By 1930, sportsman and self-made industrialist Garfield Wood was on the verge of becoming the first man to travel 100 MPH on water, officially breaking through that barrier the following year and ultimately claiming five world water speed records along with a trophy haul that assured his fame as a dominant force in speed on water in this heady era. In the meantime, he was also taking care of business, and on New Year’s Day 1930, Gar Wood Industries had moved into new production facilities in Marysville, Michigan, to satisfy the demand his celebrity had created for Gar Wood craft among very wealthy leisured Americans. With the model range completely redesigned, initial forecasts were for as many as 1,200 boats per year, but as the Great Depression started to take a grip, the customer base who could afford to spend three times the cost of an average American family home on his sensational, bespoke, quality-assured playthings built to the highest standards began to dwindle. However, one such customer was Mary E. Mayne of Seattle, Washington, who took delivery of this 28-foot, triple-cockpit, open runabout on May 7, 1930, along with another 28-foot Gar Wood sedan for all-weather use. With total production of just 193 boats that year, the 28-foot Gar Wood was the most popular choice among those who could afford them, with 121 delivered. Today, just five are known to exist. Formerly part of the Terry Adderley Collection, Carnelian—as she is now named—was originally fitted with a 150 HP Chrysler inline power unit, but it is now considerably more potent thanks to a 280 HP 1968 Chrysler V-8. Dare we venture that Gar Wood would have approved, so too of the practicality of Carnelian’s Tahoe fiberglass bottom, had resin technology been available in his day. With its sleek lines in mahogany, sumptuous upholstery and characteristic flat windshield, Carnelian is every bit as evocative of the passing age of hedonism, glamour and luxury captured in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” as the Duesenberg Model J Murphy roadster. Carnelian is sold with a double- axle trailer included. As a 1930 Gar Wood ad put it, “Every year you hear men (and women too, of course) say ‘I have a Gar Wood’ with exactly the same prideful inflection they would employ in remarking, ‘Yes, this is a Stradivarius.’”
