Page 16 - DWV PROMO BOOK

The Die Is Cast

I was a car and speed freak from the age of 5. The idea of my own wheels and total control was intoxicating. By 6th grade, I pushed
my dad for a go kart. He said, “No!” He said I could build one. So I did. My mom drove me to the local welding shop and the
grizzled veteran welders humored me and allowed me inside the work area to set up my simple wooden jigs to achieve the right
caster and camber for my front spindles. I was in heaven. The shop teacher in junior high later told me you “couldn’t” make a go
kart out of wood. Little did he know...

A year later, I saw an article in Popular Mechanics and determined I could build my own hydroplane. I talked my mom into driving
me to the lumber yard where I put the magazine’s shopping list to work. Weeks later, I was motoring out into Long island Sound
- not the best testing grounds for an 8-foot boat with a couple inches of clearance off the bow! That’s a story for another time.

The die had been cast and vehicles would - and still do - play a big part in my life and career. – DW

1970 • DW Homemade Go Kart • 1971 • Plans for DW Homemade Hydroplane