The Mahogany Hot Rod
THIS story is about my father, Bryan Grace and the building of the Grace family ski boat. It follows from an earlier article titled “Dirt Track Addiction”, published in our April 2021 issue.
Three factors influenced the construction of the Grace family ski boat.
The first goes a long way back to dad’s early childhood. His mother passed away in June 1937, and he was raised by an aunt. Father (Gordon) was in the NZ Army and served overseas, sending his army pay back to NZ for living costs for sons Bryan and Jon. Dad recalls seeing his dad set off overseas and asked the question’ “Why do you have to go away, dad?” To which Gordon replied, “To make a better New Zealand for you and your brother”. The bottom line was that a father and son relationship was effectively extinguished right there. However, dad was determined to have a full-on father and sons relationship with his boys and daughter when the time came.
The second factor was a subliminal message planted in his mind with association with speedboats. In the early 1950s, dad was under the wing of his father Gordon Grace, who was actively involved in the racing of Redhead, Sir Len Southward’s Allison V12 powered speed boat. Dad (Bryan) recalls being taken out on the chase boat, powered by a hot rodded Buick straight-eight engine. It could really haul, and he asked Gordon if he could drive it but sadly was refused. So a seed was planted there, perhaps?
The third factor was quite overt: Reminiscing to me by phone, he recalled that it was
