How much does it cost to charter a Below Deck yacht? 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. 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? To this day, he maintains his innocence. 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. And hes bellowing trying to say something. Whatever the truth of such rumours, the way South Floridas drug business metastasised from marijuana to cocaine smuggling, to vast profits and lawlessness, would sustain five seasons of Miami Vice. 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. Performance boats attract a lot of characters. 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. 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. Guys wanted to be him. [2] Saccenti: He was a great guy and a great businessman. He did that a few times. Whats the difference between Heesens three superyacht build concepts? He went to 188th Street in Miami and decided he wanted to put a plant there. People said whatever Don touched turned to gold. With his father, he also founded Fort Apache Marina on the Row, comprising a boat storage facility, waterfront restaurant and patio bar. Drug smuggling could be the regions major [largest] industry.. Itinerary: Between the Bays in Anguilla and St Martin, Why this 38m yacht is the perfect new year purchase, A closer look at Benettis new 85m futuristic concept Project ORO. 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. "I took her to all the best places," Aronow says. 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. Whereas Don Aronow was more brash, assertive more resolutely a mans man. He was about outdoing the other guy no matter what you were doing. Don was a native of New York who, through to his financial savvy and driving prowess, eventually came to command the Miami waterways. He gave the impression that he felt he could take whatever he wanted.. That was just his personality. Peters: I had gone through a divorce and it was terrible times. Many disputes were going on in his marital life. Also read:Queen Elizabeth II: Death And Obituary What Happened To Her? I was a little hesitant to move to Miami because my view of it was straight out of [1980s TV series] Miami Vice. "These guys earned their money," Aronow says. And sure enough, I moved there on a Monday and he was murdered that Tuesday. This sum, Aronow did not return. Dream Symphony: Inside the 10-year build of the world's biggest sailing yacht. Phil Lipschutz I never had any inkling that Don was involved in something illegal. Youre a businessman, too. Check Out Christopher Brineys Unseen Summer I Turned Pretty PhotosYoull Be Surprised! What Happened To Don Aronow? And in the end, he wound up as nothing more than a target for an assassins bullet. 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. Some of the most popular types of speedboats were the Cigarette, Donzi, Formula, and Cary. He pulled alongside a Lincoln car with tinted windows. He had plenty of cheese. And I seen it, the blood. With lots of money and charisma, not to mention NFL starting quarterback good looks, Aronow soon became a ladies man of legendary status in Miami circles. [1] He had two elder sisters, Sylvia and Lillian. Don Aronow born in 1927 in Brooklyn New York, left New Jersey in 1961 to relocate in Miami. [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. 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. 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. 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. Peters recalled a sound like firecrackers a pop pop pop, eerie and ominous. Allan Brown He started Formula from scratch and sold it to Thunderbird in about a year. His father said it had to do with something called the Depression. The great speed of Cigarette boats also made them a popular choice among cocaine smugglers. 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. 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). Speculation about who the killer might be ran from jilted lovers or jealous husbands to [Jewish mobster] Meyer Lansky and the CIA. Donald Joel Aronow (March 3, 1927 February 3, 1987) was an American designer, builder and racer of the famous Magnum Marine, Cary, Cigarette, Donzi, and Formula speedboats. What Happened To Don Aronow? Brown: At Cigarette he had an intercom in his office and he used to boff his secretary there and if you needed him you just hit him on the intercom! How a week chartering in Croatia with SamBoat changed my life. [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 construction company.]. First published in the October 2022 issue of BOAT International. Peters: Aronow looked the part. Don Aronow has actually been married twice in his life. 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. Australia, DEAN OF THE DEEP | TIM DEAN ABOARD HIS 47FT OBRIEN, FULL SEND MODE CLAYTON MCDIARMIDS MINT HAINES HUNTER V17. It would be easy to become blocked in here. If you are using a VPN, try disabling it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Brown: Hed fuck your wife in a second. The chaotic crime scene confronting police detectives was mysterious, not least because of the geography. In the boating world, we wont see the likes of Don Aronow again.. Claudia, his daughter, is an artist in New York. He was the type of guy that if he liked you, he loved you. The people who killed him were found out almost a decade after the fact. 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]. 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. 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. Don built boats for good guys and he built them for bad guys. 