14 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

Here as requested is a scan of the article on the history of Testor in the Australian Slot Car Review, from the December 2000 issue - unfortunately the last issue of this great magazine... By Bruce Neasmith, one of the world's leading experts on vintage slot cars.

[911GT3]

Thank you for sharing that little bit of slot car history.

[TSR]

Bruce is possibly the most knowledgeable slot car historian that side of the pond, and did a great job in 2000 writing this article. We have learned a lot more about Testor since, so the article could stand a bit of a revision today. For one, the earlier Testor kits did not have the "Genex" glued and trued foam tires but simple molded rubber slip-on jobs, and both wheels and tires could be had separately. In 1968, they issued their last RTR model, that of a Honda F1 in the same very attractive metallic green as their Lola T90 Indy car. Several Testor bodies are shared with Testor's sister company, Pactra, such as the Lola Indy car, the Marauder etc.
Missing in Bruce's list are Testor models that are today truly rare and only surfaced after the article was published: the green Honda as mentioned above, and the second version of the Harrison Indy car seen here:



No one can blame Bruce since the one above is the only one known to exist in its original box at this time, while a few loose examples have surfaced over the past 12 years, but none so far with the factory decals as on the example shown here.

The "Vulture Coupe" is a bit of a mystery to me as well as the #2338 number, since I do not have a record of any after # 2336. The only Vulture slot car model I know of was by Pactra and was of a modified Eagle-Climax F1 car fitted with a bubble cockpit, a truly rare model today. I hope that Bruce can show us what the Testor Vulture looks like if that was not in error when he wrote the story.
The listing below is the one that will be in the book with much more details including stock numbers, colors, chassis and motor types.

The Team Testor story is very interesting, especially since the first car show sports a... Russkit Lotus Type 38 body, and the later sports car shown, a Lotus 40 body by Riggen-Brimhall! Lovely stuff.


TESTOR 1/24 scale kits & RTR (VB)
The Testor Corporation, Rockford, IL USA


Issued 1965
Mirage CanAm kit
Honda 1.5-liter F1 kit
Plymouth CanAm kit

Issued 1966
Plymouth CanAm RTR
Harrison Indy Special RTR
Marauder RTR
Mirage CanAm RTR
Honda 1.5-liter F1 RTR
Alfa-Romeo Giulia Sport RTR
XVR-2 RTR
“Demon Deuce” Ford Model A RTR
“Terror-T” Ford T Pickup truck RTR


Issued 1967
Ford “J” Car RTR
Chaparral 2D RTR
1967 Harrison Indy Special RTR *
Lola T90 Indy car RTR
Ferrari P4 RTR


Issued 1968
Honda 1.5-liter F1 RTR **

* second version of the Harrison Indy in same box with added stickers
** Same stock number as previous versions


You can see most of the Testor kits and RTR models already posted on the LASCM website, CLICK HERE.

[Steve Deiters]

That Harrison aluminium Indy car always struck me. It was a good looking RTR and I think it has to be one of the only one time last row starters at Indy ever commerated in a slot car or anything for that matter. It never won a race (unless it was the same Harrison car Andretti won Pikes Peake Hill climb with) or even qualified very well. It showed up the first of May with a Chevy in the back and qualified on the last day with a Ford four cammer that it was swiched to earlier in the week. Those were interesting days at indy that are unfortunately gone for good.........

[TSR]

Indeed. Skip Hudson was the designated driver for that first car, built by Jerry Eisert. it was obsolete before it was even completed. Its aerodynamics were simply wrong, its chassis too flexible and it was a scary thing to drive. The later "ducktail" version was definitely a better car, but still uncompetitive with any of the front runners. Al Unser and Ron Duman assumed the dangerous wheel.
Here is an interesting recap of the history of the original cars, both that still exist today: CLICK HERE.
However the author made a mistake about the wing use, since this was first tested on an Indy car in 1962 on Yunnick's entry.

[Bruce Neasmith]

PDL ,
Time does not stand still , nor does our collective knowledge of the
early history of slot cars . When I did the article on Testor's twelve years
ago , I knew it would be subject to later revision , but at the time , it was as
good as I could get it . Everything has to start from somewhere I guess .

