[dgersh]

Amen Joel!

I'll try to add a couple pix in the coming weeks and days and hours and minutes.

I have a slightly different (US...) take on the origins of the word. For me, it was always the very disdainful way of referring to early US made vac-form bodies by the journalists writing for the magazines in 63-66: mainly CC "Pete" Hagenbuch in the Racing Midwest column, but also guys like José Rodriguez Jr., etc. (they all switched over of course, by 1966-67, as the difference in performance just became too great, and as some better bods came out).

I think they were mainly talking about early producers like Shark, K&B, etc., for whom the "blob" designation wasn't all that inaccurate...

à suivre...

Don

 

[dgersh]

Ron,

Those last ones look like two of the three that Lancer made for the Cox 1/32 line (along with a Ford MkIV).

Joel, you're right about the date of the MRRC bodies of course, but I didn't really think anybody paid much attention to those at the time, not even going to the trouble of insulting them! Only the hand-carved/fiberglass bodies were being taken seriously in the UK at the time, whereas in the States, the vac-formed bodies were being used pretty early by some racers... That was my impression in any case, at least linguistically speaking!

Don

 

[dgersh]

One of the nicest of the "blobs", the Russkit 1/24 Lotus 40!

 

[dgersh]

And the rather more blobby Fleischmann version... not so much the body per se, but the car as a whole!

And a rather more ordinary one from a year or so earlier, the Unique Lotus 30, still 1/24

 

[dgersh]

In 1/32, a Shark Brabham BT8 - not really that bad, everything considered, and you don't find these every day!

And an unidentified Corvette roadster...

Some kind of stock car, made in England...

And a semi-scratch Cheetah, probably Dubro, made in USA...

And a battle-scarred Paxton Indy turbine car, by Lancer I believe.

 

[dgersh]

Yep, an Iso was my guess too, partly because of the Chevy mention...

Alors?

And can somebody explain where and when the Mardave and Darnell shells are from? They don't ring a bell here...

I had never heard of La Stone before ebay, but now have a couple, and they had some very interesting choices (I think they were the ones that did a Scarab F1 in 1/32!). Was it a guy named Stone, or somebody in Ohio trying to say that Everybody Must get Stoned?

Don

 

[dgersh]

CG,

The one on the left looks like a La Bostella, the 60s Thingie by Carrera, the one on the right could be a lot of things, one of those Lancer thingies or just a cut down wing car, and in the center? Got me!

Don

 

[dgersh]

Thanks David - that generation of Lancer shells was really one of the best! (didn't know there were some vac-forms lurking in the depths of your workshop..)

Don

 

[dgersh]

I just read a few days ago on SlotBlog that CC "Pete" Hagenbuch, Car Model's Midwest Racing columnist for many years and a pioneer in US slot racing, has passed away.

http://slotblog.net/topic/11678-pete-hagen...__fromsearch__1

Why am I announcing this here? Well, Pete was the one who "invented", or popularized the term "blob" for vacuum-formed bodies... He didn't like tin cans much either, but eventually came around to both as the performance gap became larger.

Don

 

[dgersh]

Amen - wonderful cars! But hardly blobs... Now, about that 1/24 Felday... have I got a chassis for you!

Don

 

[dgersh]

It would Tony, at least probably, since wheebase is fixed, but I'm thinking of something much more Rube Goldberg-ish...

Don

 

[dgersh]

Great stuff Peter - is that a great white blob, or clear plastic?

Darnell, down Watford way? All sounds very exotic to us non UK people...

Don

 

[dgersh]

The blow-molded T70 would be by Detail Models Joel, all the others? mystère et boule de gum...

Some very nice items in there - is that Sunbeam really a blob?

I'm jealous...

Don

 

[dgersh]

 

[dgersh]

Oooh, that is nice CG, do you know what it is? Like the chassis too, a real Midwest pan!

 

[dgersh]

Yep, I originally got it from Australia, thinking it was a Thingie, and was rudely corrected here on SlotForum! I believe it was identified at the time, and either Howmet copied mine, or he had already copiped one of these - it was a long time ago, and I don't remember!

I compared Gramps car to this, but it really didn't seem to be the same, so maybe there was another variant.

Don

 

[dgersh]

... heard the sigh of relief all the way across the Channel ... only lost a couple rooftops in Paris ... stop ... don't stop... making sense...

 

[dgersh]

I would guess Taylormade or maybe GT models offhand Joel, but I'm sure somebody will recognize them...

For the Mura motor, seems like a fairly standard 2 hole can from the late 60s - any markings on the arm? balanced? what size wire?

Nice lot!

Don

 

[dgersh]

Yes, Joel I was just about to say a "short Magnum", and then saw John's response... as he says, this should be detailed in PdL's Mura article.

And yes, it's a good find! Can't remember offhand, but this may have been a special model for 1/32 cars...

Just checked the 69 Auto World catalog: M433 Mura Short Magnum motor, $9.95: similar to Mura Magnum 1000, but about 1/8" shorter, so it will fit in tighter places, even in 1/32 sidewinders. Same 30 thousandths can, unmeltable endbell...

Bingo!

Don

 

[dgersh]

Ah, in that case it's easy Joel: Mini-Dream did a Mini-B Chaparral... in fact I think Luca does a repop of this one.

It didn't look that Thingified, nowhere near the Gettin' Thingie (I did one for Edo, but don't think I dared lower it as much as this!)

Don



PS: my first impression was also that the Mirage was a modern interpretation: are you sure it's period and any idea who did it? I don't remember a vac Mirage offhand... I'd also say the blue body is a hacked up Chappy - that ventilation pipe into the cockpit is a dead giveaway!