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A couple of years ago, a very dear friend of mine, a former top-level RC car racer and former Team Cox pro-racer in the 1960's, died while enjoying his Chrysler Viper at the speed it was intended to reach. What a way to go. Chuck Hallum lived his life the way he wanted, and died the way he preferred. Chuck had terminal cancer.
A couple of years prior to this sad event, Chuck had kindly given his old slot cars to me, because he knew very well that it was one of my favorite hobbies and that I would preserve them for all enthusists to enjoy in the future. Today, I opened the box for the first time in 5 years and had at last some time to check what he had in there, and he had indeed a few interesting "roaches", I.E. Cox "La Cucaracha" examples, quite unusual ones at that, besides other hand built neat cars.
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This first pic shows two "roaches", the very first and very last issue, 3 years apart. The firstissued in early 1966 has a nearly transluscent body, the last issued in late 1968 is opaque and has an air intake behind the "engine" and "aero" fins up front, since it followed the mold change due to the issue of the blue "Super La Cucaracha" with the optional chrome roof.
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The bottom shows a clearer story with the early version using gray sponge tires on tapered axles/wheels with blind nuts, ball-bearing front wheels, Cox TTX150 motor, the later version using the later longer drop arm, Cox NASCAR motor, setscrew wheels and black sponge tires.
http://www.electric-dreams.com/images/cox-cuc-3.jpg
Another more interesting version is this very early PURPLE translucent body on a chassis fitted with RED tires, surely a factory sample that was never produced. It looks great!
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I have never seen another of this color and must assume that it is unique today. I know that Cox usually tried a lot of color combinations as test shots to check customer reactions in "clinics" at the old Cox Center in Santa Ana. I know that I have BEVER seen another set of (now rock-hard) red tires on "Cuc" wheels!
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The third car is very interesting because it is Chuck's own "Team Cox" factory racer, a "La Cucaracha" featuring a different hand built chassis and a Cox TTX150 motor with a rewound and balanced armature. The rear wheels and tires are standard Cox items, but the front wheels appear to be Riggen... The driver is BOLTED to the body, certainly because no adhesive could keep the boy too long inside the car under serious racing. Interestingly, there is a piece of the same black paper used in the cockpit of the Chaparral 2E RTR and the IFC Ferrari GT and Chaparral 2D. This car being almost a year earlier, I wonder if the idea came from Chuck?
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The # 8 is from the Lotus 40 RTR, a printed sticker. The wheels wells have been generously cut to clear both front and rear wheels. A motor cooling slot has been cut on the back deck, and a hole has been cut to clear the guide post lock ring.
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The chassis has no drop arm, which is really strange since the Cuc had the longest drop arm of them all! The body is mounted using a rod going through the rear panel and two side pins on a floating mount. The body shakes a bit on the chassis. Cox lead wires are used and this is the earlieat example of a slot car I have seen with twin lead wires to carry more current.
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The bottom of the chassis is simple and strong.
![]()
Another view of the chassis and the rewound motor. Chuck used 0-80 screws to hold the end bell, while rewinders at the time were using much larger 3-40 or even #1 self tapping screws.
We unfortunately have no information of when and where such cars were used by Team Cox, but it is certainly during 1966.
Regards,
Doc Pea
A couple of years prior to this sad event, Chuck had kindly given his old slot cars to me, because he knew very well that it was one of my favorite hobbies and that I would preserve them for all enthusists to enjoy in the future. Today, I opened the box for the first time in 5 years and had at last some time to check what he had in there, and he had indeed a few interesting "roaches", I.E. Cox "La Cucaracha" examples, quite unusual ones at that, besides other hand built neat cars.
This first pic shows two "roaches", the very first and very last issue, 3 years apart. The firstissued in early 1966 has a nearly transluscent body, the last issued in late 1968 is opaque and has an air intake behind the "engine" and "aero" fins up front, since it followed the mold change due to the issue of the blue "Super La Cucaracha" with the optional chrome roof.
The bottom shows a clearer story with the early version using gray sponge tires on tapered axles/wheels with blind nuts, ball-bearing front wheels, Cox TTX150 motor, the later version using the later longer drop arm, Cox NASCAR motor, setscrew wheels and black sponge tires.
http://www.electric-dreams.com/images/cox-cuc-3.jpg
Another more interesting version is this very early PURPLE translucent body on a chassis fitted with RED tires, surely a factory sample that was never produced. It looks great!
I have never seen another of this color and must assume that it is unique today. I know that Cox usually tried a lot of color combinations as test shots to check customer reactions in "clinics" at the old Cox Center in Santa Ana. I know that I have BEVER seen another set of (now rock-hard) red tires on "Cuc" wheels!
The third car is very interesting because it is Chuck's own "Team Cox" factory racer, a "La Cucaracha" featuring a different hand built chassis and a Cox TTX150 motor with a rewound and balanced armature. The rear wheels and tires are standard Cox items, but the front wheels appear to be Riggen... The driver is BOLTED to the body, certainly because no adhesive could keep the boy too long inside the car under serious racing. Interestingly, there is a piece of the same black paper used in the cockpit of the Chaparral 2E RTR and the IFC Ferrari GT and Chaparral 2D. This car being almost a year earlier, I wonder if the idea came from Chuck?
The # 8 is from the Lotus 40 RTR, a printed sticker. The wheels wells have been generously cut to clear both front and rear wheels. A motor cooling slot has been cut on the back deck, and a hole has been cut to clear the guide post lock ring.
The chassis has no drop arm, which is really strange since the Cuc had the longest drop arm of them all! The body is mounted using a rod going through the rear panel and two side pins on a floating mount. The body shakes a bit on the chassis. Cox lead wires are used and this is the earlieat example of a slot car I have seen with twin lead wires to carry more current.
The bottom of the chassis is simple and strong.
Another view of the chassis and the rewound motor. Chuck used 0-80 screws to hold the end bell, while rewinders at the time were using much larger 3-40 or even #1 self tapping screws.
We unfortunately have no information of when and where such cars were used by Team Cox, but it is certainly during 1966.
Regards,
Doc Pea