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. This was not the first mystery to surround Donald Joel Aronow. Lillian is Aronow's second wife -- a former Palm Beach socialite, heiress and high fashion model. Don Aronow's pockets are stuffed with fifties and hundreds. Much was explained by the states southern exposure and geography its thousands of kilometres of coastline, coves and inlets. (ABOVE) HES GOT THE LOOK: Aronow looked the part. A kid was going to start a boat company in Florida. I was like, do I really want to move down there? Ive met some extremely charismatic men, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, she said. The University of Florida standout athlete Michael was the one who suffered serious injuries in a vehicle accident in 1970. 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. Don Aronow is a proud man; proud of the way he's survived. He went to 188th Street in Miami and decided he wanted to put a plant there. And hes bellowing, trying to say something. 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. The CrewMichael Aronow: sonBob Saccenti: builder of Chief Powerboats and founder of Apache Performance BoatsPhil Lipschutz: former Aronow contractor and current Miami-area Cigarette dealerAllan Brownie Brown: former acquaintanceMichael Peters: contracted designer 1981-1986, hired full-time 1987. She has a son with him. Please make sure JavaScript is enabled and then try loading this page again. Only Magnum and a marina (not Fort Apache) are still here. Aronow's mechanic was busy prepping their twin-engined Magnum. Back in those days [criminal activity involving speedboats] was very prevalent because there was a lot of smuggling going on. Boat International Media Ltd 2008 - 2022. You can talk to anybody [about that]. Hed bought a Formula and a Cigarette from him, describing Aronow as a joy to be around. Soon enough, he had his own yellow Cigarette boat with which to smuggle. Certainly, young Don became wealthy by building and selling tract houses in New Jersey. On the afternoon of February 3, 1987, a man claiming to be Jerry Jacoby walked into Aronows Thunderboat Row office exhibiting strange behaviour. Gavin and Wylie are their two sons. He often raced the fast boats owned by his company and won a number of races. Brown: Everybody has their own idea about why he was in Miami. In 1964 he started Donzi Marine; the Donzi brand became an international success and Aronow quickly sold the company to Teleflex Inc. in mid-1965. [Aronow was extremely competitive in most aspects of his life, perhaps even to a fault.]. WebProfile of Don Aronow murder on TV show Expose hosted by Tom Brokaw WebAronow married twice. 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. But in the end the investigation led to a hired gun. On February 3, 1987, Aronow was murdered in his car at the end of 188th Street in North Miami Beach where his boat companies operated. He thought he was going to semi-retire to Florida and skin dive and fish, but he got bored. 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.. Bush, right, was a close friend who initially threw his weight behind the murder investigation. He was going to run for president, and his friend had 140 people who wanted to kill him! That was just his personality.. Innovations such as fibreglass construction techniques and the drag-reducing deep V hull were taking chunks from the record times, and also from crews in rough seas. Further reading. Certainly it is less difficult now to see how, in 1980s Miami, the murder of a man as magnetic as Aronow could garner 140 suspects at the Metro-Dade Police Department, each with the apparent motive, means and opportunity to have the King of Thunderboat Row gunned down in broad daylight. They become friends and Mr. Johnson told my father about the Miami-Nassau race and my father became really interested in it. Aranow was married twice, and his two marriages gave him a total of five children. Little Don couldn't understand how all his father's taxicabs could get lost at once. 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. He flourished as an entrepreneur during his upswing in motorsports and the automotive industry, setting himself apart from others. Dick Bertram was the man to beat both in terms of boat design and the racing itself. The automobiles tycoons untimely demise, which made international headlines, did not go over well with the crowd. Aronow was free to pursue the contessa. Lillian Aronow: Winning is an natural aphrodisiac. "So I decided to do a little construction on the side.". Phil Lipschutz is a Miami Cigarette dealer and a former contractor to the Don. Katheryn Winnick and John Travolta in Speed Kills ( Source : imdb ) Ben and his wife Emily also had a son named Andrew. Bobby Young, a career criminal, acknowledged the occurrence in 1995 and gave a complete confession in 2009, just before he passed away. More plausibly, he was drawn to the Sunshine State by its warmth, excitement and a different form of escapism, as many tend to be. 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. A violent criminal named Bobby Young was fingered as the hitman, whose employer according to the courts was Ben Kramer. He ran a successful business making speedboats. Dons second wife Lillian Crawford and their two boys Gavin and Wylie are also left behind. Writer: How about a one-word description of the kind of boat you build? I went over there and he had holes all over him. I cant imagine that, though, he was pretty easy to find. Michael Peters One of the first issues I had to deal with when he hired me [in the early 1980s] was [notorious Haitian dictator] Baby Doc [Duvalier, who was a client]. Then he bought a parcel of land immediately west of them, and thats where he built the Magnum building. 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. We collected some of the best. