known former racer and a member of the APBA Hall of Champions. Titus was present on December 29, 1958, when Sid Street set the world record for the Kilometer on a narrow canal west of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Titus reported that the temperature on the morning of the record run was quite cold. Clay Smith, a legendary engine builder and cam grinder, was the mechanic on the Bobby Sykes-built HEMI that day. “He couldn’t get the cold alcohol fuel to fire,” said Titus, “so he took the plugs out and used a torch to heat them. Then he reinserted the plugs, started the engine and warmed it for the record run.”

Street recorded a 2-way average “at an astonishing speed of 146.945 mph,” said 3-time APBA Unlimited Gold Cup winner and former Z-Z-Zip owner Tom d’Eath, who restored the boat in 2003. Titus said, “The boat was totally airborne on the slick water, sucking mist off the sponsons with only one inch of the prop in the water,” He is still awestruck after all these years.

Street sold Z-Z-Zip and it later raced as Sea Biscuit and then Iroquois Chief, the latter driven by Gordy Reed to a speed of 148 mph, retiring Street’s old 266-class record. 

Mittler evaluates a potential boat purchase with three criteria in mind. He puts it simply, “A boat has to be pretty—have the aesthetics. Then it must be fun to drive and have a neat history.” He drives most of his historic racing boats, including such jewels as My Darling, a late-1940s Hacker unlimited Gold Cup racer, powered by a 1,500-horsepower World War II Allison aircraft engine.

“Z-Z-Zip fits the mold,” he says. “A very pretty boat with great history (three speed records during its life), and it’s fun to drive.” The first time he drove a racing hydroplane, it was not so much. “Prop cavitation was troublesome,” he said. “I thought I couldn’t get it on plane because the prop was spinning so fast and the boat was going nowhere.” But he soon remembered that the prop was designed for very high-end running and had no “bite” until the boat built enough speed for it to begin working. “I had to stay in it for 20 seconds or so, and then the boat just took off.”

The HEMI engine probably had something to do with that.