24 replies to this topic

[mrtc4w]

I can't find a list of Riggen cars to find out the name of this car. Is it something like "Commander Car".



Thanks,

[TSR]

German Staff Car I believe.

[sportblazer350]

Yes, and they did decorate one as a German staff car with Nazi type decal on door panel... Came in two versions with different roofs - hardtop and convertible with top up.

One of the more desirable Riggen 1/32 original car models. Enjoy!

[mrtc4w]

Finding pics of the HO Riggens is easy. Where can I find pics of the 1/32?

Thanks,

[TSR]

The "Nazi" decal was actually a simple straight cross, no swastika...

The Riggen cars were pictured only in the period Auto World catalogs and some in the Car Model mags and Model Car Science or Miniature Auto Racing, the only surviving mags in the day. No illustrated catalogs ever existed for those, but there are a few dealer sheets, mostly for HO stuff.

[sportblazer350]

Oops, took a look in the case, you are correct, Dokk... a cross decal... ... man, is my memory... what were we talking about???... ... ah yes, the German staff car...

[TSR]

It's not easy to catch me!

Also I have the advantage of having the documentation handy, since I am working at finishing that !@#$%^ book under penalty of death or even worse.

[sportblazer350]

Here are some of my 1/32 scale Riggen cars:

[TSR]

Nice. Where are the boxes?

[sportblazer350]

i have added a few more cars since this pix was taken. Only have a few RTR in boxes, and a bunch of NOS factory-painted bodies in boxes, pulled some out to mount over older chassis. Will update pix when I get the time.

[mrtc4w]

While cleaning ROTFLMAO the garage where all my slot stuff is in boxes, I found my other Riggens.









I thought I had the other German Staff car, but I wasn't sure. You know how things get traded or sold. I always liked the Riggens with the flame paint jobs. Not very authentic on the Porsche, but looks great on the Ice Truck. The Ice Truck is my favorite vintage 1/32 Riggen. Has anyone reproduced that body? The last pic shows the aluminum and the brass chassis. Is one a homeset version?

Marty

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

The difference between the homeset cars and the others was the depth of the guide. All came, as far as I know, with the standard mabuching "12 volt" wind of 140/34.

I agree about the paint flames as well. I had not seen that in YEARS, but like them as well. Currently in the local womp series I have a couple of their other bodies for the later wider chassis on my womps. They are .030 and very tough and THAT lets them do better in the "shove the wreck" in the races!

Usually when you find these, they are missing the brass motot clip.

Fate

[sportblazer350]

The brass chassis were the original Riggen Mfg. issues, the aluminum chassis were released when Gayla Ind. bought out the Riggen slot car line. Gayla then began to issue the Riggen 1/32 scale slot car sets, along with 2 h.o. scale cars. today these same sets are being made and sold without the h.o. scale cars by REH distributing, and with an entirely different chassis and series of bodies. Gayla Ind used up the remaining Riggen boxes, bodies and chassis, guide flags, wheels and tires and then replaced them with the aluminum chassis, bodies from a new maker. Reh dist. then bought out the entire inventory from Gayla, used up whatever was left in the race sets, cars and parts sold separately, until they designed a new chassis and used modern bodies. All cars, sets, track, and parts still sold today through REH Dist.

The Ice Truck, also sold in h.o. scale, was never re-issued in either scale. today there is an individual who has re-issued the h.o. scale line of cars, bodies, parts. The 1/32 scale cars perfrom well on any type of plastic or wood, home set or commercial tracks. The current 1/32 scale cars come with low powered homeset 16d motors. New slip on rear silicone tires are made and sold by Super Tires.

[TSR]

Glenn,

ALL of the cars shown are Gayla, even the brass one. There were thousands of brass stampings leftover when they bought the company, and that these cars use the Jet-Flag guide and the mid-1970s Mabuchi clones is a dead giveaway.
Regards,

[sportblazer350]

Hi P, i once had a long talk with an employee of Gayla, and he told me they made prototypes of 1/24 scale chassis made from aluminum, but never went into production. Sadly, he never took any home nor did he know what ever happened to them. He explained to me how Gayla created the 1/32 scale race sets with greater hopes in sales, but since the cars and sets did not sell as expected, they bailed out of the slot car business. Yes, Gayla started out producing brass chassis then went to aluminum.

In my opinion, the REH Dist version brass chassis is a good handling chassis design. Surprisingly, with renewed interest in 1/32 scale homeset racing, this chassis has not caught on.

[TSR]

Glenn, that's because it is too big for a 1/32 scale car and nowadays you can make a plastic chassis handle better. Hence zero interest from the new enthusiast.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

P, perhaps YOU can design a plastic chassis that works, the rest of the world doesn't.

One oddity I found running a lot of plastic is after you make it work, you have perhaps an hour or hard racing before the chassis "goes off". On a local routed track, my quickest plastic with a LOT of work runs 4.6. My worst womps, all decades old run Four Flat. Even when modified to take a scale body. 3.6s with the cartoon scale bodies.

Fate

[Jairus]

Name this car

How about you name it Philippe?

[sportblazer350]

Yes, I do have a few RTR plastic chassis cars that work well without traction magnets on plastic track, such as the Slot.it Alfa Romeo, a Sloter Lola, to name a couple. My favorite car on plastic track is actually a Parma Intl32 chassis, Slot.it anglewinder gears, ball bearings, and drill blank rear axle, Pro Slot motor (Euro Mk 1), Slot.it F1 wheels and slip-on Super Tires, Pro Tracks for the front (same as on the Spyder chassis). I can really beat on this car at 12 volts on a Carrera club track, and it really rips!

Why I can't get others in my 1/32 plasticar club to race this type of car surprises me. It is easy to build, no soldering needed, inexpensive, and plenty of bodies around to choose from. I also hopped up an REH Riggen chassis with another Pro Slot motor, a bit lower RPM than the Euro Mk-1, about 19,000 (found a small supply a short while back at a hobby shop), and that chassis performs well, too.

I still prefer these types of brass chassis vs any plastic ones on plastic club tracks. Swap rears to foam rubber, replace motor with a higher RPM version and off to any commercial track. What's not to like??

[TSR]

How about you name it Philippe?

Which one?

[Mark H]

Does REH still have these?

[sportblazer350]

REH still sells Riggen cars and parts, and they are the REH Dist made versions from the '80s to today, not the ones pictured here. Here in NJ we actually just had a race with these REH version Riggen cars, and we had a blast!

[smithspeedway]

Does anyone have any of those staff car bodies for sale? They need not be perfect.

[Mark H]

Or does anyone make repops of any of these bodies?

[Old pink can guy]

I do not think so. I use to clean up the parking lot and count cars for Gordon Brimhall. I was only 11yrs old at the time. He was a great Man and taught me allot of stuff. Never saw the Nazis cars.Ken.