[SAMPSON]

hi,i have this weird handmade brass bodied car in my museum which i was told was made in the late 1940s-early 1950s.it was in a coin operated roadway display at a toy store in the netherlands.the car is 10 inches long & 4.5 inches wide.this one has a women driver.i have a photo of it with a 1/32 slot classic auto union railcar just to show the proportional size.it has 2 motors 1 for steering & 1 for drive.the car is not propelled by the wheels but by the rollers in the center of the chassis.the cars could pass each other on the track.the car also has electric lights.its very heavy.it is the most complex toy car i have ever seen.the engineering talent of the person who designed this system is amazing.i wish i had more information on it,but its lost in the haze of history.thanks,bernard

 

[dgersh]

Hi Bernard,

Remember this one?

Not nearly as sophisticated as yours, but just to show that there were probably a lot of different types of arcade car race games developed over the years. Curiously enough, this one supposedly came from Belgium, and in roughly the same years, so maybe there's a Flemish connection in there...

The one thing I'm not too clear about on your car is the power pickup - where did it get the juice?

I've got a few other cars like this, some using mechanical drive systems, maybe just for window display, and another one about the same size as the car I show above, but an early attempt at a radio-control model!

And then of course, there's the Midget Speedway...

Don

 

[SAMPSON]

hi don,it maybe by the antenna in back & it was radio controlled,you could go forward & steer the car around corners & other cars.it does have big bumpers.i do remember yours & it is very cool.i like the zonkers & the contacts for the rail. bernard

 

[bwaminispeed]

Bernard, not radio control, I would think more likely "Wire" control.

I think your "Antenna" was just a support to guide the wire into the back of the car.

Probably had a hand held box with batteries in it, and, some control levers and buttons to run the functions of the car, connected to the back of the car using that loop as support.

Just my guess.

 

[SAMPSON]

hi,i checked & there is no place for a wire once the body is attached.i was also told that it was operated on a table top track.it was coined operated .thats what is great about this website.so much knowlege & different views.i would not have considered that possibility.thanks,bernard

 

[bwaminispeed]

OK, with that additional information, and, assuming that those two holes in the phenolic plate at the rear underneath are threaded for screws, I would bet that there was a plug/connector that would thread through the wire loop, go between the rear bumper and the body, and, screw onto the bottom of that plate. Because of the way the wire loop is formed, the plug/wires could easily be removed/installed without dismantling the car.

This connector/ plug thing would have eight contacts that would mate with the eight copper contacts on the plate and this would be used to operate the vehicle.

There would be eight wires, and, possibly one ground wire. The wires may have been supported by an overhead gantry sort of thing, probably on a square table, enclosed in glass all round.

Again, just guessing here.