109 replies to this topic

[Randy Asbury]

I am Randy Lloyd Asbury, the oldest son of Lloyd Asbury. My dad lives in Mexico now.

Would love to hear from anyone that had contact with our business or my dad. He is 78 now and going strong. Still makes models, a lot that people on the info highway haven't talked about. Would like to inform about the truth of our history.

Any questions or comments. Please feel free!!

Randy

[skeeterbuck]

Hi Randy,

Welcome to the forum.

It's good to hear that you dad is well and still modeling. When that modelling bug bites you hooked for life.

I never knew him personally, I just know of him by the praises from the slot car community in general as the maker of the finest vac slot bodies. He is a true artist.

I for one would love just to hear about you dad's life and the behind the scene stories that occur from busisness and life in general.

Chuck

[Maximo]

Randy,

I do NOT know your dad or his whereabouts, but I am fascinated about him and any history of his business that you care to share with those of us here!
Good luck and look forward to hearing anything that you care to write about.

-Max

[68Caddy]

I have to agree with Max, sure would love to hear about your dad's stories.

Nesta

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Hi Randy,

I always loved the Lancer bodies and since they were in San Bernardino and just down the hill from me in Hesperia I would have liked to go see them but I was too young (12 or so) and they either closed or moved so I never got the chance.

Tell your father "Hi" from a fan and that we need him now more than ever with the Retro craze hitting slots now!

[Howmet TX]

No contact at all with your father, Randy, but please convey to him our huge respect and admiration. Absolutely the no.1 body maker, the gold standard! I've admired and envied his craftsmanship and ingenuity for- wow- over forty years now! It's great to hear that he's still modelling. I hope he's enjoying himself.

Very, very best wishes from the UK!

[don.siegel]

Same here, Randy! Absolutely the best, and his bodies for Lancer are still highly prized. Some old stocks are even still popping up in Europe (especially the F1 models), so we still get to use them occasionally.

That's not just my opinion, but also a friend of mine here in Paris who is the best modelmaker I know.

Please tell your dad that he is a very admired man!

Don

[Steve Deiters]

The Lancer bodies absolutely were the gold standard no matter what the genre or era. My fondest wish is that we could get him carving again some cars from the past that didn't make it the first time around as well as cars that have come in gone since the original Lancer company produced its last body.

It was mentioned that he has done modeling since the Lancer days. We would certianly like to see photos of what he has been up to.

[Randy Asbury]

Steve,

Anything can be done.Dad is getting older now and we must get him to do it. Can you tell me what cars you are interested in? I will let him know.

AFX HO are his newest works of art. Associated Electronics, Action Die Cast, NASCAR, Duessenberg and the Packard (Danbury Mint) are his. A and W Model Craft was his company, no longer in existence.

He is working freelance and can be persuaded to produce almost anything within his professional expertise. As always - a price!! Ha-ha.

Randy

[Steve Deiters]

Anything can be done. Dad is getting older now and we must get him to do it. Can you tell me what cars you are interested in?,

This is like asking me what I want for my birthday and Christmas for an entire lifetime combined into one question! Let's open this up to all the Slotblog readers. What would they like to see?

Myself - I thought the Lancer 1/24 and to a degree 1/32 series of Indy/F1 cars in the late '60s were outstanding - Indy Turbine both Lotus and Grantelli, Brawner Hawk, variants of the original Eagle-Indy, F1, F1 Coventry (I think), and others. As an extension of that theme likely candidates-the supercharged Offy Shrike driven by P. Jones/Dick Atkins in Indy '68, '68 Eagle (not sure that was made first time around but it might have been)'72 Eagle, '77 Coyote... I could go on and on but that's a good start.

The original series were some of the most outstanding open wheeled slot car bodies ever made. Period. Give me some time and I'll think of some other Indy cars and sports cars to add!

[Randy Asbury]

Thank you all for your interest and the honor of replying, so this is what I remember:
Just a few thoughts and remembrences, more details to follow replying to specific questions. An overview of life in the shop...

I walked into a hospital-like setting, clean, neat and dust free; except for my dad's office, he had epoxy dust every where! We had to don hospital-like gowns to get to the workshop.

Lloyd had a phone call every fifteen minutes. Lots of people wanted his talents! This of course was a bit of a nuisance to him, he wanted to produce the best and most precise models ever made. Being an artist, he was at best difficult!! Work was #1 with him. It was his way or the highway! He was always busy with a project, and he couldn't get as much done as he wanted to. He always complained about being interrupted! My dad was very Republican... Hard for the days I grew up in,"Peace, Love, Dove, and the Pill"... but he was and always will be a model of precision and hard work.

