48 replies to this topic

[ravajack]

The sad passing of Apple co-founder and charismatic über-leader Steve Jobs last week (RIP ) caused me to do some digital archeology.
What I found while digging deep down in the ancient layers of early digital remains was a bit astonishing, to say the least, considering the widespread interest around this forum in the legendary ”French” slot car motors (but not from France...):

Gordon French, Mythic Motor Man in the early days of slot car racing and possibly the very first commercial rewinder of Mabuchi can motors in the early 1960's (founder/owner of the French Motor Co. — later involved in the Mura startup enterprise), also played an instrumental role in the creation of Apple Computer — a company that earlier this year sailed all the way to the top in the list of the largest companies in the world, before Exxon and well ahead of IBM, Microsoft et consortes. (Apple today is said to have an operating cash balance of $76,2 billion, more than Obama & the Government of the USA, $73,8 billion at the end of June this year...)

According to the well-known Apple legend, the "Homebrew Computer Club" in Silicon Valley was the playground for electronics & computer geeks and nerds in the mid-1970's. Early and eager members that joined the club to satisfy their curiosity and find further inspiration were local electronic whizz kids, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. The two young boy's very first computer, a hand-built Apple I, was demonstrated at a Homebrew Computer Club meeting in april 1976. And the rest is history.

Food for thought is that without the Homebrew Computer Club there might never have been an Apple Inc, no Macintosh or iMac, no iPod, no iPhone or no iPad — commodities in today's wireless online world.

So what about the French connection?
Well, the Homebrew Computer Club was actually, like Apple, founded in a garage in Silicon Valley.

The Apple Computer company saw the light of day on April 1, 1976, in a garage at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos, where Steve Jobs lived with his sister Patti and his parents, Paul and Clara.



The Homebrew Computer Club was founded only a year earlier and not very far away, in a garage at 614, 18th Avenue in Menlo Park.
This illustrious & historically significant little club was the creation of two electronics engineers, Gordon French and Fred Moore.
And the very first meeting, assembling 32 "homebrew computer" pioneers, was held on March 5, 1975, in the garage of — Gordon French.



Gordon French's old business card:



More on Gordon French and the Homebrew Computer Club can be found here (also a few relatively fresh pictures (2005) of the elusive Gordon French himself — scroll down):

Wikipedia (link)
The Homebrew Computer Club (link)
More on the Homebrew Computer Club (link)
Even more on the Homebrew Computer Club (link)

It also appears that Gordon French is still busy in his garage, and still fiddling with electric motors.
Outlined in red below is a prize/presentation of his latest effort (2011) in the business:



Prize/presentation (link)

Two fresh videos here from youtube (2011) with a brand new French Motor (now called "Frenchie"):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ZNiYevI_M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExtcbfDkfvA

[ravajack]

More on Gordon French, from back in the day.

In the period slot car mag ”Modelcar News” (formerly ”Model Car Racing News”) from the mid-1960's, Gordon French seems to have been a frequent contributor.
Two columns ”On Rewinds by French” from the February and March issues of MCN 1966 here, with transcripts below the (rather crummy) pics:

Guest editorial

Editor's note: With this issue we begin a new column entitled ”On rewinds”. Rewinding slot car motors has become one of the most talked about and least understood pastimes of the model car racing enthusiast. Most of the good books on DC motors are either out of print or unobtainable. Local rewinders, if they do have success with a rewind, are generally very reluctant to share their successful formulas. As a result, the great mass of model car enthusiasts are without expert opinion or guidance on the subject of motor rewinding,

When we approached Gordon French of French Motor Company, San Bruno, California, to do a series of articles on rewinding, he explained to us that even among experts, opinion varies as to what the ”perfect” rewind is. We, therefore, invite guest experts in the model car motor field to present their ideas an opinions in the ”On rewinds” column. We know that our readers will benefit from each contributor.

”On Rewinds” by French.

The question I get asked the most often is ”What voltage is your motor?” The word they should use is resistance, not voltage. This question is much like asking a hot rodder ”What octane is your carburetor?”. Recently, I've read several clear, concise explanations in national model car publications that ought to clear this up a bit. I will, however, try to summarize the problem. I would suggest that a good book on electricity be read if you still have questions. See the section on Ohm's law.

