Don Aronow / Cigarette Racing

USA Est. 1969

Don Aronow was a former New Jersey construction magnate who moved to Miami, started building go-fast boats, and dominated offshore powerboat racing in the 1960s and 70s. He founded multiple brands on NE 188th Street in North Miami Beach (aka 'Thunderboat Row'), including Magnum Marine, Donzi, and his most famous creation, Cigarette Racing Team. The boats were fast, loud, beautiful, and immediately adopted by drug runners, which Aronow probably knew and definitely didn't mind.

Heritage

Aronow was murdered in 1987 in what was almost certainly a contract killing linked to his complicated relationships with law enforcement and the drug trade. But the boats outlived the drama. Cigarette Racing became the gold standard for high-performance center consoles and V-bottoms, and the brand is still building some of the fastest production boats on the water. Aronow's real legacy is proving that speed sells, and that the line between racing, luxury, and danger is exactly where the customers want to be.

Vessels (1)

Cigarette 35 Top Gun

Don Aronow built the fastest boats in the world from his shop on 188th Street in North Miami — a stretch of road known as Thunderboat Row. He founded Cigarette Racing Team in 1969, and his boats became the definition of high-performance marine craft. They also became the vehicle of choice for drug smugglers running loads from the Bahamas to South Florida. Miami Vice put the Cigarette boat in living rooms across America. Aronow himself was murdered in 1987, shot in his car on Thunderboat Row. The killer was a former business associate with drug ties. The story of the Cigarette boat is inseparable from the story of 1980s Miami — speed, cocaine, violence, and style.

1969-present · classic