Some of the die cast companies still pursue Dad to make his models - including from past to present;

RC Co, Associated Electronics, Action die Cast, AFX HO, Can-Am cars and a '34 Ford for hotwheels, Stealth Fighter for Testors (design) - production by my little brother. Some others you might not know about include small block Chevy manifolds by Vic Edelbrock, prototype for the TV screens in airplanes, AND first caller ID came through the shop...

And when the Watts riots were happening, Lloyd and John bought M16s and stood on the top of the building to protect the shop!!! Shop was on Waterman... needless to say, the shop didn't get burned down!!

Thanks again,

Randy

Edited by cheater, 27 September 2011 - 11:36 AM.

[Maximo]

Randy,

As you can see, there is great interest in your father's work both then for Lancer and now! This is a mere small sampling of those wholove and respect him as the artist we all admire.

I would love to see him reproduce the elusive Lancer thingies "Spoiler" and "Drifter", but some will undoubtedly say that there is NO market for them. Those were among the last ones produced before Lancer closed.

I try to collect Lancer bodies from back in the day and keep them like they are gold and to be treasured.

Thanks for starting this thread and we all anxiously await your stories as well as word that your father is still doing OK and is safe and healthy.

-Max

[Larry LS]

Back when I wanted to make my own molds and some for ToyTech, I got to go down to his shop and meet with him to get some advise.

It was PdL who set up my meeting with him. I got some great advice on how to get started and the materials to use, etc., etc.

It was all great advice and the best thin, was just talking to him and seeing some of the stuff around in his shop. We talked about an hour and a half before I decided I had taken up enough of this time. He was working on some very detailed drawings on his desk.

A great time was had by myself and it helped a lot with the stuff I started making molds out of. But I would be far short of his talent and results.

I will remember that meeting very well.

Thanks for reminding us of him and that he is still active and involved with his work. Great to hear about him again.

[Randy Asbury]

Larry,

Thank you for replying, as with all the other replies! I am happy that you had the opportunity to talk with him and can remember the meeting well.

Are you still making molds? Did you do a lot of work. I would like to see what you have done as well.

Dad is beginning to lose his eyesight, not a good thing in this business. Dad, as I said, is still making and producing on a smaller scale. The old master's work is locked up in a vault. We are needing to take these few years left to get him to produce the items that we can. Dad is always looking for a challenge.

Always,

Randy

[Larry LS]

Well, Randy, I did make a lot of molds for ToyTech about 70 or so which you can see on their website. Not all of ToyTech bodies were done by me. Steve Foster, who owns ToyTech Racing, also runs a 1:1 body shop called Fosters in Santa Maria, CA. Steve has also made many of the vac drag racing and other bodies he sells to distributors.

I have also made several 1/32 scale cars for the IMSA GTP class they ran in the '80s and '90s. I have not made any lately, as I am now 73 myself and have been moving into a new house for the last year. But have plans for some new bodies to be coming this year. I have my own vac-forming machine and enjoy the work.

Say "Hi" to your dad; it was a great pleasure to meet him.

I have been racing slot cars since 1963, when I got started.

[Gary Bluestone]

I had heard somewhere, maybe here, that the name" Lancer" was used as a way of jabbing or poking fun at "Shark" one of the other body manufacturers.

[Randy Asbury]

I never heard of this, but I will find out for you! Ty for asking. Dad never told me this, I remember him coming home and stating he was opening a Co. called Lancer. He and John just had a desire to be in competition to make the best.

Randy

[Randy Asbury]

Same here Randy! Absolutely the best, and his bodies for Lancer are still highly prized. Some old stocks are even still popping up in Europe (especially the F1 models), so we still get to use them occasionally.

That's not just my opinion, but also a friend of mine here in Paris who is the best model-maker I know.

Please tell your dad that he is a very admired man!

Don

Be careful of what you buy.Alot are back pours.Make sure the bodies are yellowed from age.i
I haven't found a clear that has lasted all these years.Ty for being one of my Dads admirers. Yes they are out there, but as you know very RARE!
There are repops from original tooling but the originals are aged out.
Ty again...
Randy

[don.siegel]

Hi Randy,

I'm almost sure these are originals; they're in the original boxes, and the molding is very crisp, more than would be the case on a backpour I believe.

