History of this model:

Typhoon was designed by George W. Crouch, whose three-point hitch seaplane, Cinderella, revolutionized early speedboat racing and whose motor torpedo boat ideas were later incorporated into H. Scott-Paine's PT boat designs. Typhoon was built for Edsel Ford to be used for commuting between his home and the Ford plant on the Detroit River. The 40-foot runabout was built at Henry B. Nevins Shipyard, City Island, New York, where Crouch, who died in 1959, was a design consultant, reportedly for over $70,000. Estimates of their replacement cost today are over $100,000. Typhoon got its name from the original engine, a 600 hp 12 cylinder Wright Typhoon aircraft engine originally developed for an airship. This power plant was transported in a varnished African mahogany hull, double planed forward and single planked aft, seven feet, Eight inches wide and faced both stern and bow. She had three wide seats, two forward and one aft of the midships engine bay. Typhoon's experience was no less disturbing than the times in which she was born. Ford, reportedly told by his doctors that the powerful boat was a threat to his health, announced the boat for sale in September 1934 to Motor Boating. The half-page ad contained the merest specs, and the accompanying photo showed her dead in the water, looking deceptively gentle. The boat had several subsequent owners in and around Chicago, including racer Joseph Van Blerck Jr., but generally spent more time out than in the water. Her drive was changed from time to time. At some point an Allison aircraft engine was installed with ship conversion, another owner installed a V12 Hall Scott Defender that developed 650 horsepower at 2200 rpm and weighed a whopping 4300 pounds. In the late 1960s, at Bryant's Marina in Washington, the boat docked alongside the Typhoon caught fire. The fire raged out of control and soon engulfed the typhoon. The typhoon was a total loss.