Built in Michigan at a cost of $87,000 (more than 1.3 million in today's dollars), and delivered to Tahoe in the
summer of 1940, the 55 ft/16.7 m "Thunderbird" was a waterborne reflection of two of Whittell's passions:
the DOHC 4-valves-per-cylinder Deusenbergs he drove like a madman, and his customized Douglas DC-2 airliner.

The 100 ft/30.4 m long boathouse was blasted out of solid granite by the same miners who dug the tunnels.

More info about the Thunderbird will be under the next few shots, but here's a link to a short article
about the boat and its owner that was published in the December 2010 issue of "Yachting" magazine:

http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/yachts/motoryachts/a-legend-lives-on