After buying Aronows USA Racing Team, Kramer had a business dispute with Aronow, but was forced to sell it back to Aronow after the Customs Service refused to do business with him. Brown: He started Formula from scratch and sold it to Thunderbird in about a year. (Captains note: more about Dons, er, appetites, later.) You dont dare honk your horn at anybody; you could end up dead.. She used to be married to Martin Kimmel, a real estate developer. WebAronow married twice. He was about outdoing the other guy, no matter what you were doing., Bob Saccenti He was a great guy and a great businessman. We'd race to Nassau and back on the weekends. And the guy would say, I want a 28. And Aronow would say Oh no, were all sold out. And the guy would keep pushing, Oh, I wanted one all my life. Collecting his children from summer camp, and not returning to the family home, the 34 year-old arrived in Florida with a $2 million retirement fund. But he could tell something terrible had happened. ), After Aronows brief visit with Saccenti, he got back in his white Mercedes and began to pull away. New hotels and office towers are rising in Miami, and once-sleepy towns nearby are growing skylines of their own, chronicled Time. Read more:David A. Arnold: Death And Obituary How Did Famous Comedian, Actor-Writer &Producer Die? Michael plays the role of Andrew in the movie Speed Kills. Brown: Shirley was his first wife. Therefore, his annoyance with the motor mogul was the true impetus for his illegal plans. Don Aronow is also quite proud of his lovely wife Lillian. So he commissioned a design from Michael Peters that split a V in two to create a catamaran. Everything there to me was racing and drug trafficking. With his first wife, Shirley Goldin, he has two sons and a daughter. The full breakdown of his net worth at the time of his passing is still unavailable to the general public. [3] Ben Kramer, winner of the 1986 American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in 1996. And every new [Cigarette] that I do, I drive right by his house with it just so he can see. They just dont make em like Don Aronow anymore. Michael Peters concludes, If you want to find anything comparable today, you need to look elsewhere, maybe to the final frontier Blue Origin, SpaceX, Bezos and Musk. He pauses. He owns a horse farm in Ocala, a home in Miami Beach and a new Long Island estate that just made Toen and Country. Guys wanted to be him. Radios blared out the hits of the day. The story was also the basis for the 2009 documentary film Thunder Man: The Don Aronow Story and the 2018 movie Speed Kills with John Travolta. Allan Brown Shirley was his first wife. Aronow said Let me see. Then he took the watch by the clasp, banged it on the table, and threw it in a glass of beer. It was mostly a lot of hell-raising and good times.". WebAronow married twice. Aronow: Forrest Johnson was originally his fishing buddy. Saccenti: He was a great guy and a great businessman. These races were filled with tales of derring-do: engine burnouts and explosions, crew members being knocked unconscious or needing airlifting to hospital some even left marooned and bleeding amid circling sharks, not to forget the high-speed collisions, including one in rough seas under a hovering press helicopter. Don would compete with people his size, said Michael Peters. The sun was lowering in the wintery afternoon yet there was still plenty of warmth and light. Since then, Aronow has designed and built some of the world fastest ocean powerboat racers -- including the stubby Maltgese Magnum, the sporty Donzi and the world famous Cigarette. Aronow went down the canal 65 mph in it, and ended up running into the seawall. WebIn 1964, Brownie worked for Don Aronow at Donzi Marine, the first real sport boat builder. The rest of NE 188th Street is covered with blocks of expensive condos promising comfortable waterside living. Aronow's boats won over 350 offshore races and he was a two-time world champion and three-time U.S. champion. Kramer got a 19-year sentence for manslaughter to run concurrently with a life term for marijuana smuggling. "I got into ocean powerboat racing after I retired to Florida," he says. And he eventually became aggravated with the business. Aronow had just finished a meeting with Apache Power Boats co-owner Bob Saccenti when a powder blue Lincoln drew up next to his vehicle from the opposite direction. Youre a businessman, too. Your request appears similar to malicious requests sent by robots. Aronow: By 66 my dad had sold Donzi to Teleflex. He designed, built and raced the famous Magnum Marine, Cary, Cigarette, Donzi and Formula speedboats. The American-Puerto Rican crime drama film Speed Kills is based on the real-life boat designer and racer Donald Joel Aronow, who started Magnum Marine in Florida in 1966. A pattern emerged whereby Aronow would sell his companies and then seek to eclipse them. He has three childrenMichael, David, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife. From one of Italy';s best families.". If true, it was a curious place to hide out from them. "It won big," Aronow says. You make real money when you sell the company. Youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats, he was quoted as saying. [A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, by age 21 Aronow found himself married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey Emblematic of both the American dream and a particularly magnetic kind of American masculinity, Aronow was a frontiersman, a real-life Marlboro Man and a fearless racer. It says so right there on the bottom of his resume: Has survived three motorcycle