32 replies to this topic

[edscars]

I purchased these from a racer in Australia, but assume they were sold in the usa as well. I don't know much about them, but I'd guess they are early to mid '70s. Some of you will recognize the type of motors used, whether it's 26D or something else. I was exclusively into HO scale in my youth, and didn't race 1/24 except for once at the Chicago McCormick Place hobby show probably around 1970 or '71.  So I mostly just collect today.  I have no knowledge of what else might have been made in this series.  Maybe some of you know and could share.  Anyway here they are:

 

Nissan can am #925, silver/green

McLaren coupe #951 in yellow/white and white/green

McLaren M8D #903 in white/gold and white/orange

L&M Lola #904 in white/orange and blue/white

 

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[brnursebmt]

That was my first slot car!

[don.siegel]

Very strange Ed: the 2 chassis you show are both Dynamic anglewinders, not Riggen. I don't think Riggen ever marketed these... Riggen's anglewinder chassis from around then were much simpler, basically brass pans with drop arms, with either 26D or 16D motors, following a series of inline chassis. 

 

Check out the Slot Car Dreams book by Philippe de Lespinay for more info. 

 

Don 

 

PS: don't have a photo of the Riggen anglewinder on file, but here's the inline version. 

 

 

And here's the Dynamic anglewinder under a Porsche. 

 

[edscars]

Don, I defer to you experts who know more about these than I do.  Looks like you're on the right track.  Perhaps the racer I got these from added the Dynamic chassis to them all, as the chassis is the same on all 8 that I have, and all have the same type motor with gray can and 2 holes on the bottom.  I thought maybe these anglewinders were sold that way back then for a time, or maybe they were modified that way for certain markets like Australia.  But that could be totally wrong.  I'm familiar with the Riggen inline type that you showed.  Thanks for the info.

[MSwiss]

I bet Riggen got ahold of some Dynamic chassis and used them for cars they sold to Australia. 

Those bodies are newer than the ones Dynamic used on their cars like the Ferrari 612 and Porsche 908 coupe.

 

Those fronts wheels are also more modern than ones originally used on the Dynamic cars.

 

PDL can probably shed some light on this.

 

That Dynamic chassis lasted longer than I originally was aware of and somewhere on Slotblog or LASCM, they showed a newer version of it.

[brnursebmt]

The car that I got at 14 yrs old was exactly as shown and was indeed marketed as a Riggen Grp. 12.

 

I've had other people tell me also that it was not a Riggen chassis. 

[MSwiss]

Here's the Riggen anglewinder.

 

The SlotForum article has a lot of Don and Jairus chitchat in it.

 

[Mark Onofri]

Correct me if I'm mistaken but, isn't Riggen REH?

[Eddie Fleming]

So being a Dynamic chassis at some point (when Bobby was a lad) it was sold as a RTR under the Riggen name?

 

I can see that happening. 

[Bill from NH]

I believe Rehco bought the Riggen name & stock when Riggen got out of slot cars. Rehco was selling Riggen plastic track not too long ago. It was using 36 Ds in the Riggen brass pan inline chassis as early as 1973. I still remember selling one of those $9 cars to a father.(who questioned how good could they possibly be at that price)

[MSwiss]

Mark,

No.

 

As you can see Riggen was So Cal based. 

 

REH is, and always was, Cincinnati based.

 

Bob Haines,like he did with other products, most likely bought some Riggen stock, tooling, etc.

[Mark Onofri]

Thanks Mike,at least I was close(er) this time. It just seems like something that REH would do. I believe it's called a mashup?

[Mark Onofri]

Here's the Dynamic body

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[MSwiss]

Thanks Mike,at least I was close(er) this time. It just seems like something that REH would do. I believe it's called a mashup?

I don't think it would be packaged that way if it was REH. 

 

I'm guessing it was while Riggen was still Riggen.

 

Don't take it as gospel.  

