Van, boat and RV combine to make water sports more awesome

George Kennedy — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Videos, Specialty

When one needs to transport a large powerboat great distances, it presents a rather wasteful problem. See, you have plenty of livable space on the boat, but said boat is up on a trailer, thus one must either tow one's craft with a large RV or stay in hotels. The owner of this... thing evidently thought that was too wasteful in the name of epic leisure. As such, you see the incredible contraption in front of you.

The vehicle(s) is/are a 1987 Watercraft Sports King Boater Home. The cab consists of a 1986 Ford E-Series, while the rear is a 28-foot power boat that contains living quarters for both land and water use.

There are several like this out on eBay Motors and elsewhere on the web. A quick search for "BoaterHome" will yield plenty of results, though none have been done up quite like this one. With a teardrop window on the cab section and a paint job that would make the Duke Boys blush, this thing is apparently set on celebrating the '70s. That would likely explain the "35" on the side, representing the 35th anniversary of, well...we're not quite sure.

Check out the video below to see how this incredible combo vehicle separates for aquatic use (the action starts at 1:27). The boat may look a little front heavy, but this seems like a best-of-boat both-worlds approach!

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Van, boat and RV combine to make water sports more awesome originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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1950s Ferrari-powered world record hydroplane heading to auction in Monaco

Noah Joseph — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Etc., Ferrari

There are any of a number of places you'd expect to find a Ferrari: at the race track, on the auction block, in the showroom, parked in front of the swankiest restaurants in town... To see one in the water usually spells trouble, but history is not without its exceptions.

Back in the 1980s, Italian boatbuilder Riva collaborated with Ferrari for a rather Testarossa-inspired speedboat, but long before that, the House that Enzo Built lent its expertise and 4.5-liter V12 engine to Achille Castoldi to build the hydroplane power boat you see here.

Castoldi was bent on setting a new speed record on the water, and with this spectacular watercraft - dubbed Arno XI - he did just that. The Ferrari-powered vessel hit an astonishing 150.19 miles per hour at Lake Iseo in northern Italy on October 15, 1953. That's mighty impressive in its own right, but what's even more astounding is that the record stands in the 800kg category to this day.

To get there, Ferrari and Castoldi took the same Type 375 4.5-liter V12 engine that powered José Florian Gonzalez to his first grand prix victory at Silverstone, marinized it and fitted two superchargers to crank out more than 600 horsepower.

Now Arno XI is heading to the auction block in Monaco, where RM Auctions expects it will fetch around $1.5 million. Whether you've got that kind of cash or not - and whether or not Monte Carlo is in your travel plans for May - you can pull up alongside it in the gallery of high-resolution studio and archival images above.

1950s Ferrari-powered world record hydroplane heading to auction in Monaco originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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