crashes, totaled five automobiles and 12 boating mishaps. To this day, he maintains his innocence. But Aronow may have possessed a darker side that even he could not outrun and in the end, he wound up as nothing more than a target for an assassins bullet. Brown: Hed fuck your wife in a second. That one time, Don said, Alright kid, Ill see ya, and walked out the door. His 193cm, still-athletic frame barely fitted inside the sporty white Mercedes-Benz two-seater in which he drove away from USA Racing Teams office on Thunderboat Row. They were fast (more than 112km/h), good for interdiction activities (stable when boarding intercepted boats) and comparatively easy to drive. Little Don couldn't understand how all his father's taxicabs could get lost at once. To this day, he maintains his innocence. Don Aronow born in 1927 in Brooklyn New York, left New Jersey in 1961 to relocate in Miami. [1] His father owned a gas station and then a taxi company which collapsed during the Great Depression. How much does it cost to charter a Below Deck yacht? Aronow had sold USA Racing Teama company that built high-speed catamarans for the U.S. Customs Serviceto Kramer and his father in 1985. "She was gorgous," Aronow says. [But] he was home every night. Of the World's most recognized racing boat companies, Don Aronow established five; Donzi, Formula, Magnum, Cigarette and They become friends and Johnson told my father about the Miami-Nassau race, which my father became really interested in. Separately, there were rumours that Aronow may have been assisting law enforcement, even becoming an informant or at least that, in early 1987, he was about to be subpoenaed to give evidence about the USA Racing Team transactions. [Then vice president] Bush said, We aint gonna buy boats from Ben Kramer. In his spare time, he built speedboats for the Shah of Iran and American presidents George Bush Sr and Lyndon Johnson, among others and he hung out with the Beatles. By this time the mid 1990s he was being kept in an isolation cell without, his lawyer claimed, adequate dental or medical care. The result was the 8.5-metre 007, named after the gathering cinematic phenomenon. Witnesses assert that as Aronow rolled down his window, the other driver allegedly started shooting. And I could tell you the day he was murdered there were phone calls to the King of Jordan, the King of Spain, George Bush. Nearly 60, he talked of taking up racing again. I just did you a favour., Michael Peters [upon hearing Browns story] Im from California, I hope that storys not about me!, Bob Saccenti I think there were over 100 suspects when they finally killed him., Michael Peters It could have been anyone, from drug runners to business partners to jealous husbands.. WebThree weeks before he was murdered, Aronow had a pensive, reflective talk with his wife, Lillian, a former girlfriend of Jordan's King Hussein. Meet His Family, Ben Aronoff Net Worth Figures In The Movie. I cant imagine that though, he was pretty easy to find. In the real-life offshore racing seasons, a majority of the contestants might well turn out to be drug runners say, George Morales, Sal Magluta and Willie Falcn, all convicted of cocaine trafficking. Another witness tried to follow the Lincoln as it fled but could not catch the killer(s). Barely had he begun to win before he sold Formula to Thunderbird Boats. A world-champion boat racer who enjoyed wild success in business, he was also an unapologetic playboy and fabled bon vivant. Drug smuggling could be the regions major [largest] industry.. Many disputes were going on in his marital life. Much was explained by the states southern exposure and geography its thousands of kilometres of coastline, coves and inlets. And if you had money and you were a coward, hed take as much as possible. Who Is Ben Aronoff? Aronow agreed to buy USA Racing Team back from Kramer, equally predictably for less than the consideration hed received. You can talk to anyone, but every night he was at home.. Claudia is a New York-based artist. It was testimony to the Theodolis diplomatic instincts that this would not become their fate. He had plenty of cheese. Having made a fortune in the construction business in New Jersey, building homes and shopping centres, Aronow hastily relocated to Florida in 1961. He had bought a boat in California and he asked Aronow and me to drive it and see if it was any good. There'd been a problem with the taxicab company his father owned in upstate New York. He started hosting Sunday afternoon brunches at the new home, sometimes for 50 or 60 people, with only Skip and Joanne Allen, of Southern Boating, and my wife and I as the token Christians. The Miami moto king launched Magnum Marine the next year, in 1967. Who is this guy? asked an arriving first responder. Revealingly, the Time feature predicted that Miami would remain, as the late President Jaime Rolds of Ecuador put it, the capital of Latin America. Peters: Aronow looked the part. For his part, he says the Colombians did it.]