1952 APBA Gold Cup
Lake Washington, Seattle WA, August 9, 1952
Slo-Mo-Shun IV
Wins AgainSeattle Stanley Sayres' Squadron of speedsters, Slo-Mo-Shun IV and V, smoked, sputtered, settled, then suddenly stopped but did not sink. So did Jack Schafer's new Such Crust IV, Morlan Visel's Hurricane IV, Albin Fallon's Miss Great Lakes II and Dossin Brothers' Miss Pepsi. That's about the story of the 1952 Gold Cup race held on Lake Washington on August 9. It was reported that a quarter of a million spectators were on hand.
Slo-Mo-Shun IV which failed to finish the first heat due to the loss of a propeller, had the one from Slo-Mo-Shun V, which also failed to finish the first heat, substituted between the first and second heats and went on to win the last two heats with very little competition, ultimately, finishing alone.
Had George Reis entered and qualified his thirty-year-old El Lagarto, which still jogs around Lake George at better than a mile-a-minute clip, he might have won the 1952 Gold Cup race as he did in 1933, 1934 and 1935. By finishing last in each of the three heats on Lake Washington, he would have gathered a total of 1169 points. The winner this year was able to collect only 800 points.
Slo-Mo-Shun V went out with engine trouble in the first heat, as did Miss Great Lakes II. Miss Pepsi won the first heat with Hurricane IV in second place and Such Crust IV third but all three boats failed to survive the-second heat. Hurricane IV, after failing to start in the second heat dropped out soon after the start of the third.
The first heat, while it lasted, was a real race. Miss Pepsi took the lead at the start and was never headed until the finish line was reached. She was pushed hard by Lou Fageol in Slo-Mo-Shun V but when it appeared that he might pass the leader, No. V's engine failed and that was the end of her current career.
The second heat also gave promise of a good race between Slo-Mo-Shun IV, Such Crust IV and Miss Pepsi but an accident and fire aboard Such Crust IV, in which her driver Wild Bill Cantrell was thrown into the lake and reportedly quite seriously injured, ended her chances. Shortly thereafter Miss Pepsi dropped out, leaving Slo-Mo-Shun IV alone. Hurricane IV withdrew in the third heat, leaving the winner Slo-Mo-Shun IV to finish alone.
Miss Pepsi in winning the first heat, set up a new 30-mile Gold Cup heat record, being clocked for the distance at 101.024 m.p.h. The previous 30-mile heat record of 91.76 m.p.h. was established by Slo-Mo-Shun V in 1951. Apparently Miss Pepsi cannot be beaten in competition by any boat afloat, as long as her power plant functions properly.
Slo-Mo-Shun IV, the winner, was ably handled by R. Stanley Dollar Jr. Joe Taggart was at the wheel of Miss Great Lakes and, as usual, Chuck Thompson drove Miss Pepsi. For the first time in many years, Horace E. Dodge did not have a starter.
Slo-Mo-Shun IV in addition to holding the world one-mile record of 178.497 m.p.h., was the winner of the Gold Cup and Harmsworth races in 1950. She also holds the 90-mile Gold Cup record of 78.215 m.p.h. and the competitive mark of 111.742 m.p.h. established in the Seattle Seafair race last year.
Slo-Mo-Shun V was the 1951 winner of the Gold Cup and established a lap record of 108.633 m.p.h.
Slo-Mo-Shun V is built along the same lines as her older sister, Slo-Mo-Shun IV but with somewhat greater beam.
(Reprinted from Motor Boating, September 1952)
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