When it comes to the "Vulture" , it was unknown to me , but I remember
picking up a reference to it in a slot publication . I thought at the time that
it was a bit weird because it reverted back to 36D power which didn't make
much sense at that late stage . Also it had a 'stock' number , so I just
figured that it must have been released . Ah , but was it , whatever it was .
Maybe , it was something that was due for release but got pulled at the last
minute . Before it is totally disreguarded , maybe a little bit of research ?

When it came to the Team Testor cars , all the early ones were painted a
bright Orange which were the Team Colours . The Lotus 40 body that you
refer to was actually done in Australia by Bob Crawford's "Sunset Bodies"
who used to contract to "Alpha" in America during the Nineties for some of
'their' bodies . It certainly is very similar to the Riggen - Brimhall bodies .
"Sunset" has until very recent times , been the Main and most respected
Clear Body supplier within Australia , having been in Business uninterupted
since the Sixties . Bob Crawford supplies a Range of Scale Bodies in 1/32
and 1/24 as well as a range of swoopy wing era bodies and everything in
between . Bob has just recently celebrated his 70th Birthday but his Body
Business is on hold just at the moment as he battles some health issues .

And speaking of 'Wings' , I know a bit about their history and remember
that in Floyd Clymer's 1962 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook , there is a picture
of Jim Rathmann driving the Smokey Yunick prepared "Simoniz Special"
number 44 , which as pictured trialled a Wing ( airofoil ) way up in the air
just ahead of the driver and over the top of the engine . It wasn't used in
the Race , and Jim finished ninth . It was an A.J.Watson built car but I
would think that the trial use of the Wing was all down to Smokey Yunick.

PDL , I'm glad that you are around to not only get Slot Car History right
but also in relation to your vast knowledge of all things motorsport.

BRUCE NEASMITH

[TSR]

Bruce,
I am glad that you are around on the other side of our planet, as you have been great help to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the history of our hobby, so please let me return the compliment; you ARE the force behind historic slot car information from your part of the world, and we all owe you for what you have been able to provide over the years.
And indeed, we all learn every day.
I hope that we could find more about that possible Testor "Vulture" but so far I personally did not run across any information, so it was news to me when I read your article. The only Vulture I know of is of course the rather rare Pactra version, but let's not forget that there was a narrow relationship between the two companies, since the Pactra-Stormer Corporation was producing bodies for Testor and also marketing them under their own brand.
The Pactra "Vulture" was produced as a clear body and as an RTR model under the stock number 8000H.

[Bruce Neasmith]

PDL ,
When I sent you the issue of "Australian Slotcar Review " back in 2000 ,
I wish you had queried me shortly after about the 'Vulture' as I would have had
all my source material for that article , close at hand . Since that time of course
there has been a house move , so everything got packed up . But , nothing
in paperwork got thrown out , so I am going to have a bit of a search to see
if I can locate the reference point . I recently managed to find my 'stash' of all
the Australian Slotcar Review Magazines . all fourteen (14) of them , plus 3
copies of a Newsletter style Magazine that preceeded it called " H.O. OZ " .
The ASCR Magazines date from December 1997 thru to December 2000 .
The 'H.O. OZ ' magazines that I have are March , June and September 1997.
The then Editor /Publisher did three full years of the HO OZ before he made
the decision to embrace not only HO scale , but also 1/32 and 1/24 Slotties.

I wrote a column with pictures in each of the issues . It was called " VINTAGE
SLOT RACING NEWS" because as of 1997 , Greg Holland in America had
got to issue number 100 of his excellent Newsletter 'VSRN' which had been
going since 1987 , and had decided to step back and contemplate his next
move . So with that newsletter stopping , I decided to keep the spirit of it going.
Some of the articles that I wrote highlighted the 'history' of the different brands
that were around during the heyday of Slotcars and the ones that I did were:-