. Additionally, Travoltas earlier fame did not contribute to the films success. Leaving his office that afternoon, Aronow was making for his North Bay Road residence, a 1929 Spanish-style waterfront mansion undergoing renovations, 30 minutes drive away. Peters: The upstairs apartment above his office was kind of famous. Lillian is Aronow's second wife -- a former Palm Beach socialite, heiress and high fashion model. But a dark Lincoln Continental rolled up alongside and then shots rang out. Also, said Peters, the Coast Guard drivers were left drowned in the wake of the offshore racers and the cocaine runners, who just had a different mentality come race time.. Rumours concerning Fort Apache continue to circulate, including one about the dock area, positing that camouflaged metal doors opened into large storage compartments, accessible at low tide at night, say. A certain nostalgia colours memories of the 1970s as a time of the gentlemanly marijuana business. Kramer got a 19-year sentence for manslaughter to run concurrently with a life term for marijuana smuggling. You make real money when you sell the company.. WebI think it was at this point that Don discovered that he was Jewish. By the end of 1962, Don had founded the Formula Marine boat company as a specialized moto boat business, which he ultimately sold to Alliance Machine Corp. of Merrick Lewis. He said, I cant do this anymore. Michael, his oldest son, was one of the best athletes at the University of Florida. The Beatles, Don Aronow, and his son Michael cruise off Miami before the bands iconic 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Claudia, his daughter, is an artist in New York. Peters: [upon hearing Browns story] Im from California, I hope that storys not about me! My Legacy: Inside Codecasa's 56m superyacht that champions traditionalism, Mimi La Sardine: The 33.5m explorer designed with a little help from Pinterest, My Song: Sailing in symphony on board the first ClubSwan 80, Interior designer Katharine Pooley turns her hand to boats, 130+ superyachts flock to St Barths for New Year's celebrations, Celebrities spotted on superyachts during the holidays. Peters: I had gone through a divorce and it was terrible times. A world-champion boat racer who enjoyed wild success in business, he was also an unapologetic playboy and fabled bon vivant. His first boat was made of wood and broke apart. Then one time, Don left, and said Alright kid, Ill see ya, and he walked out the door. After Don Aranow was killed by a gunshot in Miami in 1987, his story was told in the 2009 documentary Thunder Man: The Don Aranow Story and in the 2018 film Speed Kills. Far below, the Mediterranean lay shimmering in the moonlight. The University of Florida standout athlete Michael was the one who suffered serious injuries in a vehicle accident in 1970. The deals off. Im guessing Don kept some of the under-the-table money. When Cigarette founder and powerboat racing champion Don Aronow was shot dead on 3 February 1987 in Miami, the boating world was convulsed, but not everybody was surprised. The twos happy marriage disintegrates due to Bens demanding schedules and their son Andrews car accident, which left his legs permanently disfigured. Aronow was extremely competitive in most aspects of his life, perhaps even to a fault. A ruthless businessman, he equally relished a challenge in his personal life; Hed fuck your wife in a second, said powerboat Hall of Fame racer and boatbuilder Allan Brownie Brown, author of Tales from Thunderboat Row. Retired President Lyndon B. Johnson owned several 16ft. Donzi speedboats on his Texas ranch with which he would race his Secret Service agents. And he liked to get the best of people. However, this consciousness of guilt made for a weak states case. But Aronow may have possessed a darker side that even he could not outrun. The persona of John Travolta After relocating to Miami, Ben develops swiftly as a racer, motor designer, and businessman. Everyone who knew him has a story to tell. Don Aronow, powerboat racing champion and founder of Magnum, Cigarette and Donzi, continues to fascinate as doeshismysterious death,discovers Daniel Pembrey. The automotive billionaire was 24 years older than Crawford, a former Wilhelmina model. When his kids are teenagers, his first wife Kathy decides she cant stand him anymore after finding out about his other relationships. Ben Aronoff's success in business and as a successful boat racer hampered his personal life and caused a separation between him and his wife. Within a year of its creation, Donzi Marine gained recognition on a global scale, making it an immediate success. Although he entered a no guilty plea to manslaughter in 1996, the real offender was Ben Kramer, the 1986 American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship winner. That was on my to-do list, Deal with Baby Doc. That was the cast of characters he was involved with. Although witnesses failed to identify him in police line-ups, Young pled no contest to the shooting. Guys wanted to be him. Katheryn Winnick and John Travolta in Speed Kills ( Source : imdb ) Ben and his wife Emily also had a son named Andrew. (ABOVE) CRIME SCENE:A violent criminal named Bobby Young (right) was fingered as the hitman, whose employer according to the courts was Ben Kramer (left), Bob Saccenti [Kramer and Aronow] were both wealthy, and if it was over money, thats a shame. Lillian Aronow: Winning is an natural aphrodisiac. You had to be able to match. I never thought anybodyd actually do that, but by God they did. The boat coasted in fourth. Brown: He was murdered right out in front of my office halfway between Saccentis building and my building. It fuelled an uneasy dynamism. Credit: Courtesy of Arthur Jay Harris. During our conversation she revealed that she was a bit hesitant about being interviewed since she is not someone who is comfortable in the public eye but in the end we chatted about everything from her art, her stint in the antiques business to her childhood in Florida with her father, Don Aronow the boat racer and builder of the renowned Don Aronow is also quite proud of his lovely wife Lillian. This was December of 86. One of Don Aronow's race horses has just finished first. Ultimately, Kramer pled no contest to second-degree murder. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin, [1] [6] whom he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. Shortly after the visit, Aronow left his office and drove down the street to Apache Performance Boats to visit with his former protg, Bob Saccenti. Don Aronow with his wife Lillian and son Gavin. He has three childrenMichael, David, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife. Race officials found themselves in invidious positions. He had a brown Rolls Royce and [raced] horses and stuff. The fictionalized version of Donald Aronow is played by Ben Aronoff. [A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, by age 21 Aronow found himself married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey As director of the CIA, hed also interacted with Aronow, recalling how Don came and offered to help our country. It had to do with his father's taxicab company. On Tuesday, Smith, the retired detective, called Aronows widow, Lillian, to break the news. His father said it had to do with something called the Depression. The bosss wife would lean over my drafting table with her ample bosom and say, Remember, think sex.. The weather was cold and he was getting ulcers and he said, I cant do this anymore. I went over there and he had holes all over him. Aronow won the World Powerboat Championship in 1967 (hed go on to win it once more and the US championship three times), and in 1968, he sold Magnum. At his funeral, Doc Magoon gave the eulogy, and at one point he said Don was a mans man, and he paused, and then he said, and he was a ladies man. And everybody looked around the room at all of the known mistresses that were sitting there. You make real money when you sell the company., Allan Brown He was also the best boat salesman in the history of the world. Also read:Wally Tatomir: Death And Obituary What Is The Cause Of The Equipment Manager&Death? And in the end, he wound up as nothing more than a target for an assassins bullet. It was late and night during the depths of America's great Depression. I think hed really be proud of the boats. Don built boats for good guys and he built them for bad guys. He has three childrenMichael, David, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife. Young died in prison in 2009 after steadfastly refusing for years to testify against Kramer. The narrow street itself dead-ended to the east, requiring visitors to turn around to exit westbound. You never knew who might show up here, from royalty and high-born celebrity clients to drug-dealing low-lifes, by way of government officials, heads of the various boat firms and a diverse population of workers who earned their livings here. He thought he was going to semi-retire to Florida and skindive and fish but he got bored., Michael Peters Aronow looked the part. The Shah of Iran, George Bush Sr., and Lyndon Johnson all had speedboats that he made for them. He had first wanted to get into motor racing as a hobby, citing his rich status from running the Aronow Corporation, a construction company. The people who killed him were found out almost a decade after the fact. And then one night Aronow and the contessa were driving back from a candlelit dinner in a tiny restaurant high in the Carrara Mountains. That became the original Formula Marine.. Vice President George Bush drives one of Aronow's Cigarettes. The idea of bad guys outracing other bad guys and seizing their fortunes appealed to Aronow reasoned The Washington Post five days after his murder. [3] In 1995, career criminal Bobby Young admitted to shooting Aronow and pleaded no contest to second degree murder, eventually providing a full confession in 2009 shortly before his death. Peters: It could have been anyone from drug runners, to business partners, to jealous husbands. Performance boats attract a lot of characters. One of those characters was a racing boat driver and drug smuggler called Ben Kramer. I used to work boat shows with him and Holy Christ!, Michael Aronow I dont think any of those guys had ever seen anything quite like it, to be honest., Allan Brown At Cigarette, he had an intercom in his office and he used to boff his secretary there. Brown: Our friend Stu Jackson worked for Thunderbird and he received a gold Rolex when he retired. [3][4][5] Kramer had a business dispute with Aronow after buying the latter's USA Racing Team but was forced to sell it back to Aronow after the Customs Service refused to do business with him. [Allegations ran wild in the aftermath of Aronows death. Don Aronow is a proud man; proud of the way he's survived. Guys wanted to be him. Your access to this page has been blocked. If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: https://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/claudia-aronow/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:88.