Voltage is electrical pressure like water pressure in a pipe. Now imagine if you had a motor that ran on flowing water like a water wheel, and further that you had 18 pounds per square inch pressure. Also imagine that you have several sizes of pipe running into your water motor.

Now to go slow, you would turn on a faucet of a small pipe. To go faster, you would turn on the faucet of a little larger pipe, and so forth, until you had reached top speed for your water motor by turning on the faucet of the largest pipe you have. Now, you can see already that the water pressure was the same in each pipe, but it was the size of the pipe that made the differerence. Why? Because more water can flow through the larger pipe than through the smaller one, when the pressure in each pipe is the same.

Likewise, in a motor if 18 volts is available (or 12, or whatever voltage your local track supplies) the amount of current that flows depends on the resistance of the wire. Little resistance, big current; Big resistance, little current. The ohm is the measurement of electrical resistance.

So when the resistance of your armature is high, say 3 ohms, and you run it on a 12 volt track, 4 amps current will flow. Now change the voltage of the track, NOT the motor, to 18 volts, and 6 amps will flow through the 3 ohm resistance. Now let's reduce the resistance to 2 ohms and run the motor on 12 volts. The result is a current flow of 6 amps. But when we put the 2 ohm motor on the 18 volt track the amperage climbs to 9 amps. We have the following results:



So you can see that the less reistance the armature has, the more amperage, or current, flows through the motor.

(Those of you who know how and why a moving armature will change resistance under operations of load, etc... will certainly understand that I cannot explain in such a small article the intricacies of electromotive force, etc. For those of you who can't understand it, please address correpondence to French Motor Co., P.O. Box 42, San Bruno.)

Now the question presents itself. Why do the manufacturers call their motors 6 volts, 12 volts, etc? The reason is quite simple. The voltage stated is generally the highest voltage at which the motor should be operated. And it became standardized that way.

But eventually somebody found that even though a 6 volt motor wouldn't last very long at 12 volts, it sure went gangbusters while it ran! And the result is that the mistaken opinion became common knowledge — a 6 volt motor is better than a 12 volt motor. If you don't get the point of this, just take the 1,5 volt motor out of your electric toothbrush and put it in your doomsday machine. You will have the most glorious 2 seconds you've ever had in your life!

Now, just how can you get more preformance from an electrical motor? The first answer is — reduce the electrical resistance, so shorten the wire or increase the size of the wire or both. The following table sets forth some wire size and turn combinations for the Mabuchi type of motor. (All of the reputable rewinders use this motor because it is strong, inexpensive, and easily improved.)



(Note: Mabuchi puts the type number on the plastic end plate, if you get the light just right you can read it.)

The first mistake the beginning reewinder makes is drastic reduction of the number of turns. His reasoning goes: ”If 90 turns of 32 is good, 80 would be better.” But he is only right up to a point. If he gets down into the 70's, he would be better off with 31 instead of 30.

The chart on wire size and turns is the best guide I can give to the rewinder. You will probably notice that your favorite wire size and turns combination is either shown or could be slipped in betwen the figures shown.

The real problem, as you will see, is that the stock Mabuchi is designed for 12 volt operation and consequently becomes unpredictable and undependable when badly overstressed. Rewinding is overstressing in the same sense that your car motor will run for 100 000 miles at 110 horsepower, but only about 30 000 miles at above 450 horsepower. (Automotive buffs, address correspondence to French Motor Co...)

There is a definite practical limit that can, and is, being reached in rewinding. Those of you who have done some rewinding have noticed that on a 3 pole Mabuchi there is only one long strand of wire wound on all 3 poles. This means that all 3 poles are working and carrying current all the time. When each slug is required to carry current all the time, no cooling from being turned off can take place. So the melting point of the hot rewind is the maximum limit. And believe me, every manufacturer of rewinds is looking for a better method of cooling brushes, commutator, and any other part that commences to heat up during operation. The most experienced rewinders can keep a Mabuchi glued for about 20 hours of hard running. Generally the beginner can barely get an hour out of his pride and joy. The difference lies in case fit, balancing and workmanship.

