What happened to the Salton sea? It's like a wasteland now. Pretty sad.
It is sad. Lot of people don't realize it, but the Salton Sea was the number one vacation destination in the 60s. More people went to the Salton Sea than went to the Grand Canyon during that period. It was called the American Riviera.
Holly Corp, the same company that Robert McCulloch hired to develop Lake Havasu City, tried to develop Salton Sea, but it just never caught on. When once the run off from the surrounding farms started pouring nitrates into the lake virtually unchecked, the lake started dying, and the entire community around it died with it.
Hopefully they will get the place cleaned up, and it will return, but it will be a slow long drawn out process at best.
Nordskog had another similar, early planked, pre plywood v drive Mandella flat named Wimsey, with a nail head Buick and 6 strombergs, that he ran in the Redondo Round Catalina race, finishing second after leading a Bertram offshore 3/4 of the race, and finished 11th in the 1964 Parker 9 hour.
Hey Bob, back in the early 90's I discovered a marathon boat in an Upland Alley. It was behind a fence and the boat was mostly covered, but my buddy and I could see Mickey Thompson's name on the wind deflector. We knocked on the door and an elderly lady answered but she wanted nothing to do with our inquiries. How cool would that be to restore if it ever turns up again....?
Hey Bob, back in the early 90's I discovered a marathon boat in an Upland Alley. It was behind a fence and the boat was mostly covered, but my buddy and I could see Mickey Thompson's name on the wind deflector. We knocked on the door and an elderly lady answered but she wanted nothing to do with our inquiries. How cool would that be to restore if it ever turns up again....?
Not sure how many boats he built thru the years. But if it was a Nike hydro, or his dual Pontiac Mandella, that would be really cool!!!!
I know he had a single Pontiac engine Mandella as well. But anything you could document as his would be great to find!!
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