[Rob J]

I recently unearthed a box of magazines, including at least ten 1980-82 copies of the British Auto Modeller. Most have a slot-car history article, including histories of brands.
They probably contain little that the fundis (gurus/experts) among you don't already know and have recounted here on or your own web pages, or the articles themselves may already have been posted on SF or elsewhere. However, I'll list them below and perhaps one or more of our historians can say whether any would be worth scanning and putting on the forum.
I don't much enjoy scanning, saving, etc, so if they're already on-line, please say so.
1980 Feb: Cox; March: K&B; May: Revell; July & Oct: drag racers; Sept: AMT Turnpike;
1981 Jan: Airfix-MRRC; Feb: Super Shells; July: Monogram;
1982 Nov: Gilbert.
I also have about ten copies of Scale Modeller from the same period but haven't gone through them yet.
Rob J

 

[pertti jarla]

They all sound interesting, especially Airfix/MRRC. I tried to make a little history of Airfix/MRRC to a local slot car forum, and found it very complex.
http://www.finslot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3150 (In Finnish)

 

[1 32 slotter]

Very cool find. Will be watching to see how this all progresses.

 

[dgersh]

Rob,

These are almost all articles by Roger W. Greenslade, which led to his book, published in 1986 I think, A History of Electric Model Roads and Racetracks.

Still very good information, although we have learned more since then. Maybe scan one, post it and see if people react...

Thanks,
Don

 

[Rob J]

Thanks, Don. That seems a sensible approach. I'll post one or two, starting with Airfix-MRRC for Pertti, though I'm sure he's done a thorough job in his Finnish article. If anyone wants to read one of the others, do ask.
Rob J

 

[Rob J]

Here is the Airfix-MRRC article from Auto Modeller, Jan 1981, with acknowledgements to the mag and Roger Greenslade.
There's a long Slot Forum thread on the company/companies' history, begun in 2004, called "MRRC - What's the story?" at:
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?...c=1356&st=0

By the way, has anyone here raced with the MRRC brake contrate? I have a couple but not on cars, and I don't remember actually using one.
Rob J

 

[Chapman]

Jolly good reading!
A personal take on a brand by RWG that I've not seen anywhere before.
Keep'em coming!
(Sorry, but I guess you'll have to scan & save some more...)
By way of interest:
1. Cox
2. Monogram.
3. AMT.
4. K&B.
5. Revell.
6. Super Shells.
7. AC Gilbert.

 

[Rob J]

OK, Chapman. I'll do some more scanning and saving (aargh). And yes, they are RWG's "personal takes", rather than definitive, fully comprehensive histories. As Don put it, "we have learned more since then". Still, they are good reading.
Rob J

 

[Rob J]

Here's the Cox article in RWG's 'Historic Slot Cars' series, from the Feb 1980 issue of Auto Modeller.
The photos are not great in the mag. The two chassis in fig 6, for example, are as black there as below.

 

[Chapman]

Another JGR (Jolly Good Read)!
(Though the jolly good Mr. RWG seems to have gotten a few things backwards...

)
Thanks for the effort!
Keep'em coming!

 

[pertti jarla]

Thanks a lot! About the backwards facts, I have thought that 1/24 La Cucaracha came before 1/32 Li'l Cucaracha, both around 1966? Also I remember having seen the first Airfix MRRC Clubman special, the BRM, before 1967 in a -66 Airfix Magazine. Neither the 3 Litre Ford or Eagle Weslake were available until 1968-69.

 

[dgersh]

True, but Roger basically pioneered the study and collection of vintage slot cars, at least for publication (I'm sure there were a few guys doing similar things somewhere in the world, but without broadcasting it).

Remember, no Internet, no Google, no cheap digital cameras...

I really like Roger's approach to the whole thing.

Did anybody else notice his reference, in the MRRC article, to the mystery 4WD NON-STEERING cars? Now, there's a tantalizer - ever see these Phil (S)?