The second part of the French Motor Company's guest editorial ”ON REWINDS” will be continued in the March issue of Modelcar News.

Guest editorial

Editor's note: This article is a continuation of the February issue of Modelcar News. If you missed that issue, send 25¢ to ”Modelcar News, 925 Tanklage Rd, San Carlos, California”, and we will send you a copy.

Articles such as ”On Rewinds” and many other subjects will appear in each issue of Model Car News and be opinions, as well as theories, of various well known manufacturers.

”On Rewinds” (Part II) by French.

Last month, I left off by saying that most of quality rewinding lies in case fit, balancing and workmanship. There are also some general rules that should be followed if a rewind is going to work properly:

1. Wind tight. The logic of this is obvious if you think about it this way: Rewinder #1 puts 100 turns of #32 wire on his armature and uses 8 feet of wire on each slug (bear in mind this is figurative, not liberal). Rewinder #2 puts 100 turns of #32 wire on his armature and uses 9 feet of wire on each slug. Now we have 2 identical armatures, that has 100 turns of #32. but #1 has 8 feet of wire on each pole or 8 x 3 = 24 ft. of #32 wire, while #2 has 9 x 3 = 27 ft. of #32.

Copper wire has resistance and #32 wire in particular has approximately .103 ohms per foot, so #1's armature has 24 x .103 = 2.472 ohms total resistance, while #2 has 27 x .103 = 2.781 ohms total resistance. In other words, #1 has 11% less resistance than #2. Consequently #1 will have a much better running motor than #2. It follows that the tighter you wind, the better off you are. But be awfully careful not to accidentally scrape off the insulation on the sharp edges of the armature slugs. You can short out the armature this way, and the ugly thing about it is that you may not know it until you go to run the motor.

Incidently, for those of you who may have an ohmeter handy, it's always policy to check the armature before you epoxy it. The reading should be taken at the commutator plates so you may be able to discover a badly soldered tab as well. Readings taken should all be pretty equal. If one pole shows either more or less resistance than the rest, strip the armature and start again.

2. Use the commutator from the fastest motor you have. I would suggest that commutators be trued on a lathe, but there are several very tricky problems to doing this. The next best thing is to use a commutator from a fast motor, because chances are that it is either worn true or always has been true. Among the stock motors we study at French Motor Company, every once in a while a stocker will really go gangbusters. In every case where we have found a hot stocker, the commutator is so true that brush movement is undetectable when observed under a Strobotac. Mabuchi commutators have always gone from either very very good to awful.

3. Use the strongest magnets you can find (one of each color code, naturally). The reason you rewind in the first place is to get more magnetic force developed in the slug. So why use weak magnets for this force to work against.

The magnets are the the most misunderstood part of the motor, as I see it. In order to clear up some of the misunderstandings, I'll have to explain some of the differences between magnet types. All the Pittman motors have an alnico magnet. Alnico is an aluminum-nickle-iron alloy. It is by far the more expensive material. All Mabuchi motors have Barium Ferrite, or so called ceramic magnets. This unique material is prepared from a mixture of iron oxide and barium carbonate which is compacted to shape and sintered in an oxidizing atmosphere at 1 000 degrees C. Barium ferrite magnets weigh about half of what Alnico magnets do. But, while you can easily remagnetize alnico, barium ferrite is extremely difficult to remagnetize. The reason is that barium ferrite is magnetized at high temperature during its manufacturing. It CAN be remagnetized, but only on very heavy duty industrial magnet chargers. So don't waste money, I guarantee that your rewind will positively not benefit from being magnetized on your local track's magnetizer. If anything, you run a pretty good risk of ruining the magnets altogether. A good bit of advice is, don't ever get a motor magnetized anywhere if they don't have a compass handy. They just don't know what they are doing. You can, however, get all alnico magnet motor magnetized. They include Globe, Pittman, big Kemtron, Tradeship, Rams, etc. In fact, frequent remagnetizing is the best possible quick tune up.

4. Dont use much heat when you solder wires to the commutator. Heat will anneal copper and change it's electrical properties. Get your soldering iron hot and THEN apply it to the tab. Never put a soldering gun tip on a tab cold and turn the gun on.

