71 replies to this topic

[Tex]

HEY! That's a Honda RA-301! Where'd you get that body?! :shock:

[TSR]

That's a Dynamic "Handling Bodies" of the RA-301E as used by John Surtees to win (by about a foot) the 1967 Italian GP, its only win in a terrible season for the Anglo-Japanese team. The car was called the "Hondola" because of its Lola chassis.
Great job by Rick on a fine slot car as usual.



I believe that the driver here is Allan McNish at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

[BWA]

a terrible season for the Anglo-Japanese team.

But, ya gotta admit, we do gotta give them an A-Plus for consistency in that regard Eh!. :roll: :mrgreen:

[dc-65x]

HEY! That's a Honda RA-301! Where'd you get that body?! :shock:

I got two Dynamic Hondas back in the good old days and I've used them both. They are my favorite body for an anglewinder GP car. Anyway, I don't know of anyone re-popping them now but you can get a Lotus 25 from Tom Anderson's Vintage Bodies.

[Larry LS]

Here is one way to get a sidewinder final drive for a narrow f1 body. Works well on the two I have built. And I have another about to get built.

[Tex]

I'm pretty sure Surtees won the '67 Italian GP in a Honda RA-300, not the RA-301. That's OK, Philippe; you must have breathed in too much of that smoke from Catalina Island.

[TSR]

Anyway, I don't know of anyone re-popping them now

Rick,
This body will be available from Electric Dreams before too long.

I'm pretty sure Surtees won the '67 Italian GP in a Honda RA-300, not the RA-301.

And you are correct. I was off one digit. Actually the 300 and 301 are/is the same one-off car, the 301 having sprouted wings on the same modified chassis.

[Tex]

That I did not know! :shock: Thanks for sharing that tidbit of info. One never knows what one will learn from some old geezer. 8)

[edworth]

Here is one way to get a sidewinder final drive for a narrow f1 body. Works well on the two I have built. And I have another about to get built.

Cool. I really appreciate s__t__r__e__t__c__h__i__n__g the envelope. But I'm trying to determine the advantage . . . weight distribution, better gear combos?

[TSR]

Ed,
It was simply the "thing to do" after the sidewinder revolution of 1968 . . . One of the wiser things that the NCC did in 1969 was to ban anglewinder open-wheelers, only inline cars were permitted in the class. So there was only ONE such race of national importance with angle-winder F1's, in 1969, won by . . .Doug "Inline" Henline.

Richard, very few Honda F1 cars were ever built in the 1960s. After the unique RA265 Cooper-inspired prototype of 1962 (a car painted in gold!), the 1963 RA271 chassis with the sidewinder air-cooled V12 was built and recycled for 1964, a second chassis being built. Design evolved with the RA272 for 1965, last year of the 1.5-liter formula. Two chassis were built.
In 1966, Honda built two new cars (the one modeled by Tamiya and Russkit and now Ebbro) with inline 3-liter V12s. These were really not too good, overweight, under-powered, so when Surtees thumbed his nose to Enzo, he went to help . . . Honda with their troubles and while Honda had built a new air-cooled V8 prototype car that was properly destroyed by Joe Schlesser at the 1967 French GP in which he lost his life, Surtees had Eric Broadley build a chassis for the big V12, that is the RA300. The same unique car was then rebuilt with improved suspension and high wing for 1968 but it was a complete toad. That is the RA301 and subsequent 301A.
Surtees moved to Cooper but the Coopers were not too good either . . . so he began building his own cars.

[BWA]

So there was only ONE such race of national importance with angle-winder F1's, in 1969, won by . . . Doug "Inline" Henline.