MARCH 1998 -------MONOGRAM------- five and a half pages
SEPTEMBER 1998--COX------------------six and a half pages .
DECEMBER 1998---CLASSIC------------ nine pages .
MARCH 1999 -------RUSSKIT------------ five and a half pages
SEPTEMBER 1999--TAMIYA------------- four pages
DECEMBER 1999---,STROMBECKER--eight pages
MARCH 2000-------- K & B AURORA---- five pages
JULY 2000------------ AMT----------------- four pages
SEPTEMBER 2000--REVELL------------- five pages
DECEMBER 2000---TESTORS----------- six pages

I only mention all of this to you now because , if your Big Book is still a little
bit 'down the track' , if there is any interest , you and I could con Don Siegel
into scanning and uploading the information as a precursor to your book .
An article could be put to the 'forum once every couple of weeks or so .

Just an idea , to fill in some gaps for people . In the meantime , I'll go to it in
trying to track down an elusive 'VULTURE' . Wish me Luck !

BRUCE NEASMITH

[TSR]

Hi Bruce,
That's very kind of you and indeed I picked information all over the planet including from you! No need at this point because of the book format, but scanning and publishing in the interactive website is something planned, so no worry about timing.
So far we have only found two genuine Pactra Vulture RTR models, but not a single boxed example yet.
The rarest Pactra car is of course their last issue, the Ford MK4, of which we have ONE un-boxed example, at least in excellent condition. It uses the late Iso-Fulcrum brass-rod and steel-wire chassis and second-generation guide flag that became common to both Pactra and Competition RTR cars in early 1968.
I do not have the pictures of the MK4 but its chassis is the same as this Lotus issued at the same time:

[Bruce Neasmith]

PDL ,
Well , if Don Siegel happens to view this 'thread' , he can make up his own mind.
I am quite sure that when it comes to Slotcar Publications over the years , he would be
the World's Leading Authority and he certainly has a full set of the late lamented ASCR.

Those "late" cars from Testors , Pactra and Competition sure are interesting in that at
this time , so few examples are known to exist in original condition . It reminds me a bit
of the very late "export" Russkit cars that turn up sporadically sometimes in their some-
what unusual packaging . Perhaps another in this category would be the Monogram
clear body version 1/24 Mclaren Elva ( factory painted ) RTR which I totally missed
when I did my Monogram article because , quite frankly , I didn't know anything about it .

The LASCM is such a great Institution to have that has gathered together the History
of this Hobby . What with the knowledge to be gained from 'period' publications as well
as sourcing examples of surviving 'correct' cars and parts , its good to know that your
Book will, when published , be seen to be THE source for most aspects of the Hobby .

BRUCE NEASMITH

[TSR]

Bruce,
Not only did Monogram produced the McLaren-Elva with the vacuum formed body as an RTR but also as a complete kits, one of the scarcer out there! The kit standard "SR" number was preceded by a "V" for vacuum formed, and so far, my search has only led to two examples, one of them in pretty good condition, the other not so great. I do not have a picture of the "good" kit (still mostly sealed inside its box) but here is the "not so great" kit that still has its original instructions:







Here is a partially boxed RTR, we have as yet to see one with its complete packaging:





Because we are still learning about the whens and hows of the hobby, the book will not be the definitive publication but the book PLUS the interactive website certainly will offer the opportunity to tie loose ends.

[Bruce Neasmith]

PDL ,
Thanks a lot for showing us two different examples of the vac-formed
Monogram McLaren Elva . Obviously very hard to find examples . You would
think that with an ounce of luck , there must be some other 'mint' survivors
out there somewhere . I hope that the LASCM is given that bit of luck .

As for your book , it and the interactive website will be definitive enough !

BRUCE NEASMITH

[TSR]

Bruce,
We have a much nicer kit, but I did not take pictures of it yet.
P

[Gator Bob]

TESTOR 1/24 scale kits & RTR (VB)
The Testor Corporation, Rockford, IL USA

 

 

Issued 1966

“Terror-T” Ford T Pickup truck RTR (note the spelling above - "Tarrar -T)


Issued 1967


Lola T90 Indy car RTR

-

You can see most of the Testor kits and RTR models already posted on the LASCM website, CLICK HERE.

Remember these

[Gator Bob]

Might be helpful ...