5. Use care with epoxy. It's great on wires, but murder on commutator plates or bearing surfaces. Use it with the same care as you would in using loctite.

6. Take your time when you go to reassemble the motor. Bear in mind that the armature should not slide back and forth very far. Because the brushes should always rub the same track aound the commutator. On the other hand, too little end play will cause your motor to overheat and burn out.

7. Balancing has been covered so much in print lately that I hardly need remind you that the better you balance that armature the better off you are. If you don't bother to balance your rewind, you just haven't finished the job.

Last of all, don't expect to get as good a result with your own rewind as Mura, Lenz and French do with their's. We all spend a great deal of money on materials and equipment that have been specifically designed to give better results than any home rewinder could get. You just might beat one of us, but the odds are against it.

Editors note: Next month Mr. Doug Kent, president of Elcar Manufacturing Company (manufacturers of clear plastic bodies) will be our guest under this column. His subject will deal with the analyzation of the practicality in the use of spoilers and diaplanes.

[Alchemist]

Thanks for sharing the info Bertil!!

[TSR]

Bertil,

Excellent research and coincidentally I was completing the sub chapter on French Motor Co and his relation with Fred Foyn of Tradeship in the final editing of the new book...

Indeed Gordon French was/is some kind of a pocket genius. While the claim of him "being the first to rewind Mabuchi motors" is almost certainly impossible to prove and possibly not true, it is also almost certain that he had little to do with the establishment of the Mura motor company. it remains that the French Motor Co. motors were some of the more reliable rewound FT16D motors in their 1966/1967 configuration, but hardly any better than those of Ron Mura or Bob Lenz...

Best regards,

[don.siegel]

Much thank,s Bertil, great research.

Of course it can't be proven now, but French probably was the first well-known rewinder, with a real company and volume production, as opposed to a strictly local guy suppplying his buddies or local club. His first products seem to have been the Russkit 23 and 36D type rewinds, so that would place him in 1965-early 66 - hmm, come to think of it, about the same time as a lot of others!

Bertil, are those two newspaper articles the earliest reference you found? For the moment, the only ad I've seen is from 1967, for his motor kit...



Don

[TSR]

Don,

This is the problem, I cannot place Gordon French and any of his rewinds PRIOR to 1966, and PRIOR to the FT16D and FT36D motors, meaning, prior to the second generation of Mabuchi slot car motors of the FT series issued in 1963. And of course there are several commercial rewinders who used the early FT series without the heat sinks, such as Bob Lenz, and commercialized them before the French Motor Co. motors.

If someone owns a French motor without the heat sinks, I would love to see it!

Gordon French began his motor business in San Bruno, but had some financial difficulties and was helped by Tradeship's Fred Foyn who financed him. When French was unable to pay the loans, Fred bought him out and regrouped the French Motor Co. with Tradeship in the harbor in San Francisco, hence you may find packaging with either address.

But in all the French motors and parts I have ever seen and that's quite a few, NEVER did i see an FT16 or 36 rewind without the brush heat sinks, meaning that these were not rewound until at the very least, 1965.

[tonyp]

I remember on our tracks the French motors just never ran. The 1/4 Muras, I think they were called, were king.. This was 1966 or early '67.

[ravajack]

Bertil, are those two newspaper articles the earliest reference you found? For the moment, the only ad I've seen is from 1967, for his motor kit...

The earliest I've found in print on French motors is actually from a swedish mag, Allt om Hobby (Everything Hobby).
It's in a newsflash/round up on new slot car racing items on the market, in issue #1, 1966 of the above mag.
Counting with production time from press to newsstand, that means that the article/pictures were probably in the
editing production pipeline already in mid-to-late 1965.

The magazine page below is showing the French motor in two pics (also w. blow-ups below), mounted in a Dynamic
chassis and loose with its box. Interestingly, this motor seems to have a BLACK endbell, something I've never seen
on a French motor before or after. Also note the large screw for fastening the endbell to the can. My own Frenchies
(16 & 36 cans, I've never seen a 26 can) all have white endbells and tiny ”pegs” for endbell-can fastening. The price
in the early days seems to read $8.49, not the $9.95 I've seen on ”regular” Frenchies. Whether a heatsink is present
or not on this black endbell can unfortunately not be judged from these old and murky magazine pics.