 

I'm hardly a Riggenophile.

[Mark Onofri]

The address might be a dead giveaway? I'm still convinced that one or two companies in Japan made all the cars🌏

[Edwardo]

That was my first slot car!

Same here, except mine was a Group 15. Still have it.

[Bill Seitz]

I think the giveaway on these cars is the motor. Eddie's car with the G15 motor is definitely a Mura C-can. I can't tell if the photos at the start of the thread are for sure a Mura C-can 12, but it does look that way (short stack arm). I think that makes these later cars after REH bought the Riggen brand, or the motors have been replaced.

[Edwardo]

Yep, all of the Riggen cars like mine came with a Mura C-can. At least that's all I ever saw in them at my local raceway. Mine was bought for me by my Mom in the mid 70s, and it came in the exact same packaging as the cars in the original post. It was an entry level car that raceways sold to people looking to get in the hobby without spending a lot of money. 

[Jay Guard]

I put this Riggen inline together a while back. All Riggen except the brass tube over the front axle.

[NSwanberg]

Same here, except mine was a Group 15. Still have it.

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Whoa! I don't think I ever saw that chassis with the added bracket coming out to the can bearing side of the motor. Not to mention the little tab sticking up that looks like it supports the can end motor bearing.

[NSwanberg]

Whoa! I don't think I ever saw this chassis with the additional bracket coming out to the can end side of the motor. Not to mention the little tab extending up that looks lit supports the can end bearing.

 

Same here, except mine was a Group 15. Still have it.

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[Edwardo]

The tab is there to support the motor when Dynamic sold the chassis with Mabuchi 16d's. Riggen added the motor brace when they sold the cars with Mura C-cans because the tab no longer supported the smaller motor.

[Dave Crevie]

Somehow, after reading all this, and other threads about slot car history, I can't help thinking there was some hoakus-poakus going on during the slowdown in commercial slot racing as far as RTR slot cars go. One winter, my circle of car guys got a slot track out of the garbage. We fixed it up and shortened it to fit in one guys basement. At that time, a mail order firm on the East Coast, Sal Marino, was selling the Dynamics cars for around five bucks. IIRC two bodies were offered, the Porsche 908 coupe and a Ferrari 330 P3/4. We bought several. (I think 6 or 8) Mine was the Porsche, and I still have it. Again, this is an IIRC, but I think the motor was the Parma style 16D. It definitely had the orange rear tires. They also sold the running chassis with no body. I can't help but think some companies picked up chassis from whomever was distributing them, and cobbled up some cheap cars to try and give the hobby a boost. One thing for sure, if Riggen wanted to get into the Gp12/Gp15 market, their chassis couldn't compete.  

 

At this time I was getting into scale O model railroading. Sal Marino had a full page ad in the back of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine, and that is where we found out about the close-out slot cars. 

[don.siegel]

No hokus pokus Dave - that's always happened, even before the crash. 

 

As early as 64, distributors were already converting the AMT Turnpike cars to normal operation and selling them, and other mail order distributors were already selling off kits as soon as they became obsolete. 

 

Then REH really systematized the whole thing, by buying up all kinds of close-outs and mixing and matching a bunch of different cars. 

 

This one will get you too: Kemtron even repackaged a Pittman motor and sold it under their own label!  (thought I had a photo, sorry, couldn't find it)

 

Don 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Yes. Levon Kamalyan actually put his stickers over the embossed Pittman name on several motors he sold for the model railroad hobby. He may have started doing that with the kits he offered, and just sold any overstock of motors under his own name. The Shay kit I have, and built in 1969, has the Kemtron sticker on the motor, and was packaged in the kit in a Kemtron box. I remember this so well because I had a heated discussion with Bill Pope, (All Nation Line), contending that the motor was Kemtron. He peeled the sticker back a little, revealing the "P" of Pittman stamped in the sideframe. Cost me my contest winning wood Oscar Meyer reefer.