Don

 

[scaleslotcars]

Before the internet these articles and the book were the only way of finding anything about those slot cars that were not known to me or could not be identified.
Absolutely invaluable, nowadays a description and picture here on the SlotForum or some other slot car forum will get you all the answers you need.

Never seen a 4WD using the slimline motor, although this would be easy to build and I guess what Roger saw was some kind of scratchbuilt car.
Although he does say it was in a store and they were RTR, would be interesting to know if they were in boxes or not.
I've built similar things myself in the past.

 

[Mike Newns]

QUOTE (Rob J @ 11 Feb 2012, 23:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>By the way, has anyone here raced with the MRRC brake contrate? I have a couple but not on cars, and I don't remember actually using one.
Rob J

Yes, It's actually quite effective. It's easy to replicate the action by cutting a groove at an angle to the axle into which the end of the grub screw is placed - If it's done correctly, when the motor slows the contrate is forced onto the pinion causing the rear axle to lock. When power is applied the contrate is forced back. Surprisingly it doesn't appear to increase wear on the gears (if I remember right best part of 50 years ago).

Mike

 

[Chapman]

BTW,
Do I spy with my little eye, a 26D motor in the 1/32 Cheetah chassis in the above Cox article???

I can't remember any EBD 16D motor with oval can hole, and certainly not by Cox.

 

[dgersh]

No, not by Cox (well, except for the Nascar motors), but an oval hole 16D size can drive motor was pretty common in England I believe, for instance the Johnson motors used in Scalextric cars. Definitely not a 26D.

 

[Chapman]

QUOTE (dgersh @ 15 Feb 2012, 00:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...an oval hole 16D size can drive motor was pretty common in England I believe...
Yes, an oval hole 16D size can drive motor is perfectly OK with me, too.
But this here is an oval hole EBD motor. End bell drive, that is.
How common were these?
I've certainly never seen one in 16D size before, only 26D...
And I'd be very interested to know who manufactured them (Johnson?)
and what slot car brands that used/offered this unusual kind of motor.
Any clues?

 

[Rob J]

Oval-hole endbell-end-drive FT16s were made by Johnson. They were used in a variety of Scalextric cars from 1968. Perhaps the one in RWG's Cox photo was a UK transplant.

Why are those blerry things called endBELLS?
Rob J

A later flash of inspiration on endbells, or rather slow mind-grinding: perhaps the name comes from earlier can motors.

 

[Rob J]

Below is the article on the American K & B slot-cars. Some intriguing features. The Tradeship differential is also mentioned.

Mike: Thanks for the comment on the MRRC contrate brake. I must try it. It wasn't unique, of course. Mechanical brakes were made by a few other companies, including K & B. Its device, shown below, looks quite sophisticated.

Pertti is right about the date of the Airfix Ford F3L. The full-sized car didn't appear until 1968 - and was also known as the P68. However, when RWG said "around" 1967 he was perhaps thinking of the Clubman series as a whole.

My batch of 1980-82 mags is far from complete and RWG probably wrote articles on other brands and ranges. The Monogram one is only on the 1:24 scale cars. If he wrote on Monogram 1:32s and on VIP and anyone has the articles, I'd be interested to see them. Those two brands were my first, more than 40 years ago (yes; I got the VIPs first). A lot has been written about them elsewhere, but it would be good to read RWG's "take" on them.
Rob J

 

[Chapman]

QUOTE (Rob J @ 15 Feb 2012, 04:14) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Oval-hole endbell-end-drive FT16s were made by Johnson. They were used in a variety of Scalextric cars from 1968. Perhaps the one in RWG's Cox photo was a UK transplant.
Thanks for info.
I'm not that familiar with the period slot car scene in the UK, and a Scalextric motor in a Cox chassis is a strange creature.
But I guess it makes perfect sense in a UK magazine article.

I'm pretty sure these motors never made it to the USA.

Oh, and BTW:
Thanks for another JGR!