15 replies to this topic

[gascarnut]

Back in 2005, I built a car for a Proxy race in the UK, and the guy who organized my entry there bought it off me and displays it in his slot car display case in the Brooklands Museum. Top left in this photo:



It was a 1955 Ferrari 555, also known as the Super Squalo.



I started about a year later building a replacement, but got sidetracked by other projects. With being on vacation for a few days, I managed to get the new version done:



The original used a Resilient Resins body, the new one uses a Pre-Add body, made by Mac Pinches in the UK. I doubt either of them are available nowadays, since Douglas Haynes of Resilient Resins passed away a few months back, and Mac Pinches has long since stopped producing his range of resin bodies.

Underneath:



That's an Atlas 206, with Tradeship 3:1 bevel gears. The wheels front and rear are BWA as are the inserts, the front tires are Ortmanns and the rears are Ultrathanes from ABSlotSport in the UK. I have since replaced the magnet in the motor with a Neo magnet to get some punch and brakes back as the old iron lump had not much left in it.

Oh, and this one has a pin guide, like the original, made from a machined-down 3mm button head screw.





A couple more shots:









Thanks for looking!

[Tex]

Dennis,

You 1/32 guys keep this up and I'll just HAVE to build a 1/32 track in my house. And if I do THAT, I'll have to start building 1/32 cars for it!

Fine-lookin' machine, Dennis!

[Noose]

One word..."wow"

[TSR]

As John Cleese would have said, "vealy nice!"

[68Caddy]

I sure like it. Thanks for sharing that one with us.

Nesta

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

The squalo and super squalo represent some of my favorites. A loser, like many others, that just begs to be a slot car.

Back in the early 60s Jonathan Thopmpson did an article with views of the variants...and I went crazy doing wood masters, laying up nylon shells and betting for "pittman" money so that I could do these cars.

Since thing, I have acquired several resin and glass versions including a Sipple version. And there were the Revell 1/24 bodies in polypropylene.

At the same time, Jim Hanson was asking me about this sort of chassis, and Dennis posted this, saving a LOT of emails.

As usual, Dennis, you are my hero!

Fate

[don.siegel]

For those who are tempted, there's also a version made my Marklin in hard plastic, from the late 60s, and although it's very nice, it doesn't seem to be worth a lot, especially if you can find a clunker with just the body in good shape (on German ebay, or some other European sites).

Great work as usual Dennis; most of the Atlas motors I've used seem to have retained their magnetism pretty well...

Don

[gascarnut]

Thanks all for the compliments.

The Supersqualo is one of my favorite '50s era GP cars, along with the D50 and the later Dinos. I'm not much of a Maserati or Vanwall fan.

And of course, being a "colonial" by birth, Hawthorn, Peter Collins and Stirling Moss were my boyhood heroes, and real sports cars were E-type Jaguars adn Austin Healeys.

Don, the Atlas magnet was still enogugh for the car to run, but it suffered from having little to no brakes, and there is not enough roon to be sticking neo magnets onto the outside of the motor as I have done on other Atlas motors, so I replaced the whole magnet with one of the South Pole Neo replacements. Now I have the brakes back and perhaps a little too much torque for the tires, so the handling is "interesting" It will be fun to see what it does on the BPR flat track. BTW, has your shim stock arrived yet?

[don.siegel]

Hi Dennis,

We're still on vacation in Alsace (near the Schlumpf collection in Mulhouse... - lots of Bugattis, not too many Ferraris), so I haven't checked my mail yet this week - we'll be back Sunday evening.

Thanks for info on magnet; I know some of the British series allow these magnets, but we generally try to keep it stock (with an "excursion" or two by some competitors) and motor performance has been decent, especially by most of the open-frame motors. The 36Ds are definitely a "no-brake" option, except for the rare exception....

Don

[dc-65x]

NICE Dennis. It looks so period, like is was built back in the day. Thanks for sharing.

Rick

[Ken Harris]

Very nice indeed. I really like those older F-1 cars, they're just so classy looking.

[JD]

that is just plain beautiful sir.
the build looks so real,vintage feel for sure.
where can a fellow slotter get a body similar at least
to try there hand at such?
thanks for posting,
jd

[gascarnut]

Thanks!

I have no idea about finding another of these nowadays.

Doug Haynes, who made the body I used for my first version, passed away a few months back, and Mac Pinches in the UK, who made the body for the second car, retired some years back from making resin bodies.

Perhaps some of the newer little companies that are springing up in the UK might be able to take over his molds, who knows?

Revell made a Super Squalo back in the day, they come up on eBay now and then, and one of the German companies, Marklin I think, also made one, but they are more scarce.

[rdmac]

Betta & Classic
The Classic line of bodies are made in fiberglass.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

the Revell Squalo is the earlier car and in 1/24 and in Polypropoline....tupperware!. In red or silver grey.

The Marklin is ok.

Right now "Cartrix" makes a nice version of the car Dennis did. I hosted an impromptu Cartrix race after the race at a local track which was "won" by the Squalo. Cartrix just released the Lancia-Ferrari which is beautiful. And they showed two more recently to be released this year at the Nuremburg toy fair. Now, the cartrix are the slowest cars in the box. But fetching.

Fate

[vfr750]

Penelope Pitlane make 2 resin versions of the D50 and a 1958 Dino Ferrari along with other 50's GP bodies, Brooklands racers, through to 60's sports cars all in 1:32nd scale. They also make a range of driver figures, chassis, wheels and inserts.

Cheers

John