Rare Danny Foster Legendary Race Boat Pilot Photograph Dossin’s Of Detroit DYC

Description: This is an 8” x 10” black and white photo and it has typical corner bends, light creases, and some discoloration spots. The left side is curled up but should look good framed as it would lay flat. Please review pictures provided for details of condition and please ask any questions before purchase. Read about the Dossin family and Danny Foster below. Boat racing history. About Danny Foster Hall of Fame Driver: Danny Foster was to the 1940s and 1950s what Bill Muncey was to the 1960s and 1970s and what Chip Hanauer was to the 1980s and 1990s. Foster was unlimited hydroplane racing's first superstar in the years following World War II. He is the 2005 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America powerboat inductee. Foster's first taste of boat racing came as a riding mechanic with driver Dan Area in the Hispano-powered Miss Golden Gate in the California Gold Cup class in the 1930s. Foster's unlimited driving career began in 1946, behind the wheel of Albin Fallon's Miss Great Lakes at the President's Cup in Washington, D.C. Foster won all three heats and decisively outperformed the favored Guy Lombardo in Tempo VI. It was the first victory by an Allison-powered boat and the first of many competitive triumphs by Foster, who quickly established himself as the top driver of his day. He was national champion in 1947 with Miss Peps V, winning his first Golf Cup on the extremely rough water of Jamaica Bay, New York. Although sponsored by Pepsi Cola, Miss Peps V didn't carry her product's full name into competition because commercial sponsorships were frowned upon at that time. Foster made it back-to-back Gold Cups in 1948, steering Miss Great Lakes around Detroit River wrecks in a race recalled as one of the most destructive in history. Boats crashed, burned and sank on a day when all that could possibly go wrong seemingly did. Foster was the only entrant out of 22 that could go the full 90-mile distance. Even Miss Great Lakes sank at dockside while Foster was receiving the trophy. Foster continued to make his presence felt with the likes of Such Crust, Delphine X, Hornet, Gale II, Wha Hoppen Too and Miss Great Lakes II. Foster managed to finish first or second at one time or another with almost every boat that he drove between 1946 and 1955. When Lee Schoenith left for Korea in 1952, Foster replaced his friend in the cockpit of Gale II and won the Silver Cup on the Detroit River. Foster had the kind of season in 1955 that most drivers only dream about. That was the year that he teamed with bandleader Lombardo as pilot of Tempo VII, an Allison-powered craft that the press labeled as "The Sweetest Boat This Side of Heaven." About the Dossins: Dossin's Food Products began in 1898 by Ernest J. Dossin selling fresh grated horseradish from a horse drawn cart. The product line expanded through the years to include other food products as well as soft drinks. In the 1930s, Dossins received the Pepsi-Cola franchise for the State of Michigan and northern Ohio. By the mid-40s, brothers Walter, Roy and Russell Dossin were calling the shots. They owned and sponsored several Gold Cup class race boats as public relations vehicles for their business. During the nine seasons the Dossins competed, they campaigned four boats. They were the Pepsi Cola III built in 1938, the Miss Peps-V built in 1939, the first Miss Pepsi built in 1948, and the final Miss Pepsi constructed in 1950 by Les Staudacher from a John Hacker design. Among the drivers who drove for the Dossins were Chuck Thompson and Danny Foster. The Dossins first got interested in racing in 1946 and entered a boat in the President's Cup of that year. Pepsi Cola III was the name of the boat. In 1947 Danny Foster came to the Dossins with the idea of purchasing So-Long, reconstructing the boat, replacing the engine and campaigning that boat. This boat was named Miss Peps-V because a ruling from the APBA did not allow commercial product names to be used on race boats. The Dossins called their boat Miss Peps, leaving the "i" off, but brought the curly cue on the capital "P" out to look like an "i" so anybody looking at the boat would see Miss Pepsi. The reason for the "V" was that Pepsi Cola cost five cents at that time. In their first full season in the sport the Dossins captured the Henry Ford Memorial, the APBA Gold Cup, the Emil Auerbach Trophy, the National Sweepsteakes, the President's Cup, and the Imperial Gold Cup to complete on of the most successful seasons in the history of Gold Cup racing. During the winter of 1947 Clell Perry approached the Dossins with a design for a two-step displacement boat. The first Miss Pepsi was built in Algonac, Mich., and first raced in 1948. This boat proved to be very disappointing. Chuck Thompson was hired to drive in 1949, and informed the Dossins that the boat wasn't going to be successful. John Hacker approached the Dossins with a design for a three-step hydroplane with twin Allisons placed nose to nose with a v-drive gearbox in between. This second and last Miss Pepsi posted nine victories from 1950 to 1952, including back-to-back National High Point Championships. She sat out the years of 1953 and 1954, but came back for a last fling in 1955 and '56. The comeback Pepsi almost won the 1955 President's Cup and the 1956 Gold Cup, but controversial rulings at both races awarded the trophies to other teams. After the Dossin family got out of racing, their admiration for the city of Detroit was expressed by the contribution that made the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle a reality. Miss Pepsi was brought to the Museum in a ceremony which included the Dossin family, her one and only driver Chuck Thompson, and her builder Les Staudacher

Price: 40 USD

Location: Fresno, California

End Time: 2025-01-28T22:16:27.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.75 USD