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 0% approval rating and an overall rating of 2.5/10. Allan Brown Shirley was his first wife. I cant imagine that though, he was pretty easy to find. Always laughing and full of life were typical depictions of the man. It was testimony to the Theodolis diplomatic instincts that this would not become their fate. Despite having a complex plot, Speed Kills from 2018 failed to win over both reviewers and viewers. Brown: He started Formula from scratch and sold it to Thunderbird in about a year. Back in 1981, Time quoted a legal researcher living in Miami as saying: I see people walking down the streets openly carrying guns, some in their hands, others in their holsters. Having made a fortune in the construction business in New Jersey, building homes and shopping centres, Aronow hastily relocated to Florida in 1961. The contessa was at the wheel of her two-seater Italian sportscar, its tires squealing as she forced the car through the mountain curves. You make a living doing that. I used to work boat shows with him and holy Christ! The Shah of Iran, George Bush Sr., and Lyndon Johnson all had speedboats that he made for them. Who Is Ben Aronoff? "I got bored with it," he explains. Aronow's Cigarette has also become the low slung get-away boat of choice for South Florida's high-rolling drug smugglers.? Youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats, he was quoted as saying. And he never would backpedal later or change things. He competed in the race in April 62 and led until the end, but they [blew] a clutch and had nothing left. He was an alpha male, like the male lion you see on safari. Even local residents the Bee Gees were not immune. Don did not enjoy boating. From one of Italy';s best families.". If your browser is out of date, try updating it. George H.W. His second hull was fiberglass -- its hull shaped in a deep-vee to slash through the waves. 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. He was right out of a Hollywood script. If true, it was a curious place to hide out from them. I saw it, the blood. WebProfile of Don Aronow murder on TV show Expose hosted by Tom Brokaw His face flushed with excitement, Don Aronow launches into another one of his stories. 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. "It's being able to deliver when it counts.". He eventually became aggravated with the business. Many disputes were going on in his marital life. He was a hero and a genius, a ballbuster and a bully. On Tuesday, Smith, the retired detective, called Aronows widow, Lillian, to break the news. He was a hero and a genius, a ballbuster and a bully. Make that a very healthy six figures. "I'd never be married to a beautiful woman like Lillian if I hauled garbage for a living," Aronow adds. It was from here the hit man opened fire, three bullets striking the powerboat star. Adam and Leelee Sobieski also gave Don a great-granddaughter, Louisanna Ray Kimmel. 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. WebI think it was at this point that Don discovered that he was Jewish. Some people bad-mouth him, Oh he did this, he robbed that, well thats shame on you. About his second son, David, nothing is known. Read more:David A. Arnold: Death And Obituary How Did Famous Comedian, Actor-Writer &Producer Die? [With lots of money and charisma, not to mention starting-quarterback good looks, Aronow soon became a ladies man of legendary status in Miami circles.]. A world-champion boat racer who enjoyed wild success in business, he was also an unapologetic playboy and fabled bon vivant. Claudia is a New York-based artist. By various accounts, he then fled to Florida in 1960 to escape the mob. Another witness tried to follow the Lincoln as it fled but could not catch the killer(s). It reported Miamis Federal Reserve branch to have amassed a currency surplus of $5 billion, mostly in drug-generated $50 and $100 bills, or more than the nations 12 Federal Reserve banks combined. The associated crime could strike anyone. 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. He would have a succession of ladies that would appear. (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. Wylie, the second son, says that he helped start the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Everything there to me was racing and drug trafficking. Peters: Bushs reaction was that he wanted Dade Homicide on it like the most important case on their books. Don Aronow has actually been married twice in his life. The result was the 8.5-metre 007, named after the gathering cinematic phenomenon. 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. He had a brown Rolls-Royce and [race] horses., Bob Saccenti He used to say youre never gonna make a lot of money building boats you make a living doing that. David A. Arnold: Death And Obituary How Did Famous Comedian, Actor-Writer &Producer Die? Don Aronow with his wife Lillian and son Gavin. Most of the guys ran stock boats. I didnt hear shots, with the air conditioner and sewing machines going on, but somebody came and got me. Congregating witnesses spoke of a dark Lincoln Continental having pulled up alongside Aronows white Mercedes. Claudia is a New York-based artist. Those two managed to make you feel like you were the centre of their world. And he liked to get the best of people. It was a big building and obscured the Donzi plant you couldnt see [Donzi] from Highway 1 anymore! For his part, he says the Colombians did it.]. "So I decided to build a powerboat race that would beat these other guys.". After Aronows brief visit with Saccenti, he got back in his white Mercedes and began to pull away. 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. The 2018 criminal drama film Speed Kills served as a vehicle for Dons epicness. Don would compete with people his size, said Michael Peters. And then one night Aronow and the contessa were driving back from a candlelit dinner in a tiny restaurant high in the Carrara Mountains. The Beatles, Don Aronow, and his son Michael cruise off Miami before the bands iconic 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Brown: He was murdered right out in front of my office halfway between Saccentis building and my building. 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. Bush back-pedalled out of there as fast as he could. Because he did, thats for sure. His boats won over 350 offshore races, two world championships, and three U.S. championships as his career grew. 