These column ads later showed up in the AoH magazine, in 1966, 1967, and 1968 respectively, from left to right.



The left ad (issue #3, 1966) gives a reference to the above magazine article, and also points out that a vehicle with
this motor placed second in the Swedish national championchips earlier this year. Interestingly, the name French
is not mentioned in the ad, just the label FM-123. The swedish price is equal to around $15 in those days, with
also a loose rewound FM-123 arm available at around $4.

The middle ad (issue #1, 1967) has got another distributor and offers French motors in ”small” and ”large” at $15
and $16 respectively. A ”special hop-up” of the small motor is offered at $18, and also French ball bearings at $5.

The right ad (issue #3, 1968) has got yet another distributor, and offers the ”old” FM 123 (no dash) at a lower price, $11.
While the FM 123 is single wind, a new double wind is now also on offer, the FM 124, at the same price, $11. Loose arms
are available at $5 each, FM 110 for the FM 123 motor and FM 111 for the FM124 motor. This ad also makes a point
of the French motors setting new track records all over the country...

[TSR]

Interestingly, this motor seems to have a BLACK endbell, something I've never seen
on a French motor before or after. Also note the large screw for fastening the endbell to the can. My own Frenchies
all have white endbells and tiny "pegs" for endbell-can fastening.

Neither did I. So now I did!

(I've never seen a 26 can)
French produced a lot of FT26 motors, most wound with the "silver" wire common to the Mura and U-Go motors. Here is one:



I also found a picture of a FT36 series 1, so indeed French was rewinding motors as early as 1964 since it sounds improbable that he would have rewound in late 1965 what were by then already obsolete motors.

[TSR]

This picture below shows what was going to become the Mura can as marketed by French Motor Co., but check the "T" logo for "Tradeship", since that company had by that time, acquired the business.



And this one shows the French Motor Co FT26 motor with the Simco/Pittman endbell conversion that was also pupular at Mura:

[ravajack]

I believe that this endbell was a replacement and not the original, possibly after the original either melted or broke a string post or something.

I've just had a phone conversation with the writer of this newsflash bit on the French motor in the old AoH mag. He was was a well known slot car profile over here back then, Dan Glimne, kind of our local Gene Husting/Ray Gardner/Bob Rule type. Today Mr. Glimne is a bit older, but still a fairly well known media figure in TV as well as in our largest daily newspaper where he has his own regular column. The subjects have changed, though. Today his core interest and business is poker, primarily Texas hold'em, where he travels around the world attending tournaments for both reporting and playing. He's also a regular visitor at the poker tables in Las Vegas. (I guess I was quite lucky to get him on the line, as he travels a lot and in this very moment also was preparing for another trip.)

Speaking of the article on French motors he wrote about in the AoH mag in 1965/66, he at first has only this to say:

”That's a long time ago, very long, 46 years. Jeez, a lifetime! I have a faint memory and I really can't recall much from that period in my life”.

He tells me that he's got most, but not all, of the old magazines with his slot racing articles tucked away somewhere deep in his basement, but haven't seen them or thought about them since the 1970's. When I then guide him on his computer via the phone to this French motor posting thread on Slotblog.net, he also gets to see the pics from his old article in the AoH mag. And his memory lights up a bit and he continues:

”Well, I must have gotten these motors sent to me in the mail to do a write-up in the mag, which I obviously did. But I can't remember tampering with them in any way. Why would I do that? That was not the normal procedure. You got stuff, you photographed it as it arrived, and did the writing. That was it. Period. I find it very, very unlikely, indeed highly improbable, that I did do any modification whatsoever to new material I was sent for test or review. I never did. And certainly not BEFORE I took any pictures of it for the article in the magazine. If these pictures shows black endbells and large endbell-can fastening screws, that must have been the way they arrived to me. Besides, where would I get access to any substitute endbells, back in those days? And in black? That's also very improbable.”

Says Mr. Glimne.

