As the bright Sierra sun rises up over the peaks on Lake Tahoe’s East Shore, the door on the boathouse at the historic Thunderbird Lodge goes up.
Morning light spills into the custom-made boathouse, landing eventually on the dark red Honduran mahogany hull of the 1939 Hacker Craft that resides in the building.
Within the double planked 50-foot wooden hull lie two 1,000 horsepower Allison aircraft engines — the same engines that powered the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane.
As Captain Dave Marion pushes the starter on the Thunderbird, the two 12–cylindar engines pop and roar to life, creating a sharp echoing, almost deafening sound within the boathouse.
The classic wooden boat slowly backs out of the boathouse into the crystalline turquoise waters of the lagoon at the Thunderbird Lodge, and the pristine yacht moves from shade into the direct early sunlight, leaving the hull glowing a deep red as the stainless steel roof and fixtures gleam and glitter on top of the already shimmering water.
The Thunderbird, which was commissioned by George Whittell and built in 1939, is perhaps the most grand example of the change in maritime design styles that took place during that decade.
Lines took on the aerodynamic look of the art deco period that coincided; sterns became sleeker and more flush with the water.
Whittel had John Hacker design him a boat that would handle Tahoe’s predictable afternoon swells, one that had the lines of his DC-10 aircraft and his Dusenburgh automobiles.
The result was the Thunderbird, a masterpiece of wooden marine architecture, and a one-of-a-kind watercraft.
The boat was purchased by Bill Harrah, who had a love for speed and replaced the original Kermath engines with the P-51 Allison’s, transforming the Thunderbird from a grocery fetching Sunday cruiser into a 60–mph cocktail lounge used to entertain the big names of the time — Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin.
As the stainless steel band running down the dark red bow of the Thunderbird cuts through the deep blue Tahoe water on the way back to the East Shore from a trip to Tahoe City, beauty, elegance, grace and power are defined in an instant as the yacht smoothly slices the blue water into a flowing white wake behind it.
Woodies on the Water: 35th Annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance
This weekend is Wooden Boat Week on Lake Tahoe, and the marquee class for the 35th Annual Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance — one of the premier wooden boat shows in the world — is Boats of the Thirties. Look for the Thunderbird and other classic wooden boats all over Lake Tahoe throughout the next week. View some of the most well restord and cared for wooden water craft in the country up close in the slips of the Sierra Boat Co. marina Thursday*, Friday and Saturday, August 9, 10 and 11.
* Thursday is VIP day and includes many extras such as cruises and vintage aircraft flyovers, but is only available to the first 500 ticket purchases.
Riding the Thunderbird: Alex's video from his cruise on Lake Tahoe's favorite woodie
As Captain Dave Marion pushes the starter on the Thunderbird, the two 12–cylindar engines pop and roar to life, creating a sharp echoing, almost deafening sound within the boathouse. 
Whittel had John Hacker design him a boat that would handle Tahoe’s predictable afternoon swells, one that had the lines of his DC-10 aircraft and his Dusenburgh automobiles. 
As the stainless steel band running down the dark red bow of the Thunderbird cuts through the deep blue Tahoe water on the way back to the East Shore from a trip to Tahoe City, beauty, elegance, grace and power are defined in an instant as the yacht smoothly slices the blue water into a flowing white wake behind it. 