40 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

Here's a couple interesting motors from the Charlie Morito legacy that just turned up on eBay in the last few months, after disappearing for some years since his untimely demise...

Not sure if CO was a brand, but it rings a vague bell, perhaps from Champagne, Illinois... Looks like kind of an official label, but in a funny place for cooling... Anybody else remember CO?





A Mura rewind of Charlie's with homemade elephant ears/cooling-bussbars?



And a very interesting experiment, which we will never know if he finished: stuffing a Versitec/Globe five-pole arm in a Russkit can, with ball bearing... Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the Russitec!





Another one, from somewhere else: a tricolor 26D, perhaps a commercial rewind? Can is orange painted blue or vice versa, and the back in Russkit gold! Got me...

[Horsepower]

Morito died, too?

[Horsepower]

What about Jim? Still alive?

[Bill from NH]

A bunch (15-20) of Charlie's chassis were sold on eBay by a guy named 'rugrat' at the same time he was selling the motors and motor parts.

[MSwiss]

Morito died, too?

IIRC, he got killed in a skydiving mishap.

[don.siegel]

Yep, back in the '70s, he died very young unfortunately.

Rugrat is actually a very nice young woman from Chicago, who got a couple boxes in an estate sale. She doesn't know exactly what happened, but thinks that these were left in the mother's house, and when she died or went into a home, they were given away. I pointed out that Charlie had a brother who also slot raced, and we think that Jim probably got all the cars, but the parts were just left in a box, because considered useless at the time...

There were a number of Dyna-Rewind and other great motors in there, besides the chassis - I think Ms Rugrat was very pleasantly surprised by the price of some of this stuff...

Don

[Hworth08]

Some of the items sold at a low price, I bought them. Two or three dozen 507 or early Arco-equipped cans and motors with nice arms. The latest and best motor parts, well for 1967 anyway!

Ms. Rugrat was a pleasure to deal with. I bought six or eight auctions together and she was very nice to combine shipping.

[slotcarone]

That CO is part of a COBRA sticker I believe!!!

[TSR]

Mike, you are correct. I also told the lady when she contacted me several months ago, describing for her all what she was selling.

The motor in question with the shortened Cobra sticker is simply a standard (but quite discolored) Mura Magnum 44 motor.

Don, the blue and gold "26D" is a Howkill stock motor. They painted the Classic cans right over the orange paint. I was also intrigued by the "Globuchi" but why did Charlie stop there? Simple: there was no Mabuchi FT16 sized endbell available then that could have received a bushing large enough for the 1/8" shaft... hence, Charlie parked the unfinished project!

The "elephant ears" on the Mabuchi motor were an early attempt to cool the brushes, as with the Hemi "Thunderbolt" motors with the bolt-on aluminum strips running on the motor's sides.

[don.siegel]

Oh.. always kind of disappointing when the answer turns out to be mundane... Shows what kind of tricks our memory can play on us, too - I thought I remembered a CO raceway in Champaign, IL, and I wanted it to be true. But Cobra it is, and Mura...

The Howkill makes sense also, but what about the Russkit gold on the back of the can?

I've been playing around with Simco endbell on the Russitec, but nothing too definitive for now. Wonder why he would have gone to the trouble of putting the 1/8" bearing in the can, if he hadn't figured out the endbell yet...?

Don

[JohnnySlotcar]

The raceway was C U Model Raceways. They had two tracks and had a Dyna Rewind Indy Car/F1 race there in 1968. All had to run silicone-coated sponge tires!

I participated and still have my car and race plaque!

[don.siegel]

Thanks, BRM, that's it - would love to see a photo of the car and plaque if you get a chance...

Don

[TSR]

The Howkill makes sense also, but what about the Russkit gold on the back of the can?

Don, all Howkill motors were painted in metallic blue with gold on the can bearing face.



Often over another color, like that of whatever motor they could find to rewind...

I wonder why they spelled the motor's name "Apallo", maybe it was really appalling?

[havlicek]

I've been playing around with Simco endbell on the Russitec, but nothing too definitive for now. Wonder why he would have gone to the trouble of putting the 1/8" bearing in the can, if he hadn't figured out the endbell yet...?

One possibility is that he was working his way through the conversion one problem at a time Don. I've done that myself, and sometimes you just get to a point where a roadblock presents itself. You put the thing aside, figuring that "inspiration" will come later one and somtimes it does... sometimes it doesn't.

-john

[Champion 507]

Two thoughts on the (mis)spelling of Apallo (Apollo)... and probably both of them are rong (wrong).

1) America was in a space race with the Russians when all this slot car stuff was happening and the moon spacecraft were named Apollo. Maybe they wanted to associate their motors to be fast as rockets so they altered the spelling. Kinda like Beatles... beetles. Same idea.

2) Maybe it was simply a spelling oversight. How many times have you seen Camaro spelled Camero?

I dunno.

[Bill from NH]

When I started commercial racing in 1967, i saw many Howkill motors and arms being run locally.Their reliability was always in question. New ones either ran very fast or they quickly smoked. I'd say it was half of one, half the other.

I never did find out if the Howkill guys were from the Boston area or NYC but I never bought one either.

[don.siegel]

I don't remember seeing or even hearing about the Howkill brand over in my Chicago neighborhood...

Seems to be a fair amount of them coming out of the eBay woodwork, and I've realized that I have others in those colors as well...

Don

[Champion 507]

Yeah, I had never even heard of Howkill until about 10 years ago on the internet. I still have never seen one in person.

[Horsepower]

Maybe they should have named it "Howspell"?

[Bill from NH]

North Reading is a Boston north shore suburb. Thanks.

[don.siegel]

Well, maybe that explains why Bill knew about them and they never got to Chicago...

I'm not at home now, but if I remember right, the first Howkill I picked up off the Bay came in a box marked Howkill, but that said something like nuts & bolts - were they originally a hardware manufacturer that branched out? I'll have to find that box and post the pic...

Don

[tmail62]

The raceway was C U Model Raceways. They had two tracks and had a Dyna Rewind Indy Car/F1 race there in 1968. All had to run silicone-coated sponge tires!

I participated and still have my car and race plaque!

I raced there also!

 

Built 7 of the 8 chassis's in the 1971 Fire Cracker 400 race.

 

Wish I had one of my cars and some picture from back then,

 

Have good memories of the racers, Ben Sr and Ben Jr.

 

Was I young back then or what!!!!!

[zettler]

Wow! Even more nostalgia!

I not only raced there but also worked there in the 1960s.

Bob Zettler (aka Jet Zett, bestowed upon me by Ben Jr.)

[zettler]

The raceway was C U Model Raceways. They had two tracks and had a Dyna Rewind Indy Car/F1 race there in 1968. All had to run silicone-coated sponge tires!

I participated and still have my car and race plaque!

 

 

 

I finally find this website, see a few oldsters lime me who raced there, and when I check on their last activity, I find it's been awhile....

 

I am posting in this one too just in case anyone else raced at CU:

 

https://photos.app.g...57ebKZ5rQdTXfY8

[don.siegel]

Thanks Bob! 

 

Just noticed your reply - didn't get a notification when you posted it. 

 

Very impressive that you worked there at the time - any other pics? stories? 

 

Don