10 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

I picked up this Grand Prix brand 1/32nd scale Cobra a few years ago.  I always wanted to see how the friction drive cars drove.  I wanted a 1/24th scale one, but this little one will do.

 

This car was well used, and the body was not painted.  Because it was not painted, the whole body was a dirty mess.  I had to clean and sand off some of the dirt that was imbedded in the body.  I painted the body with acrylic craft paint.  The chassis was cleaned, and the rear tires were replaced.  The new tires were lying around, and I do not remember what brand they are.

 

The car is easy to drive and is faster than my Monogram and Revell cars from this period.  Also, the car runs very smoothly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[don.siegel]

Good for you Rod! These are great little cars, and a discovery of mine from many years back - especially because PdL always insulted them, and I like to prove they run well! 

 

I've had some very good finishes in vintage races with my Mecom Lola and, as you noticed, folks are always amazed at how smooth and quiet they are - seeing my car has sold quite a few others! 

 

I did make a couple changes on the Lola. 

 

 

 

 

 

Silicone or urethane tires on the back are necessary. The original body mounting system uses two-sided tape, so I put in a couple 1/16 brass tubes for straight pins. The axes run directly in holes in the stamped aluminum chassis, so I enlarged the back holes a bit and put in a 5/32 tube. I ran the original Russkit 22 a long time, but when I was running on a long track in Italy, it needed more oomph, so I replaced that with a Russkit 23. 

 

I keep wanting to try one of my 1/24 versions, but still haven't gotten around to that; one disadvantage is that the chassis is relatively wide, and it uses a tall Russkit 33, so even with a wider body, you sometimes have to use narrower tires to keep them under the body, so probably not good for handling. Still on the project list however. 

 

Don 

[dc-65x]

Slot Car Rod, on 10 Apr 2025 - 3:46 PM, said:

The car is easy to drive and is faster than my Monogram and Revell cars from this period.  Also, the car runs very smoothly.

 

That's the way I remember them too Rodney. Quick, smoooooth and fun to drive.

[gluebomb]

I'll admit to being a snob about these; the idea of friction drive seems pretty regressive, they look somewhat low tech otherwise, and I've never driven one - I'll defer to you two guys re their performance though certainly.

I'm sure Don has previously posted mid sixties scratchbult friction drive cars - has anything later turned up that explored the possibility, like a late sixties or early 70's anglewinder maybe ? I'm thinking I've seen pics of a 1/32 club car in the past that used the concept - maybe not though, anyone ?

Cool little cars regardless, thanks for posting !

 

S.

 

[don.siegel]

Yep, I'm sure I have posted various cars with friction drive - primitive, but the concept has always fascinated me. 

 

Let me see what I have in my phototheque, mostly in 1/24 I believe. 

 

Here are a couple, a Banshee body with a Gar Vic chassis and a Ramboochi with friction drive, and another with a 26D using friction drive. I've got a few more, but can't find the photos for now; also another 1/32 car that may have followed an article in the British magazine, Model Cars. 

 

 

 

Don 

 

And another one, an anglewinder, but with a 36D.... 

 

 

 

 

[don.siegel]

Here's my Lola chassis as modified. 

Don 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Good snag from a collector's point of view. But you have to run them on a dry track. If the driven tire picks up track glue, it acts just the opposite of what you would expect. The glue acts like oil, and the rubber pinion will usually slip. When I was a kid, friction drive cars went through a phase. Those running them, found that using a big metal pinion rather than the rubber drive one worked best, but tore up the tire. So you needed to keep a lot of spares in your box. Keeping in mind that 64 pitch gears hadn't really come in yet, those 48 pitch metal gears were really noisy. Guys were starting to use plastic gears, but things didn't quiet down much until Cox came along. And the serious guys were going with 64 pitch aluminum spurs and crowns with brass pinions. 

[don.siegel]

Dave, 

 

Pretty much all our vintage meetings here in Europe are run on dry tracks, so that's no problem. Even on the Italian track where they leave some glue on the track my Lola ran very well - but it wasn't very heavy glue and the race was only about a half hour. (if anything, with urethane tires and some remaining glue, it almost had too much traction)

 

I remember reading in one of Bob Rule's columns that friction drive was in for awhile, probably late 66 or so - probably didn't last even 6 months. But it was long enough for AJ's to come out with their "Demon Drive" silicone pinions for friction drive... 

 

The famous Texaco Vanwall had a solid aluminum drive pinion. 

 

Don 

 

[Dave Crevie]

The way I remember the friction drives began to show up in late 1964, just before the Christmas rush. The reason I say this is that guys were fooling around with them the winter before I went to work for the hardware store next to my local track. I started work there in the spring of 1965. ( to finance my slot racing, of course )  Some guys were trying o-ring belt drives, like a Whisperjet, but I never saw any of those work out. They used the pullies from radio tuners, that moved the pointer on linear scales. There was a radio shop a block away from the track, where we bought small hardware and motors to try out. We found the 3 volt motors would go like stink on 12 volts, but not for long. Always looking for some "trick" to win races.

 

I notice the box for your car says "new from Texico". Might that have been a promo sold at or given out by Texico gas stations? I know I got a big oil tanker ship from our local station. And some years ago I found a push-toy train with Texico logos on everything. That was a Texico promo in the 1970s. 

 

P.S. Like the Mooneyes decals on the cockpit.

[don.siegel]

There were probably lots of trials early in the game Dave, maybe even before 63-64, when gears were still a bit difficult to find - my Bob Rule reference was more like the short period when silicones ruled, around 66 - that's when I had to buy a new pair of AJ's for 3 bucks so my Cox Lotus would make it around the banking without falling off the track. 

 

Yep, the Texaco Vanwall was a gas premium, probably free or a couple bucks with some full tanks. Grand Prix also sold the Vanwall under their own colors, but you don't see many of those around! Judging by how many Texaco Vanwalls have shown up, they must have given away thousands. On the other hand, absolutely don't remember ever seeing any of these at any of the raceways I frequented. I really only knew about them because of that article in the Rod & Custom RTR Roundup. 

 

Hey Rod, sorry to have hijacked your thread, but I wanted to provide a little background. Any more news on your Cobra? 

 

Don

[Slot Car Rod]

Love the background information.  Got these aj's parts from Joe.  Got to try them out one day.