25 replies to this topic

[Alchemist]

Greetings,

 

Back in the 60's when you were hanging out/racing at your local slot car raceway, what what your favorite OEM motor and/or brand and why please?

 

My most favorite motor is the Strombecker/Pactra Hemi X-88, with the red color endbell.

 

I'm still trying to find one for my collection, for memories sake.

 

A few acquaintances had these motors in their slot cars and they allowed me to drive their slot cars around the track when I had not yet acquired a slot car.

 

I really liked the way they looked and was thrilled how they drove around the track - at least for me.

 

Later on, I came to really like the MURA motors.

 

Joyful memories for me!

 

Please share your experience!

 

Thank you.

 

Ernie

[Eddie Fleming]

Globe SS91 but I could never afford one. The fast guys at the nearby raceway ran Globes in Dynamic chassis. 

[Bill from NH]

My first favorite was the Mabuchi 15s used in the AMT Turnpike cars in '63. When commercial raceways came to Maine in '67 my favorite changed to the Champion 707, a 36D motor in the Champion alu,inum chassis. These cars were very durable & drove nicely. Two of them lasted me from '67 to the summer of '69 with just body, braid, & tire changes in weekly races & a couple 8-hour enduros.

[Larry Horner]

My first car was a Dynamic Bandit and one of the first upgrades for it was putting in a Strombecker/Pactra Hemi 300, also with the red endbell. Not only did this transform the car into a fire breathing dragon, the new motor also had vastly better braking than the original Dynamic purple can Mabuchi. I actually won a couple of races with it against the local open wheel scratch builders. I still have that car but the Hemi has since been replace by another Dynamic purple can Mabuchi, only it is now sporting an H-Power rewind.

[Paul Menkens]

Globe SS91 but I could never afford one. The fast guys at the nearby raceway ran Globes in Dynamic chassis. 

Prob the reason you could never afford one is because, at a whopping $14.95, it was "the world's most expensive slot car motor" by the time l knew anything about motors the big kids were running Champion 507s, 517s or Muras in Dynamic frames. The fastest motor l ever had back in the day was a Strombecker Hemi.

[Don Weaver]

Being a southern boy mine is the Champion 517 of course.  I still have it and like Larry it now sports a Havlicek rewind,  I do however still have the original armature with the "side grinder" balancing method in my lawyer's bookcase with it and other slot car memorabilia. 

 

Don 

[blue&orange]

Mura B can in a brass dynamic anglewinder was my favorite and began my love affair with Muras.  When I got back into slots in the mid-'80's racing womps on Long Island, all the other guys were running Johnson 16D's, but I chose the optional Mura Wasp and had good success. 

[Bill Seitz]

The Champion 517 and 525. I was really fond of the black 525 over the nickel 517, and both had really awesome performance with the right armature. I was by this time totally in the wire chassis brigade, and always much preferred the lighter Mabuchi-based setups over the heavies from Mura. This is why I probably became a "Pooch" fan.

[mickey thumbs]

The Kemtron X-503 6V powered my scratchbuilt Gas Class dragster that ran at 24V.  As a 12 year old kid I took the trophy from the older guys first time out.

[Dave Crevie]

Ram 857, and Pittman DC196 series. The Ram for brute horsepower for drag racing. The Pittman for versatility.

[Martin]

I had a thing for Dyna Rewind motors. The power, and packaging was great.  The way they did the balancing and the white epoxy was unique.

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[Aeropro]

Probably the most memorable was the Versitec 101. Fast, but ran really hot. Also had good success with Dyna-Rewinds.

[zipper]

Probably the most memorable was the Versitec 101. Fast, but ran really hot. Also had good success with Dyna-Rewinds.

And Versitec awkward with its thick axle  - I still have one unused arm...

[Tim Wilkins]

Too tall and the rewound version came out too late but since it was in my first car the Dymanic GE motor was my favorite..

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[Paul Menkens]

Too tall and the rewound version came out too late but since it was in my first car the Dymanic GE motor was my favorite..

Great motors, l had 3 Lionel H0 diesels with them, l used to joke that they were so fast l could win a slot car race with them! They could also slow down to a crawl with the best 5 pole cans. Alas the quality of the plastic used in the gears, trucks and rest of the drive train was poor and fell apart, l still have the motors though!

[Paul Menkens]

Probably the most memorable was the Versitec 101. Fast, but ran really hot. Also had good success with Dyna-Rewinds.

l remember when the 101 came out one of the writers in the slot mags questioned the lack of cooling vents to which someone from Versitec replied "you don't need cooling vents if you know what you're doing designing motors"

[SoCal Bill]

Steube Checkpoint for sure

[Tom Eatherly]

I don't recall the introductory cars/motors I ran, but, do recall my first "custom" motor: A Thorp wound and balanced arm in a Green can with Arco[?] magnets.

That sucker FLEW!!

[@kc]

It would have to be my first slot car with a HEMI !

 When you hammer one of these down the straight of a King at 7 years old, you are hooked for life :-)

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[Jay Guard]

Champion of Chamblee 517-26, silver can with grind-balanced armature.  Maybe not always the fastest but always a dependable performer.

[don.siegel]

l remember when the 101 came out one of the writers in the slot mags questioned the lack of cooling vents to which someone from Versitec replied "you don't need cooling vents if you know what you're doing designing motors"

 

Except that they later added cooling vents. 

 

 

The SS101 was a favorite of mine too, the only expensive "rewind" I bought at the time, but never ran it in a race. I ran my home rewind using a K&B Wildcat 16D can, with, I think Versitec magnets glued in... 

 

As a vintage fan starting in the early 1990s, I really liked the Ram XL-500, once I was able to find a few of those... still a favorite. 

 

 

 

Don 

[Bill from NH]

The Versitec 101 also had lousy brakes. They had plenty of speed but not brakes.

 

My favorite motor back then was the Pittman 6001BB.The one I have was competitive against the Champion 707s.

[don.siegel]

I don't remember that Bill, and just ran one this weekend - brakes seemed ok. 

 

But the SS91s that I've run all have very bad brakes, you need at least a 5:1 ratio to get any brakes at all. 

 

Don 

[Bill from NH]

The late Ed Blake, who used to write for one of the vintage magazines, brought two cars with 101s & ran them on the 185' Manchester Englemann when it existed. I saw both of them run without much for brakes. Ed said they never did have brakes. I don't own a 101 but I do have a new SS91 never installed in a chassis. Now no local racewaysexist, so it probably never will be.

[Dave Crevie]

The earlier versions of the Ram XL-500 were the 426/427. I tried a couple, but the downside was that you were pretty much stuck with the gear ratio in the motor. It was a chore to change the pinion, since you had to take the motor apart to get to it. When Weldon came out with 64 pitch gears, I changed the pinions to 64 pitch, which allowed me to go up or down a tooth with the 64 pitch spur without upsetting the mesh too much. Dynamics made a great chassis to use these motors.