Not all the old bodies yellow; it depends a lot on the conditions of storage, and these all seem to have been left mint in the box! I've also got a lot of old loose clear bodies: some yellow and some don't.

What seems to have been happened is that large quantities were shipped to Europe, where the bust came a bit later than in the United States, but the bust happened here too, so lots of inventory was left. The commercial racing scene in Europe was mostly from mid-1966 to 1968, and then tailed off rather abruptly, except for a few spots in England. This has happened with complete kits, parts, etc. It could also have been that certain manufacturers shipped off stuff here, hoping to sell in Europe once the bottom dropped out in the USA.

Don

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I have a few originals that I bought "in the day" that stayed quite clear. There is a signiture "crispness" that the repops don't have, even the best ones. As I actively run the cars, though, when I kill an original, I will use repops if I have to to keep the car on the track.

Fate

[Horsepower]

If you know anything about slot cars, you know Mr. Asbury is legendary as a craftsman! I'm sure the history of the hobby would be a much smaller place without him on the scene. Quite often I look through my old slot car magazines and I have wondered every time I see another Lancer advertisement if he was still around. Not only is he around, but he is still doing his amazing work!

Wow, thanks for posting and letting us know and give him my best!

Gary Stelter

[TSR]

According to Lloyd Asbury, the "yellowing" of SOME of the bodies is due to a minute transfer of mold material during the vacuum process that happens at the atomic level. The corrupted material then works its way into the polystyrene butyrate and eventually darkens it. Most of the bodies stay perfectly clear, while some, mostly the ones that were not stored properly or were exposed to sunlight, react sometimes violently as the UV rays serve as catalyst for a chemical reaction to take place.

Lancer made so many bodies, virtually all of them cans still be found quite easily, with maybe a couple of dozen models being harder to find.
The most desirable in my opinion are those that were factory painted, especially the ones in red, deep blue, or silver.

Lancer made two types of retailer "body boards", the larger one being the most desirable.

There were other talented slot car body mold makers, like Ron "Von" Klein and Tony Bulone at Shark and Russkit, but Lloyd was simply the best. I am very fortunate to have been able to work in collaboration with him when we devised the line of pro-racing bodies for his M.A.C. company after he left Lancer.

[Randy Asbury]

Hello,

Talked with my father yesterday. He is very grateful for all the remembrances. He is currently working on five new models for AFX. He states that he is also working on a series of patterns in the 1/24 scale with die cast bodies. He is also proud to be involved with the designing of a 1920s style hot rod built around a giant Stutz engine!

Lloyd Asbury wants to "clear" up the misinformation re: the "mold" in yellowing of bodies. Contrary to the opinion offered by Mr. de Lespinay, "the original epoxy for tooling, in the early days, was made with a resin that contained a brown stain. This was contained in the chemical formula and has nothing to due with mold or sunlight. At first the bodies would be crystal clear, but then yellow. The federal government clamped down on the resin and demanded a removal of the stain. The epoxy was changed and the stain no longer appeared."

Do you know what the original tooling was made out of, and what colors they were???? Do you know the material they were made of? We would like to know your responses. Will let you know the answer!!

Do you know the car that Lancer sponsored in the Can-Am racing circuit??? And the driver's name??? Just some trivia for all the buffs!

My father also wanted you to know that 99% of the original tooling is owned by REH Distributers, no longer in business. This person has all the tooling in a vault in Cincinnati. Lloyd doesn't know if the gentleman that owns the tooling is alive now...

Watch out for NASCAR...

Thanks again for your interest!

Randy Asbury

[Bill from NH]

Randy,

REH is still open and distributing slo tcar items. The owner, Bob Haines is still alive. I had heard that it was Bob's father who did much of the actual body making for REH, but it stopped when he got sick and possibly died. Bob, himself, is no spring chicken.

REH has been around since the early '60s.

[don.siegel]

Randy,

Off the top of my head, didn't Lancer sponsor a Lola T70 with Skip Hudson driving? They must have been making good money at the time to sponsor a Can-Am car, even if the costs are not quite what they are today ($300 million or so for an F1 team...).

Also could you clear up something else - wasn't Lancer actually founded by somebody else, and then your father joined them soon afterwords? I've seen some of the earlier Lancer shells and they were nothing special; then they got really good...!

We also have a very strange case here; one of my friends here, who wields a pretty sharp sculpting knife himself, found one of the earliest Lancer shells that seems to have been molded over a French plastic toy of the time... don't remember the details offhand, but can find out.

Please thank your dad for taking the time to answer us.

Don