24 replies to this topic

[Ron Hershman]

Posted on Facebook...

Today was the passing of my friend John J. Thorp . I got to see him on Saturday, and knew he was ready to leave his earthly form, and maybe meet up with his late wife Helen. I like to think he had an amazing full life and touched many peoples lives with his designs and hard work in the fields of slot and radio controlled cars. I can't think of a better day for his passing then Labor Day. I will always remember John and his ingenious designs and fantastic accomplishments he made in his field. John was always kind to me, and I will miss visiting him. I am very thankful for the time I had documenting his creations, and hearing all his great stories. He will be missed.

[TSR]

My condolences to his family and friends, John was one of your youth heroes. For the ones who have never met him, John was a pure hobbyist in love with what he was doing, a man full of ingenious ideas and thinking outside the envelope. John also ran with Gil Gundersen the best slot car armature balancing service in the late 1960s to the mid 1970s.
If you had a Team Checkpoint armature, it was balanced by Thorp. And that's saying something.

In the early days of R/C, John produced beautifully crafted cars with the smoothest belt drive, cars that were always very competitive.

John, rest in peace.

[Gator Bob]

Sad to hear about another legend passing.

R.I.P.

[Mark Wampler]

Coming from a small town track, out of the mainstream of slot racing news, Thorp was a name to be remembered. Thorp double wound arms were winners in my hood. I had two of them. Regards to John's family, a man I would like to have known.

-m

[Tom Eatherly]

Sad to hear of his passing. He was a great guy and hobbyist. RIP

[Maximo]

R.I.P. John, as I too am a fan of your many accomplishments amd ingenious developments.

I have always searched high and low for any Thorp products that I could find and remain a user enthusiastically.

Thank you for being the great Man that you were to so many slot car fanatics!

-Max

[Mark Wampler]

I thought I’d tell this little story, because I had such a great time running my two Thorp arms.

In the early 80’s the track owner, was “allowing” us to run some oddball cars. There was a 2.2 amp draw limit! The old American Orange ran on original power pack power. The glory days were past and we had been running inline womps with Johnson 16d’s on the American Red Track up until that time. So lot of us were getting bored.

There were these two Thorp arms behind the counter that had been sitting several years since the 60’s The glory days were past but we were fed up with Womps. So Dick, the track owner allowed us to race a “wider” version, anglewinder womp, kinda strange. Long story short, the 2.2 amp draw limit made it hard to get anything faster than an NCC grp 20 arm, BUT I had a dbl 28 and a dbl 29 Thorp. It was amazing that with super light brush tension, I barely passed the amp draw test. Needless to say, it was fairly easy to whack NCC 20’s all day.

[Tex]

R.I.P., John; you're in good company.

[Guy Spaulding]

Amen. A name to be remembered. God bless all who accompanied his accomplished journey in life.

[Larry Labounty]

John RIP . To this day I wish I always had a Thorp 1/8 car .Such a work of art for its time !

[Tim Neja]

Wow --so sorry to hear. I spoke to John earlier this year when he stopped by an RC indoor race track in Chino Calif. I raced 1/12 scale with him for many years at his track in Pomona. He was doing great!! My condolences to his family--he was truly a legend in our RC racing community as well as the slot car world. R.I.P. John!

[idare2bdul]

John was always nice to me and his workmanship was top notch. I'm glad I still have some of the arms he balanced. Slot racing and RC racing both benefited from his work.

[Dave Fiedler]

Very sorry to hear this news.

[Gary Mayeda]

RIP John.... a true legend in the slot car world. Many balancers in 60's but Thorp was the best.

[John Miller]

http://www.goldenyea...oto-collection/

Rest in peace. . .

[Champion 507]

I sent a couple of arms to Thorp for balancing in the late 1960's and was never disappointed. His work was A+. The local track I raced at closed in mid-1968, so I was out of slots until 1979. Never really had a lot of exposure to Thorp stuff but I certainly remember reading about it in the mags of the day. I have three Thorp items left, one of those balancing envelopes, a #25 sgl arm I got in Indianapolis in 1970 while on vacation and a 27/28 arm I got from a friend about 20 years ago. That #25 sgl was only raced once but it almost won me the race. I got nurfed in the last heat and finished second. Not bad for someone who hadn't raced in two years and was using two year old equipment!

R.I.P. John. Thank you for your contributions to this grand hobby. I wish I could have met you.

[Glenn Gordon]

I am sorry to hear of his passing. He owned the Thorp racewaay which later was to become the Ranch Pit Shop. I never made it to the track while he owned it. My first recolections of his work was the Best differential ever made for the old Tamiya 1/10 scale RC cars. RIP Glenn

[Michael Rigsby]

Another legend of the hobby leaves us. Never met the man, but ran his arms when I was much younger. R.I.P. Mr. Thorp.

[Gil Gundersen]

Very sad to hear about my friend's passing.
I was at a race in Dallas in 1969 when John asked me to come work for him.
I learned a lot from him.
First, how to balance arms. He wouldn't let me finish an arm until it was perfect.
He and his brother in law made the balancer.
Then he started me winding arms. I rebalanced around 75 arms in the A.M. and then
made 6 dozen arms from scratch in the afternoon every day.
After a few years we started doing 1/8 scale R.C. cars and he taught me to run a milling machine
and make wheels and tires.
He was a true inovater in our sport/hobby. Never ceased to amaze me with his knowledge.
I did'nt always agree with him, but I always respected him.
He will be missed.
R.I.P. John
Gil Gundersen

[olderracer]

Dammit--more sad news, RIP John: a legend.

---------------Jack

[Garry]

John you are a great innovator and legend, RIP.

[Maximo]

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!

 

Should have posted this photo years ago!

 

R.I.P. John.

Attached Images

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[Alchemist]

Hi Maximo!

 

That is a great looking car!

 

I believe there isn't a time restriction to honor someone who has passed on.

 

That's a great tribute just the same and a wonderful reminder!

 

Thank you for sharing it with us - I appreciate it!

 

May I inquire please, what type of rear tire rubber do you have on the car?

 

To me, it does not appear to have the typical foam tire because the sidewalls look to have a "luster".

 

Thank you.

 

 

Ernie

[Maximo]

Ernie,

 

They are Silicone coated Foam. The track near me uses those types of tires.

 

I loved what John Thorp did for slot cars.

 

Unfortunately I do not have that car anymore.

[Alchemist]

Hi Maximo,

 

Thank you for that info.

 

At least you owned the car at one time and most importantly . . . the memories of it!

 

Thanks again.

 

Ernie