1 reply to this topic

[Steve Deiters]

Attached is a label I found laying in the parking lot of REH Distributing after they had closed.

 

REHCo had a front wheel out in the late 1960s and early 1970s that was a true magnesium front that the plastic was injection molded onto the wheel and then ground. They were truly the best front wheel from the era for a quality standpoint.

 

A local Tri-State racer John Wing, who passed away a number of years ago, would buy the wheels in bulk and cut out a center groove about 1/8" wide.  Less rolling resistance and less mass being the theory. They were the hot ticket like other improvements in slot racing until people moved on to the next best thing.

 

So, all these years pass, and John is long gone, and I find this label laying on the pavement.

 

So this post is for you, John, and the incremental improvement you made to an existing product remembered after all these years. Incremental improvements, that is what this hobby has always been about.

 

[Bill from NH]

Steve,

 

Supposedly REFCo also sold a version of the better known RVM fronts with a slightly different rubber and aluminum hubs rarher than the magnesium used by RVM. Were these John Wing fronts something entirely different?

 

I was racing back then, but I never came across John's fronts. My home raceway at the time, Modelville Hobby, only bought slot car parts from REH. If anyone has a John Wing front, I hope they'll post a photo here for us all to see.