I spoke to Mr. Glimne for nearly an hour, we talked about slot car racing back in the day and shared a lot of old names and memories, as we then often attended the same race events around Sweden, yearly National Championships as well as regular 24-hour races, very popular over here in the old days.

Mr. Glimne also said that during the final years of his slot racing ”career”, in 1970 he finally got around to visit USA and participate in a couple of races on the US west coast, in Oregon and California. He also remembered meeting and racing with some of the ”famous” people he'd only read about in the period slot car mags, like John Cukras, Terry Schmid and Mike Steube. He remembers his best placement in a race was 4th, a result he was quite pleased with.

As a regular and experienced writer for the AoH mag for several years, from the mid-1960's to early 1970's, Mr. Glimne also tried his wings as a slot racing writer outside Sweden. And got published in the US mag ”Car Model” at least once, and several times in the UK mag ”Model Cars”, including a serial story on motors and rewinding.

Mr. Glimne also said he was quite pleased by this accidental contact about French Motors, raising many memories from the old days.
As he now also is well aware of Slotblog, don't be surprised if he'll also chimes in here himself to share more memories from the past.

As for the French motors, I guess we'll now have to accept that they really came with black endbells and large screws in the earliest days.

@Philippe: Thanks also for pics & info on the 26D French versions. These were new to me. But I guess they never came in ”classic French white”. Or?

As for Gordon French himself, how hard can it be for any of you local guys in the US/California/SF area to get in touch and contact him for further info and history from the early days? (And the black endbells!!!) Apparently he's still very much alive and kicking in the electric motor business (see end of first posting in this thread). I'd do it myself, if I wasn't a bit ”distance challenged” from my vantage point overseas...

[Hworth08]

Super post!!

Aren't the two motors shown at the bottom of post #8 brushholder LESS motors or Russkit 22 types?

[TSR]

Don,
Yes they are, and are probably touched up pictures dating from 1965.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

I have a black endbell 16D French motor of the non- brush tube type.... I believe it to be a '64/65 motor but not sure....

[redbackspyder]

SOMEBODY TELL MR.FRENCH, THEY FORGOT ABOUT PETE ZIMMERMAN.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

I found my motor and it's funny I had it in the same 1/32 Dynamic chassis as shown in the pic. The brushes are still there but almost gone.

[ravajack]

...probably touched up pictures dating from 1965.

???
I'm not sure I fully understand the meaning of "probably touched up" in the above...

Are you implying that the old pictures in the 1965 AoH magazine, showing the French motors with black endbells, have been tampered with?
If so, by whom?

By me, in Photoshop after scanning?
Or by Mr. Glimne, in the darkroom back in 1965?
What on earth makes you think we would we have done any of that?
And — why???

Please advice if I'm missing some linguistic sophistication re: ”touched up” here.

And what about Barney's motor?
May that one be for real, or has it also been ”touched up”, IRL or photo-wise?

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Just a note: This endbell is the one that came on it I got it from a local racer when our shop closed. He had it in the 1/32 Dynamic chassis that I still have. It's tabs have never been re-bent and the paint is still intact on them. The arm has all the wraps around the bottom of the comm and looks to be 32 wire on it. The sticker on the side is maybe an early type.
As far as the photo being re-touched way back then..... I don't think anybody would go through the time or trouble.

[Hworth08]

Barney,

It appears your motor is a brush holder "less" motor too. I wonder if it might have started as a Cox motor that would have had a black endbell with a nickle plated can. That can was prefered by some builders.

At any rate it seems safe to assume that French was rewinding by at least 1964.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Yes Don no brush tubes but this motor has never been apart as I can see the tabs have not ever been opened.

Hey maybe it's very rare and worth a ton of $$ and I can purchase that small ranch in Montana we always wanted!

[TSR]

Are you implying that the old pictures in the 1965 AoH magazine, showing the French motors with black endbells, have been tampered with?
If so, by whom?

Bertil,

"Touch-up" means that the picture as it was the case in the old days, was enhanced by retouching it with black and white artist gouache to highlight features and make the object looking better than it actually showed from the raw picture. Nowadays one uses Photoshop for that. As a commercial artist in one of my 14 lives, I used to do exactly that job...

