Speedboat Dreams

The legacy of Carlo Riva lives on.

 

- Dudley Dawson

Speedboat is a term you don’t hear much anymore, but when I was a kid, everyone knew exactly what it was: a gleaming streak of varnished mahogany and polished stainless steel. If you had any sense at all, you wanted one with every ounce of your being. A few old guys still had vintage Gar Woods and Hackers, but for the younger crowd, the dream was a new Chris-Craft. It would have a big block V-8 issuing a throaty rumble through dual transom exhausts, and would be outfitted with white tuck-and-roll upholstery, similar to that in a ’57 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, the other icon of the era.