I believe the twin to the Gladiator is still alive.

Seem to recall it was in very poor shape, but still living a few years ago. I know someone found it, thinking it was the Gladiator, and remember seeing the pics of it. Same scheme, as you have pictured on the trailer.

Nice pic with that boat and the Gladiator in the water. Sweet rides.

Steve,
The boat is alive and well just sitting in my back yard here in Southern California looking for a new home. We bought it from Dalton Coor in 1988 and converted it into a very strong running Six Liter which we won the Western Divisionals in 1991 and 1992, giving fits to Randy Hass in the Buckeye Kid every time we ran against him!
When we approached Ron Jones telling him what we were doing with the boat he advised against it, but after seeing it run, Ron was one of the first to congradulate my Dad on what a great job he did.
We installed a reinforced cockpit in 1994, as the capsule rules came into effect, but out of the twelve wet Six Liters we had running at the time only three had cockpits, essentially killing hydroplane racing here in California.
The boat is complete with a single axle trailer, original prop, and could be available with or without a Six Liter engine. I even have the original fiberglass seat but without the upholstery.
The only thing missing from the boat are the original cowlings and a few gauges. We used them on our inboard tunnel we built to run the Parker Enduro.
When we got the boat from Dalton he thought it was built in 1974 or 1975 but he couldn't remember!
If you know of anyone interested in the boat E-mail me and we can talk! I would love to see it back in the water again!
Dan Doidge

Scott,
The boat I have must not be the one you saw in those pictures, ours is in good shape and could be in the water with a minimal amount of work. The Gold Streak was one of the first boats built out of honeycomb aluminum with wood sponsons, I thought the Gladiator was built all out of wood?
When we raced at Clarkston, Washington at the Western Divisionals in 1993, I believe Gordy came over, introduced himself, and looked the boat over saying he used to drive it.
At this race we broke a propshaft testing and did not have a spare. We borrowed one that was two inches too long, but they wouldn't let us cut it and replace it later. Being the true racers we are, we cut an inch off our output shaft on the in and out box, and moved the engine forward an inch in order to get back in the water. In the process we put too much of a strain on our presure line on the drysump pump, causing it to break. Oil sprayed out and up into the carbuerator killing the engine before it did any major damage. I have always said I would rather be Lucky than Good!
Dan Doidge

It could be my mistake, the boat pictured, may not have been one I had seen pics of a few years ago. The pics I had seen, boat was clearly in bad shape, and were brought over my house by a vintage person, looking to ID the boat. Boat in his pics was also a yellow/white jones 280, stored in a barn somewhere...delaminating. (it, had that Lincoln thrift type scheme)

Sounds like yours is much more healthy, than the boat I viewed in the pics.

Concerning the Gladiator. I believe the Curtis's had more than one. The one I recall very much, was mainly honeycomb, with some wood.

Unfortunately, I had plenty of time seeing repairs done to it, as it seemed to like being on its back more than on its feet. Sure looks like the red/white/blue boat in the background, is that boat. Later became Miss Zeroll (driven by Davey Sutton, Mark Tate, Glenn Koutny & Doug Felster) Very fast, but super light on its feet. (amazing how that works) She liked to bite those, who got complacent with her.

Was later sold by Funka's to Schallers. Driven by Doug Miller, maybe Mr Clean a few times. Not sure where she lives anymore (may have burned in fire, too???)

Hey Scott I drove it one season for Schaller's. I don't think it's the boat in the back ground of that photo, the profile doesn't look right. It was very wide for it's time and did have a history of trying to hurt people. I believe Justin Schaller sold it to someone out west before the shop fire. It was a honeycomb bottom with composite sponsons and wood decks. Sat on a cool low profile tilt trailer that could "float off".
Doug, Nicky Pellerin and I may have been the only guys to drive it and not flip. The engine that was in it when I drove it wasn't the best. It did accelerate well because it was "light".

R&D

do you have any pictures of the boat? my brother and i are interested in racing a boat again. he is interested in 2.5 mod and i still like the stock 280/five liter. is the boat a capusle boat or is it reinforced cockpit? remember the boat well, ran with gladiator and the first mistlady and ragged edge which i think mike jones still owns.

Mike, Sorry it took so long to post these pictures, I had to move about 1000 used brick before I could take the pictures. The boat is in overall good shape, but will need some fiberglass work on the deck. All plywood appears to be in good shape, I walked all over the deck without any creaking going on. The honeycomb has one small spot of corrosian on the tunnel wall up near the picklefork but does not appear to be a serious problem. The belly pan and bottom are in good shape. Sides and sponsons look to be in good shape. It will need the original cowlings in order to run vintage. The boat will come less engine but with motor mounts, headers, one prop, prop shaft, gas tank, battery box, original seat (no uphostery) and whatever else I can dig up. The trailer is a single axle electric tilt set up for beach launching with a 20 foot extention tounge. It has electric trailer brakes that were never hooked up. The boat was last in the water in 1996.
Dan

I drove the boat in 1989, won a some races. Justin and TD gave me a chance and
I credit this ride to the beginning of a very fun streak in boat racing. The boat is out west with a cockpit in it.

Mark

Thanks to the Where's Our Old Race Boat, Steve Compton has purchased The Gold Streak/Floatin a Loan and will be restoring it back to Gold Streak E-27 to run vintage events with it. It will be great to see it running again, set up as it used to be, high flying and back with that beautiful gold leaf lettering and yellow and white paint. When asked about setting it up on the back of the semi he just smiled!
Thanks again to the website,
Dan Doidge