That Barney has an early FT16 with the black endbell is evidence that (some of) the first motors rewound by French used Cox TTX100 motors, or at least their endbells, since no other marketed Mabuchi FT16 (including those directly sold by the factory) had black endbells.

The FT16 is easily recognizable because the spring posts are molded on the endbell in the opposite way as the later FT16D endbells, on the right side. The FT16D have the posts on the left side. So after seeing two French rewound FT16 examples so similar, I am convinced that it was indeed early production using Cox parts. Unlike the Russkit 22 or the Monogram, X100 that were issued in 1964, the Cox TTX100 was issued in early 1965, so this is the earliest date in which Gordon French would have been able to obtain some for rewinding purposes. My guess is that Gordon was doing serious business (in San Bruno) by mid to late 1965, was at its highest level of production in 1966 and then ran into cash flow difficulties, and borrowed funds from Tradeship's Fred Foyn, and when unable to repay, sold the business and the methods to Fred.

[ravajack]

"Touch-up" means that the picture as it was the case in the old days, was enhanced by retouching it with black and white artist gouache to highlight features and make the object looking better than it actually showed from the raw picture.

OK, I understand.
But I find it highly unlikely that Mr. Glimne or anyone else at the highly enthusiast-driven office of the old AoH mag would have gone through the trouble to do anything like that for just a plain and simple photo illustration for a small news bit on motor. They were neither artists nor salesmen with the ambition to sell anything, they would just report and inform. No need for make-up artistry of any kind.

More intriguing is that your first reaction (no offense!) when reading and seeing the old pics of these black-endbell French motors was — denial!

I believe that this endbell was a replacement and not the original, possibly after the original either melted or broke a string post or something.

Why was that?

And when Mr.Glimne had his saying on the subject, stating that the old pics showed the motors exactly as they had arrived to him 46 years ago, complete with black endbells, you still wouldn't take them for real:

...probably touched up pictures dating from 1965.

Again, why?

It wasn't until forum member Barney Poynor also chimed in (luckily!) with a picture of yet another French motor w. black endbell (untampered and un-touched up!) that you finally gave in:

That Barney has an early FT16 with the black endbell is evidence that (some of) the first motors rewound by French used Cox TTX100 motors ... I am convinced that it was indeed early [French] production using Cox parts.

Finally: ”OK then, there really seems to have been some early French motors with black endbells then, mumble, mumble, grunt... I hate to admit it, but ”Noli turbare circulos meos”.

That Barney Poynor has a black endbell French motor in 2011 is apparently good evidence.
But that Mr. Glimne in Sweden had two of them in 1965, and that there also were period pics to prove it, was apparently not enough evidence for their existence.
Something must be fishy from a land far away in a time long ago...

I guess Barney's motor will to be a significant stumbling block when the history of the early days of slot car motor rewinding is (re)written.

So tidy up the ruffled feathers and get on with it!
(And why not ask Gordon French himself... etc.)

[redbackspyder]

Well done, Bertil!

Barney, auction that motor while the value is so high! The motor that stumped the Dokk!

[TSR]

But I find it highly unlikely that Mr. Glimne or anyone else at the highly enthusiast-driven office of the old AoH mag would have gone through the trouble to do anything like that for just a plain and simple photo illustration for a small news bit on motor.

Bertil,

You missed the point: it's not the pictures on the article I was talking about, but the Aero Hobby pics on the advertizing that ARE retouched. it is very visible where the white paint has been added to highlight the edge of the brush holder retainer and the edge of the endbell's plastic. it was a very common thing to do in the 1960's...

Mill,

I never believe anything until I see it, then see it confirmed. So it did not "stump" me, it TAUGHT me... indeed I had never seen a French motor that had a black endbell before, and if it was not for Slotblog and people like Bertil and Barney, I might have died in total ignorance... and no, I don't know it all, or have forgotten a lot, take your pick!

For the rest of the French/Tradeship story... wait a few more months and the oncoming result of five years of on-and-off research...

[HarV Wallbanger III]

FOR SALE 1 VERY RARE (UNOBTAINIUM SERIES) BLACK ENDBELL EARLY FRENCH REWIND... MAKE BIG OFFER!

WHERE IS BLING WHEN YA NEED HIM!