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/88.0, A summary of what you were doing and why you need access to this site. (ABOVE) RICH AND FAMOUS: Aronow famously kept company with people from all walks of life. Included in the settlement was $1.25 million in cash, a million-dollar Miami waterfront home and a Rolls-Royce. Some people bad-mouth him, Oh he did this, he robbed that, well thats shame on you. Certainly, young Don became wealthy by building and selling tract houses in New Jersey. He wears khaki slacks to work-tieless and sockless-as he cuts six-figure boat deals with a young Italian count one minute, and talks rpm's with a greasy race mechanic the next. Ben establishes his automotive empire in the film after relocating to Miami and changing his perspective to win. He succeeds in a number of major motor races and rises to the position of speedboat tycoon. Over the years, theories have developed to involve the Chicago mob, Colombian drug kingpins, cuckolded husbands or just a random shooter. There was fibreglass dust in the air and the pungent smell of resin and paint. He had plenty of cheese. Don Aronow was a dead set legend. A guy comes in with the money and you build a boat for them and you never know. He was the wealthiest in the field, but he died tragically, and it took 20 years for the prosecution to convict him. Nobody really knows [what happened], the only thing for sure is that Dons gone., Phil Lipschutz [Aronow] lived right on the water on Biscayne Bay. He pulled alongside a Lincoln car with tinted windows. Aronow: My father broke up more marriages than anybody. [1] In 1945, he joined the merchant marine and worked overseas until the end of World War II. Don did not enjoy boating. Dons second wife Lillian Crawford and their two boys Gavin and Wylie are also left behind. A kid was going to start a boat company in Florida. Queen Elizabeth II: Death And Obituary What Happened To Her? Most of the guys ran stock boats. A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, by the age of 21, Aronow was married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey construction company. You had to be able to match. There was a jumpiness, an electricity in the air, too not unusual on the street known locally as Thunderboat Row, Performance Street or Gasoline Alley. Aronow: After he was working with the family for a few years he went off on his own and started building homes, then shopping centers, industrial parks, all over northern New Jersey. Ive met some extremely charismatic men, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, she said. Again, he sold his company and started a new one, Magnum, evidently named after the double-sized bottles of champagne. Meanwhile, Kramer had been convicted of massive marijuana smuggling and money laundering, receiving multiple prison sentences including life without parole. WebProfile of Don Aronow murder on TV show Expose hosted by Tom Brokaw After Aronows brief visit with Saccenti, he got back in his white Mercedes and began to pull away. And every new [Cigarette] that I do, I drive right by his house with it, just so he can see. They had three children: [1] Michael who was a star athlete at the University of Florida until he was severely injured in a car accident in 1970 and used a wheelchair after that. Her father was extremely wealthy and Don once told me he was going to take Shirley to California if the old man didnt cut him into the business. His social group was pretty much divided along the same ratio. Saccenti: Don used to come and see me when I was hurt, one of those You need anything let me know, kinda things. Speculation about who the killer might be ran from jilted lovers or jealous husbands to [Jewish mobster] Meyer Lansky and the CIA. Michael, Donalds eldest son, thought his dad was a hero. The business was established in 1953 and immediately became one of the biggest construction firms in the region. Boat International Media Ltd 2008 - 2022. That was just his personality. It was in 007 that he beat Bertram in the Miami-Nassau race in 1965. Whats the difference between Heesens three superyacht build concepts? Speculation about who the killer might be ran from jilted lovers to jealous husbands to Meyer Lansky to the CIA. When I started designing for Cigarette in 1978, Halter Marine had just acquired the company and they perpetuated the ethos, said Peters. But if you decided to take him on, dont expect him to give ground., His next project was considered to be his masterpiece: the long lean Cigarette boats named after a vessel used to hijack rum-runners during Prohibition days. Brown: Every boat he sold was built for himself. Theres about 70 people out there who think they have a boat Don built for himself. Magnum Marine was responsible for Donalds first World Championship victory in 1927. Don Aronow's pockets are stuffed with fifties and hundreds. It would be easy to become blocked in here. And I was like, do I really want to move down there? He says the Colombians did it. Don and I had had a meeting to discuss my salary. His roles in Saturday Night Fever, Carrie, Urban Cowboy, Face/Off, Grease, and A Civil Action, among many others, make him a must-see 70s and 80s heartthrob. Bobby Young, the convicted shooter and the man who might have provided definitive answers, died in jail in 2009. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. But nothing compares with the go-fast scenes of the 1960s, 1970s and climatic 1980s. "A stunning blonde. Five days after his murder, The Washington Post reported that a Customs official described Aronow as co-operative when Aronow had been approached for information about one of his clients. I never thought anybody would actually do that, but by God, they did., Michael Peters [George] Bushs reaction was that he wanted [Miami] Dade Homicide on it like it was the most important case on their books. Congregating witnesses spoke of a dark Lincoln Continental having pulled up alongside Aronows white Mercedes. Was it even a planned killing, or some crazed crime of passion? And he liked to get the best of people., Bob Saccenti When he came to Florida, he got hooked up with the greats and he definitely made his mark. But if he didnt like you, watch out., Allan Brown Our friend Stu Jackson worked for Thunderbird and he received a gold Rolex when he retired. He was a quiet boy, remarkably shy during his early years, with delicate features and soft brown eyes. Their father, Hugh Gibb, was mugged; Barry Gibbs wife, Linda, had her purse snatched. What Happened to Speed Kills Racer Ben Aronoff? [1] He had two elder sisters, Sylvia and Lillian. And that became the original Formula Marine. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin [1] [6] who he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. Besides the states weak case, there were other, more fundamental doubts over whether Kramer had arranged to have Aronow shot. Don Aronow understood that motto as well as anyone who ever lived. Writer: How about a one-word description of the kind of boat you build? He raced his 8.2-metre Maltese Magnum all over the world. "These guys earned their money," Aronow says. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue. A violent criminal named Bobby Young was fingered as the hitman, and his employeraccording to the courtswas Ben Kramer. It lets you transport your luxury car up to the safety of your own unit, even as crime rates have dropped. Allan Brown Shirley was his first wife. Similar to IMDb, it lists a middling 4.2 stars out of 10. Those two managed to make you feel like you were the centre of their world. He was larger than life. Adam Kimmel, the menswear designer and spouse of The Glass House actress Leelee Sobieski, is the son of the ex-couple. After divorcing his first wife, Shirley, with whom he had three children, Aronow married Lillian Crawford, a Wilhelmina fashion model and socialite. Aronow left his office in his white Mercedes, shortly after visiting a rival boat dealership owned by Kramer. He didnt pick on the little guy. The guy would say, I want a 28. And Aronow would say, Oh no, were all sold out. And the guy would keep pushing, I wanted one all my life. And Don would say, We dont have any 28s, but Im building a 35 for myself and I could sell that to you. That was classic Aronow., Allan Brown Every boat he sold was built for himself. Speed Kills Story Based On Motorboat Racer Don Aronows Real Life, Ben Aronoff Wikipedia: John Travolta Portrayed Don Aronows Character, Who Is Ben Aronoffs Wife? Don Aronow has actually been married twice in his life. Allan Brown Shirley was his first wife. Bush, right, was a close friend who initially threw his weight behind the murder investigation. And he never would backpedal later or change things. He was right out of a Hollywood script. He dont speak too much English, hes trying to explain something, something serious. People said whatever Don touched turned to gold. Ben Aronoff's success in business and as a successful boat racer hampered his personal life and caused a separation between him and his wife. He thought he was going to semi-retire to Florida and skin dive and fish, but he got bored. At that time, NE 188th Street was a weed-strewn, low-rise strip. He did that a few times. By November 1981, a Time magazine cover feature was declaring that an epidemic of violent crime, a plague of illicit drugs and a tidal wave of refugees have slammed into South Florida with the destructive power of a hurricane. Aronow's Cigarette has also become the low slung get-away boat of choice for South Florida's high-rolling drug smugglers.? Further reading. It was into this volatile, heady mix that vice president George HW Bush President Reagans lieutenant in the White Houses war on drugs unwittingly stepped. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Members of the Bee Gees were neighbours on both sides. The Beatles, Don Aronow, and his son Michael cruise off Miami before the bands iconic 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Don Aronow: The King of Thunderboat Row, 1994, by Michael Aronow I dont want to make him out to be the greatest boatbuilder in the world, but in that particular class of boats, he was unequalled., Again, Peters gave a qualifying view: Don perfected things already invented: hull shapes, construction techniques and engine setups. Bush a close friend.]. The more problematic aspect was that Aronow additionally arranged to sell USA Racing Team, complete with the Blue Thunder contract, to Ben Kramer, who by now had drug smuggling convictions. Sign up to BOAT International email newsletters to get the latest superyacht news, business analysis, exclusive event invitations, and more. Alongside the sexual revolution came the growth in the drugs trade. Peters: If you were a coward, with him, you were gone. A violent criminal named Bobby Young was fingered as the hitman, whose employer according to the courts was Ben Kramer. Actor John Travolta as Ben Aronoff in the 2018 crime drama Speed Kills. The investigating detectives believed that Kramer was seeking to silence Young in jail, paying his legal bills, even possibly seeking to have Young killed. (ABOVE) TICKET TO RIDE: Don Aronow and his son, Michael, cruising off Miami with the Beatles before their iconic 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan show. I told my secretary to call 911. Aranow was married twice, and his two marriages gave him a total of five children. During our conversation she revealed that she was a bit hesitant about being interviewed since she is not someone who is comfortable in the public eye but in the end we chatted about everything from her art, her stint in the antiques business to her childhood in Florida with her father, Don Aronow the boat racer and builder of the renowned He admired Aronow and acquired a corner of the Row, obtaining an interest in Apache, which in turn supplied the vessels he raced offshore (his fabled Warpath, based on a deep V Cigarette mould, won him a world championship). And then the investigation got going and they realized who Aronow was involved with, and Bush backpedaled out of there as fast as he could. When you shook his hand that was the deal. Check Death Reason HOw Old She Was? Next thing I know, an employee is banging on my door. Miami claimed the nations highest murder rate at 70 per 100,000 residents, and this years pace has been even higher. However when the Customs Service found out about the younger Kramers criminal reputation, they put the kibosh on the transaction.]