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. Jackson said it was the best in the world. Members of the Bee Gees were neighbours on both sides. Aronow had sold USA Racing Teama company that built high-speed catamarans for the U.S. Customs Serviceto Kramer and his father in 1985. In Speed Kills, the story of Ben Aronoff is based on the life of Donald Aranow, who built speedboats and raced them. He would have a succession of ladies that would appear. Adam Kimmel, the menswear designer and spouse of The Glass House actress Leelee Sobieski, is the son of the ex-couple. When you shook his hand, that was the deal. ", "Kramer's Conviction Upheld in Aronow Murder", "Helicopter Crash Foils Drug Smuggler's Prison Escape", "1986-1990 APBA Hall of Champions Inductees", "Master Of Those Mad Racers - Don Aronow hurts a little, but as the world's top ocean powerboat driver and builder he is never bored", "DONALD ARONOW, BOAT DESIGNER AND CHAMPION RACER, SHOT TO DEATH", New York Times, Men's Fashion, Travel: "For The Moment | Show Time for Adam Kimmel", "Interfaith Celebrities: Coming of Age Again, the Girls of NYC and a Couple of Rookies", Historic Offshore Race Boat Association - Donald Aronow, "The Murder of Speedboat Builder Don Aronow", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Aronow&oldid=1099454315, American people of Russian-Jewish descent, James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni, Articles needing additional references from January 2014, All articles needing additional references, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 20 July 2022, at 21:33. They conveyed a warmth and a feeling of genuinely liking you. He pulled alongside a Lincoln car with tinted windows. [1] In 1953, he established his own construction company, the Aronow Corporation which quickly became one of the largest construction companies in the state. Michael, his oldest son, was one of the best athletes at the University of Florida. 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! 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. The EMS [paramedics] showed up and pulled him out. 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. Bobby Young, the convicted shooter and the man who might have provided definitive answers, died in jail in 2009. Their son is menswear designer Adam Kimmel; His second wife was former Wilhelmina model, Lillian Crawford, 24 years his junior. The automotive billionaire was 24 years older than Crawford, a former Wilhelmina model. Next thing I know an employee comes in and hes banging on my door. That was the cast of characters he was involved with. And that became the original Formula Marine. The boat coasted in fourth. 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. "Our bow rammed the helicopter's rubber flotation gear," he says. 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. (Ironically, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, Saccentis life was saved by his race partner, none other than Ben Kramer. He was a great dad and a great husband. The weather was cold and he was getting ulcers and he said, I cant do this anymore. [He drove it back and] the boat was sinking at the dock. He was larger than life. "I'm one of these guys who has to finish first," Aronow explains. 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. Saccenti: I think there were over 100 suspects when they finally killed him. Don Aronow born in 1927 in Brooklyn New York, left New Jersey in 1961 to relocate in Miami. 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. Aronow: After the 62 race my father started to work with Jim Wynne and Walt Walters. "It won big," Aronow says. Retired President Lyndon B. Johnson owned several 16ft. Donzi speedboats on his Texas ranch with which he would race his Secret Service agents. 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. Allegations ran wild in the aftermath of Aronows death. They could not countenance procuring drug interdiction boats from a firm owned by a convicted smuggler and predictably moved to cancel the procurement contract. In 1948, he married Shirley Goldin [1] [6] who he had met while working as a lifeguard on Coney Island. Bush a close friend.]. WebThree weeks before he was murdered, Aronow had a pensive, reflective talk with his wife, Lillian, a former girlfriend of Jordan's King Hussein. "I'd never be married to a beautiful woman like Lillian if I hauled garbage for a living," Aronow adds. He came to my basketball games, my football games, he was always around. Hed knock you right down. Your request appears similar to malicious requests sent by robots. 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. Aronow sold the company (and Brownie) shortly after its inception (and a couple of big offshore wins). Witnesses assert that as Aronow rolled down his window, the other driver allegedly started shooting. Race officials found themselves in invidious positions. How Did He Die? aronow: I dont think any of those guys had ever seen anything quite like it to be honest. He was a real successful cocksman the best I ever saw. Performance boats attract a lot of characters. One of those characters was a racing boat driver and drug smuggler called Ben Kramer. It was a big building and obscured the Donzi plant, and you couldnt see [Donzi] from Highway 1 anymore! Don Aronow: The King of Thunderboat Row, 1994, by Michael Aronow But they [blew] a clutch and had nothing left. And then there's the matter of status by association. The EMS showed up. The twos happy marriage disintegrates due to Bens demanding schedules and their son Andrews car accident, which left his legs permanently disfigured. 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. He was right out of a Hollywood script. The Beatles, Don Aronow, and his son Michael cruise off Miami before the bands iconic 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.