Now, there's some irony Eh! 8) :mrgreen:

[TSR]

Vast Inline Conspiracy if you ask me . . . 8)

[Tex]

Good info, Philippe; thanks! Once small correction, though. After Surtees left Ferrari mid-season in 1966, he finished out the season with Cooper, winning the last race of the 1966 season at Mexico in a Cooper-Maserati. THEN he joined Honda for 1967. Philippe, I'm beginning to worry about you; you must have been in the sun too long lately, breathed too much of Catalina Island, or been embroiled in too many car-mirror motor discussions. If you'd like, I'll write you a prescription for some R & R. Take some time off. Go to . . . Idaho, for instance.

[TSR]

You are right and my memory has dyslexia.

[Yves Chapoutier]

Hi Philippe,

 

Some mistakes in your comments about Honda in Formula One Grand Prix.

68' Honda RA 301 chassis isn't an evolution from 67' RA 300 chassis (Lola chassis identical at Lola Chassis running in 66' Indy 500).

Front suspension outboard vs inboard for example. A big difference of design !

 

One RA 300 chassis (RA300/1) was built for 67' Formula One season : first winning race at Monza (Italian GP) with John Surtees at the whell - car #14.

Two RA 301 chassis (RA301/1 and RA301/2) was built for 68' Formula One season : both cars was running at Monza (Italian GP) with John Surtees - car #14 and David Hobbs - car #15.

Two RA 302 chassis (RA302/1 and RA302/2) was built for 68' Formula One season : Jo Schlesser at the whell of RA302/1 at Rouen-les-Essarts (French GP) - car #18 (Fatal accident at beginning of the race) and John Surtees testing RA302/2 in practices at Monza in 1968.

 

At last, 3 cars of 67-68 Formula One period : RA300/1, RA301/1 and RA302 stay in Honda Collection Hall.

 

Informations from  Honda F1 1964-1968 racing Formula One Japan Vintage GP Tanaka Book, Joe Honda Racing Pictoria Series by Hiro (N°28 - 1967 GP and N° 39 - 1968 GP) and www.honda-museumcom

[MarcusPHagen]

I've hesitated finishing this project because I know I'll be running this car and I'm worried I'll smash up my last Lancer "Brittlerate" vintage Lotus 25 body. Tom Anderson came to the rescue with his repos. While they are not as perfect as an original Lancer I think the F1 Lotus 25 and Ferrari 158 I received are quite good. Here is the Lotus, Tom's is in front and the Lancer is in the back:
[/clip]
Here's the link to his web site: Tom Anderson's Vintage Bodies

Does anyone have a more current link to Tom Anderson?
This one goes to an AOL.com error page.

Thanks,
Marcus

[Bill from NH]

Marcus, Tom Andersen stopped pulling bodies 3 or 4 years ago. His website went dead at that time. I've emailed him several times since with no response. I have no idea if he's still in Ft Wayne or where he is. There used to be a person who posted on HRW as Moose who raced locally with Tom & his brother. I've not seen this individual to ask him what might have happened either. Some of Tom's international customers have been asking about him too. I haven't seen anybody post any answers. It's as if he dropped off the edge or the earth. Do you know any Ft Wayne racers?

[munter]

Moose...AKA Ken Wenhert is on facebook......as many others are too.

[SlotStox#53]

I think Tom stopped the body production due to personal health issues.

[Bill from NH]

munter, thanks for that name!

 

Paul, I assumed this could be one of the possibilities, but then why turn the lights off as dramatically like he did? And why no quick answers to emails? I don't think he had any deep hatred for slot racers. Why not sell the molds to someone else with a vacuum former? They weren't perfect, but were better than the nothing we have now.

[SlotStox#53]

I have no clue Bill. I was trying to order a couple of bodies to build cars for Rick's Rod N Custom Proxy and that's when Victor was snowed under and close to stopping.

Ordered from Truescale but it was over a month without a shell and tried to order from Tom like Pablo was. Can't remember if it was Pablo who heard from him or me.

That's all I can remember.

[Bill from NH]

I placed several orders on Tom & was about to place another one when his website disappeared. He sometimes included extra bodies I did not order. I especially liked his vintage F1s, but I only got 4 or 5 of them.