. "That's what winning is all about," Aronow grins nearly 20 years later. Everything there to me was racing and drug trafficking. Due to Dons business relationships with some of the riskiest figures in the field, his name was changed to Ben Aronoff. Don was the only person who gave me more than a platitudehe gave me a job, this was December of 86. Some men had told his father that he'd lost it. But he knew from Bertrams experience that the way to promote and build his company was by winning races. Wylie, the second son, says that he helped start the Bored Ape Yacht Club. He would have a succession of ladies that would appear. Donalds second business venture was Donzi Marine, which he founded in 1964 and later sold to Teleflex Inc. in the middle of 1965. During the day were asked to patrol their race course during events for emergency rescues, a Coast Guard official told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. We were having lunch one day and Don asked if it was a good watch. It cost Aronow a fortune to divorce his wife Shirley in 1979. By various accounts, he then fled to Florida in 1960 to escape the mob. He was very young. Always laughing and full of life were typical depictions of the man. Given this unpromising start in life, the seven-ton, 11.9-metre Blue Thunder vessels acquitted themselves well. It was from here the hit man opened fire, three bullets striking the powerboat star. And he became hooked on racing and thats how it all began. A certain Ben Kramer, who came from a seemingly good home on the Intracoastal Waterway between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, started smoking pot at school and began selling it. Once Aronow was able to formally open his new company, he started Cigarette Racing Team using his own designs in 1970. So little Don had driven north to spend the day in Rochester with his parents. Leaving his office that afternoon, Aronow was making for his North Bay Road residence, a 1929 Spanish-style waterfront mansion undergoing renovations, 30 minutes drive away. In the boating world, we wont see the likes of Don Aronow again.. In the movie, Bens personal life is hard, just like it is in real life. In Italy. [He drove it back and] the boat was sinking at the dock and he stepped off and said The boats a piece of shit kid. Accounts of the dealings vary, but perhaps $2 million had been paid under the table in cash by Kramer when he bought the firm, using drug money. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 0% approval rating and an overall rating of 2.5/10. Aronow doesn't care if all these retired furniture makers and machine tool executives are little more than middle-aged adolescents flaunting their masculinity on a Sunday afternoon -- tooling around the docks of some Intracoastal bar like Shooters, feeling terribly macho-nautical doing 30 knots in a $125,000 Cigarette Aronow built to run all day at 60 knots in hull- hammering six foot seas. Marchesa Katrin Theodoli and her husband became the owners of Magnum. Dream Symphony: Inside the 10-year build of the world's biggest sailing yacht. Also read:Queen Elizabeth II: Death And Obituary What Happened To Her? He built speedboats for the Shah of Iran, Charles Keating, Robert Vesco, Malcolm Forbes, and George H. W. Bush. "It was a pretty informal thing. WebIn 1964, Brownie worked for Don Aronow at Donzi Marine, the first real sport boat builder. (Ironically, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, Saccentis life was saved by his race partner, none other than Ben Kramer. His wife appeared on the cover. If you are using a VPN, try disabling it. Only Magnum and a marina (not Fort Apache) are still here. No woman should be alone in this city, Barry Gibb warned Time. "I'd never be married to a beautiful woman like Lillian if I hauled garbage for a living," Aronow adds. He would build larger premises next door, on what was now known as Thunderboat Row, putting his erstwhile companies and new-found competitors in the shade. They had three children: [1] Michael who was a star athlete at the University of Florida until he was severely injured in a car accident in 1970 and used a wheelchair after that. Jackson said it was the best in the world. He later got married to Lillian Crawford, a model for Wilhelmina who was 24 years younger than he was. That was on my to-do list: Deal with Baby Doc. He went to 188th Street in Miami and decided he wanted to put a plant there. Young died in prison in 2009 after steadfastly refusing for years to testify against Kramer. If your browser is out of date, try updating it. How Did He Die? [On the afternoon of February 3, 1987, a man claiming to be Jerry Jacoby walked into Aronows Thunderboat Row office exhibiting strange behavior; inquiring about a 60-foot boat and alluding to a mysterious man that he worked forand who he would kill for if need be. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin [1] [6] who he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. They just dont make em like Don Aronow anymore. Make that a very healthy six figures. He pulled alongside a Lincoln car with tinted windows. Reaching out across the Pacific to Miami, Florida, The Captain gets the lowdown on the wild life and times of legendary Cigarette builder Don Aronow. When you shook his hand, that was the deal. Michael Peters was a contracted designer to Aronow from 1981 to 1986, and was then hired full-time. Saccenti: When he came to Florida, he got hooked up with the greats, and he definitely made his mark. Aronow's mechanic was busy prepping their twin-engined Magnum. He gave the impression that he felt he could take whatever he wanted.. Lipschutz: The saying he had about [Cigarettes famed Mistress model] was every man should have a Mistress. And that certainly described him, too. He was right out of a Hollywood script. Credit: Courtesy of Arthur Jay Harris. Aronow was murdered in his car at the end of 188th Street in North Miami Beach on February 3, 1987. He dont speak too much English, but hes trying to explain something serious. Or man, his brother Robin added. The boat coasted in fourth. Then he bought a parcel of land immediately west of them and built the Magnum building. A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, by the age of 21, Aronow was married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey construction company. Because he did, thats for sure. Don was a native of New York who, through to his financial savvy and driving prowess, eventually came to command the Miami waterways. The murder may forever remain a mystery. I knew they were gunshots. Don did not enjoy boating. And when [then Vice President] Bush said We aint gonna buy boats from Ben Kramer. They had me in a cage for three years and nine months, with no daylight, no contact with human beings, Kramer said. Hes the only person Ive ever known like that. Saccenti: He used to say youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats. Gavin and Wylie are their two sons. Allan Brownie Brown is a former acquaintance. He came to my basketball games, my football games, he was always around.. [2] In 1947, he returned to the USA and completed his studies graduating from Brooklyn College in 1948 with a physical education degree[1] earning letters in football, wrestling, and track. Aronow, it seems, would sell anybody a boat, especially for cash, but if you said you were using it to smuggle drugs, Don wouldnt have anything to do with you, asserted Mike Kandrovicz from USA Racing Team. Her father was extremely wealthy and Don once told me he was going to take Shirley to California if the old man didnt cut him into the business., Michael Aronow After he was working with the family for a few years, he went off on his own and started building homes, then shopping centres and industrial parks all over northern New Jersey. Brown: Don was so reckless with shit like that. There are about 70 people out there who think they have a boat Don built for himself!, Michael Aronow By 1966, my dad had sold Donzi to Teleflex. Aronow was bigger than life, and he was also a boat designer. The chaotic crime scene confronting police detectives was mysterious, not least because of the geography. Aronow evidently stopped his car willingly; he was found with his foot pressed fully down on the accelerator, the 5.6-litre Mercedes engine racing wildly hed put the car in neutral, almost certainly to engage whoever was inside the Lincoln. She has a son with him. He stepped off and said, The boats a piece of shit, kid. It was from here the hit man opened fire, three bullets striking the powerboat star. And he never would backpedal later or change things. The University of Florida standout athlete Michael was the one who suffered serious injuries in a vehicle accident in 1970. He was inquiring about a 60ft boat and alluding to a mysterious man he worked for and who he would kill for, if need be. This sum, Aronow did not return. Aronow had sold USA Racing Team a company that built high-speed catamarans for the US Customs Service to Kramer and his father in 1985. A tough, athletic, Jewish kid from Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York, by the age of 21, Aronow was married and about to start a career in his father-in-laws New Jersey construction company. Michael Aronow is one of Dons five sons from three wives. Aronow went down the canal at 65mph (105km/h) and ended up running into the seawall. Peters: He didnt like guys that came in and tried to go toe to toe with him. Aronow left his office in his white Mercedes, shortly after visiting a rival boat dealership owned by Kramer. Peters: One of the first issues I had to deal with when he hired me [in the early 80s] was [notorious Haitian dictator] Baby Doc [who was a client]. In the film, Ben Aronoff is wed to Katherine Aronoff, his wife. The great speed of Cigarette boats also made them a popular choice among cocaine smugglers. But at night, were chasing many of the same guys for smuggling., Events took a turn towards the surreal when Carlos Lehder, the Medelln Cartel kingpin, started buying up Normans Cay, an island in the Bahamas some 330 kilometres off the coast of Florida, for his cocaine transport empire. In 1966, he founded Magnum Marine and in 1967 proceeded to win his first World Championship driving two 27' Magnums, a single engine inboard and a triple engine Mercury-powered outboard. "I don't now why nobody was killed. He was right out of a Hollywood script. Still riding high in the charts was The Bangles recent chart-topper Walk Like an Egyptian, originally inspired by the way people struggle to maintain balance aboard boats, apparently. Their son is menswear designer Adam Kimmel; His second wife was former Wilhelmina model, Lillian Crawford, 24 years his junior. Double-Sized bottles of champagne and George H. W. Bush man ; proud of the world 's biggest sailing yacht which! 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