I love me a good powerboat

[69.5CUDA]

i would not have the balls for this

 

[Dr.Jass]

something to be said about those packards being such clean elegant engines, smoooth and sleek, would still look at home in a brand new car..ditto for the merlins
merlins, allison and the rolls have such amazing ear splitting songs at full swing

What's surprising is that they're all low-RPM engines. Ain't a one of 'em that can hit 5 grand... well, not do it and live. They don't need to since that's not where they make power anyhow. When I was about 15, we went to the EAA convention in Oshkosh, WI. One of the pilots did a low pass while coming out of a dive in a Hawker Hurricane. By the time he got past us, the engine was essentially idling, yet still sounded absolutely ferocious.

as far as the liberty goes..its a cool engine it just doesnt have any buisness lifting its skirt LOL atleast in a boat....in a tractor fully exposed id be ok with it..its just too..."industrial" looking to be in a pretty boat

While I'll agree that it ain't the prettiest thing in the world, I'll say this for the Liberty: It looks very right for the era, since the boat it's powering is pre-WWII. Stock, it made more power than the original (also stock) Packard V12 in the Hornet II--and did so at only 1,800RPM. Besides, who doesn't love to watch the valvetrain of a running engine? What's surprising is it doesn't weigh much more than a 440 Chrysler V8.

that jag is pure sex......everyone loves a hemi but come on..that jag makes a hemi look like a bellybutton 350 by comparision...

I wouldn't go that far, since there are more Jag V12s around than Hemis. It's definitely better-suited to marine use in comparison to the 426, since its torque peak is at a more comfortable level (which only gets worse when the 426 is modified) and the Jag is lighter (especially if the 426 is all iron)

back to the boats..that curtis is pure brass era porn...exposed cyl's is still such a wild concept to me

That's a particularly rare engine. There are only a few of them known left: the one in Miss Detroit III, one that the National Air & Space Museum owns but doesn't seem to know its whereabouts, and the one in that photo (which is quite old; it may be of Miss Detroit with a different intake/exhaust configuration, or a replica). There might be a couple more lying around, but if so nobody knows of 'em. Miss Detroit III obviously doesn't get run hard anymore. The engine's literally irreplaceable.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The larger boat in this photo is called the Thunderbird. It's a story unto itself. It was built in 1940 and has been on Lake Tahoe its entire career. It's currently powered by two Allison V-1710s making 1,100HP each. Those were installed in 1962, when the flying bridge was added by casino owner Bill Harrah (a huge car collector, among other things).
The original owner had the boat custom-built to be a floating version of his beloved Douglas DC-2, also named Thunderbird. All the exterior metal is brushed stainless steel. It still lives in its 100-foot custom boathouse, the entrance to which is a 600-foot tunnel the original owner had blasted through solid granite to connect it to the house. It cost $87,000 in 1940, or about $1.9 million today.

She'll still hit 40MPH, which ain't bad for being 55 feet long. There's probably more in it with tweaking, but how fast does your one-off, 83-year-old speedboat need to be? Yeah, it was his speedboat; his yacht was 145 feet long.

Its original configuration, pre-flying bridge and sporting two 550HP Kermath V12s:

I'm not 100% sure the flying bridge was a good idea. It's certainly well done, it just takes the DC-2 element out of it.

 

[69.5CUDA]

as we have the evergreen avaition and space museum here(really that should read everythings under the goose wings), and have had some pretty sweet vintage air shows, as well as some good tractor pulls with shows, ive had the luxury of being able to damn neer touch some of these engines...ive got alot of respect for the old aircraft monsters, most wernt prety by any means but some were works of art and its no wonder they made it into boats..whats wild to me is that they have the rpm band of a diesel...

evergreen even has some "rotational cutaways" of some MASSIVE engines which is also really cool as well as a bunch of engines on stands

as for the thunderbird..that thing is a work of art, and while part of me agrees with you, at the same time i really dig its makeover...it almost feels more aircraft now.....had the fortune of being able to walk thru the Bill Harrah collection with a good friend when i was down there

the alisons remind me alot of a screamin jimmy to some extent..but with more..uhh...refinement?

 

[Stretch]

Oh how I love wooden power boats! The craftsmanship, the art of the design, and the sound of that old power!

If I had more money than brains I would be a owner for sure!

 

[69.5CUDA]

the only thing keeping me off of having a boat...and ive been offered a few 70/80s era slippery thin v8 beasts over the years...is the fact i have ZERO buoyancy and a single life jacket is NOT enough, im one of those fools who can walk into a pool and sit down with zero effort, which translates into..if i go in...im not coming out if i cant see bottom