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. They had two sons, Gavin and Wylie. Kramer got a 19-year sentence for manslaughter to run concurrently with a life term for marijuana smuggling. 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. Writer: How about a one-word description of the kind of boat you build? 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. "A stunning blonde. Half out of his car, Aronow lay slumped, crimson blooming across his shirt. A world-champion boat racer who enjoyed wild success in business, he was also an unapologetic playboy and fabled bon vivant. 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. WebThree weeks before he was murdered, Aronow had a pensive, reflective talk with his wife, Lillian, a former girlfriend of Jordan's King Hussein. He came to my basketball games, my football games, he was always around. I think hed really be proud of the boats., What Are The Best Boats For OffShore Fishing? Saccenti: [Kramer and Aronow] were both wealthy, and if it was over money, thats a shame. The contessa suddenly mashed her brakes and brought the car to a halt at the side of the road, its tires only inches away from a sheer drop into a dark valley. They had me in a cage for three years and nine months, with no daylight, no contact with human beings, Kramer said. I knew they were gunshots. Miami claimed the nations highest murder rate at 70 per 100,000 residents, and this years pace has been even higher. Far below, the Mediterranean lay shimmering in the moonlight. Performance boats attract a lot of characters. One of those characters was a racing boat driver and drug smuggler called Ben Kramer. Again, he sold his company and started a new one, Magnum, evidently named after the double-sized bottles of champagne. Claudia is a New York-based artist. In Miami, his head was turned by the nascent offshore powerboating scene and in particular the gruelling Miami-Nassau race that ran for 296 kilometres. Back in those days [criminal activity involving speedboats] was very prevalent because there was a lot of smuggling going on. Don was the only person who gave me more than a platitude he gave me a job. The book about Don Aranows life by Arthur J. Harris was turned into the movie Speed Kills. Magnum Marine was responsible for Donalds first World Championship victory in 1927. [1], After school, he worked as a physical education teacher for a time until he accepted a job at his father-in-law's southern New Jersey construction business which was booming thanks to demand from returning World War II veterans. Donalds second business venture was Donzi Marine, which he founded in 1964 and later sold to Teleflex Inc. in the middle of 1965. But in the end, the investigation led to a hired gun. This is his story in the words of some of the men who knew him best. You can talk to anybody [about that]. Whats the difference between Heesens three superyacht build concepts? Aronow left his office in his white Mercedes, shortly after visiting a rival boat dealership owned by Kramer. 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. Having made a fortune in the construction business in New Jersey, building homes and shopping centres, Aronow hastily relocated to Florida in 1961. He was larger than life. He gave me a spacious office, and I thought, Finally, Im starting to feel secure in life after a recent divorce. I remember taking a call from a guy named Ben Kramer and telling him that Don had already left his office for the day.. Aronow sold the company (and Brownie) shortly after its inception (and a couple of big offshore wins). The deals off. Im guessing Don kept some of the under-the-table money. He dont speak too much English, hes trying to explain something, something serious. And I can tell you, the day he was murdered there were phone calls to the King of Jordan, the King of Spain, George Bush. He eventually became aggravated with the business. Anyhow, there was this contessa Don Aronow met while he was racing in the Mediterranean off northern Italy. Ive met some extremely charismatic men, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, she said. It was a big building and obscured the Donzi plant you couldnt see [Donzi] from Highway 1 anymore! It was all downhill from there. He has three childrenMichael, David, and Claudiawith Shirley Goldin, his first wife. By this time the mid 1990s he was being kept in an isolation cell without, his lawyer claimed, adequate dental or medical care. 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. 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. Peters recalled a sound like firecrackers a pop pop pop, eerie and ominous. People said whatever Don touched turned to gold., Michael Aronow Forrest Johnson was originally his fishing buddy. His social group was pretty much divided along the same ratio. You gotta do your homework. WebThree weeks before he was murdered, Aronow had a pensive, reflective talk with his wife, Lillian, a former girlfriend of Jordan's King Hussein. The EMS showed up. It says so right there on the bottom of his resume: Has survived three motorcycle crashes, totaled five automobiles and 12 boating mishaps. He built speedboats for the Shah of Iran, Charles Keating, Robert Vesco, Malcolm Forbes, and George H. W. Bush. 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. Don Aronow with his wife Lillian and son Gavin. Some people say he was hiding from the mob. Saccenti: He used to say youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats. He went to 188th Street in Miami and decided he wanted to put a plant there. 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. He was formidably competitive both on and off the water, brutally handsome and adroit at negotiating the line between the legal and the illicit at least until the very end. They become friends and Johnson told my father about the Miami-Nassau race, which my father became really interested in. However, when the Customs Service found out about the younger Kramers criminal reputation, they put the kibosh on the transaction, Allan Brown Ben Kramer bought USA Racing from Aronow and apparently there was some money under the table. His wife appeared on the cover. 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 Aronow: Forrest Johnson was originally his fishing buddy. [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. Ultimately, Kramer pled no contest to second-degree murder. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue. Kramer was hot tempered, the argument went; had he been sufficiently enraged by the USA Racing Team misfire to kill Aronow, he would have done so in 1985, whereas Kramer reportedly remained respectful towards Aronow until the end. Barely had he begun to win before he sold Formula to Thunderbird Boats. A violent criminal named Bobby Young was fingered as the hitman, whose employer according to the courts was Ben Kramer. Then he bought a parcel of land immediately west of them, and thats where he built the Magnum building. However, this consciousness of guilt made for a weak states case. Don did not enjoy boating. One of Don Aronow's race horses has just finished first. Saccenti: When he came to Florida, he got hooked up with the greats, and he definitely made his mark. Peters: Bushs reaction was that he wanted Dade Homicide on it like the most important case on their books. 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. Allegations ran wild in the aftermath of Aronows death. Young died in prison in 2009 after steadfastly refusing for years to testify against Kramer. 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. Peters: [upon hearing Browns story] Im from California, I hope that storys not about me! Are lithium-ion batteries to blame for recent boat blazes? The deals off. Im guessing Don kept some of the under-thetable money., Michael Peters I had gone through a divorce and it was terrible times. You make real money when you sell the company.. He later got married to Lillian Crawford, a model for Wilhelmina who was 24 years younger than he was. Aronow famously kept company with people from all walks of life. Revealingly, the Time feature predicted that Miami would remain, as the late President Jaime Rolds of Ecuador put it, the capital of Latin America. 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. Was it even a planned killing, or some crazed crime of passion? A guy would come looking at a boat with a girl, and the guy would ask How much? And Don would go, Seventy grand. The guy would say, Thats too much. And Don would say every time, I think you should go get a Bayliner then, this is way too much boat for you. And the guys would be ripping their pockets open trying to give him money! A guy comes in with the money and you build a boat for them and you never know. But they [blew] a clutch and had nothing left. You can talk to anybody [about that] [But] he was home every night. Having made a fortune in the construction business in New Jersey, building homes and shopping centres, Aronow hastily relocated to Florida in 1961. The murder may forever remain a mystery. Some of the most popular types of speedboats were the Cigarette, Donzi, Formula, and Cary. Included in the settlement was $1.25 million in cash, a million-dollar Miami waterfront home and a Rolls-Royce. "And they're entitled to spend it any damn way thay want.". 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. Semi-blind, he was forced to wear heavy-rimmed and thick-lensed glasses that were always a worry when he played. Read more:David A. Arnold: Death And Obituary How Did Famous Comedian, Actor-Writer &Producer Die? A kid was going to start a boat company in Florida, he had bought a boat in California, and he asked Aronow and me to drive it and see if it was any good. Youre a businessman, too. [Aronow famously kept company with people from all walks of life. Drug smuggling could be the regions major [largest] industry.. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin, [1] [6] whom he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. And he eventually became aggravated with the business. Hes the only person Ive ever known like that. Dons second wife Lillian Crawford and their two boys Gavin and Wylie are also left behind. Further reading. "So I decided to do a little construction on the side.". We considered Formula to be a utility boat. (ABOVE) RICH AND FAMOUS: Aronow famously kept company with people from all walks of life. 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. 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. I went over there and he had holes all over him. Similar to IMDb, it lists a middling 4.2 stars out of 10. Brown: Everybody has their own idea about why he was in Miami. That became the original Formula Marine.. Of the World's most recognized racing boat companies, Don Aronow established five; Donzi, Formula, Magnum, Cigarette and In these circumstances, it would have been extraordinary if the drug cash hadnt found its way into Thunderboat Row and its fabled go-fast boats. I went over there and he had holes all over him. Peters: Aronow looked the part. Bob Saccenti is the builder of Chief Powerboats and founder of Apache Performance Boats. New hotels and office towers are rising in Miami, and once-sleepy towns nearby are growing skylines of their own, chronicled Time. "It won big," Aronow says. 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. [1][2] In 1959, at age of 32, the now-millionaire Aronow moved to Miami with his family, where he began racing boats as a hobby.[2]. Being a multimillionaire and accomplished speedboat racing champion, he frequently ran afoul of the law and numerous drug lords in the water metropolis. The Beatles, Don Aronow, and his son Michael cruise off Miami before the bands iconic 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. You had to be able to match. While limiting your liability, all while adhering to the most notable state and federal privacy laws and 3rd party initiatives, including. To finance the development, he sold more civilised versions, with teak decks and sleeping quarters, to the general public. The rest of NE 188th Street is covered with blocks of expensive condos promising comfortable waterside living. [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. But it bothered Don Aronow that he couldn't win. He was a real successful cocksman the best I ever saw. Furthermore, there were witnesses plenty of them, if not always consistent in the details they shared with police. And I seen it, the blood. Don Aronow understood that motto as well as anyone who ever lived. He had first wanted to get into motor racing as a hobby, citing his rich status from running the Aronow Corporation, a construction company. Also read:Wally Tatomir: Death And Obituary What Is The Cause Of The Equipment Manager&Death? 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