14 replies to this topic

[manitouguy]

Hi all,

If any interest, here is a link to a thread over on SlotForum about a 'repop' project Mr. Howmet and possibly Dr. P. might assist with...
 
I was able to finally pick up, after it was misplaced for a couple of years, what appears to be a Ron Von Klein 1/24 PAM-Chevy body.
 
LASCM has a beautiful 'prototype', also shown in Dr. P's first slot book. Apparently some other bodies were passed around back in the day at MEASC and maybe other clubs, too.
 
At any rate I assume some of you might enjoy the chance to build your own version of this unique car, hence I am sending this 'well-loved' body off to Mr. Dilworth in next couple of weeks to work his magic on. John might need a master for the proper Russkit interior tray, we'll have to look into that.
 
At any rate photos and more info per link below (sorry, being lazy and didn't want to relink it all here, too).
 
1/24 PAM-Chevy, repopping a possible Russkit prototype
 
Will update as this one moves forward.
 
And if any of you recognize the black and gold team paint scheme, it would be neat to hear more... maybe these were your cars a few decades ago!!?!
 
Regards,

Ron

[TSR]

Ron,
 
I don't know what Russkit interior the prototype is fitted with but I THINK that it is a cut down Porsche 906 cockpit, first because it is left-hand drive, second because of the seat's shape. To be verified of course.

Now, Select also did a PAM-Chevy also mastered by Von Klein for Bill Sippel, so I will have to look in the fine details to see which one yours is.

The PAM-Chevy was the former Jim Clark Lotus 30 that Jimmy drove at the 1964 Times Grand Prix. After it was sold and its body severely damaged, it was rebuilt as the PAM-Chevy and was a truly horrible mess of a racing car. It really raced one, scaring Dick Guldstrand, and it did not start at that Riverside race where the picture was taken. Mechanical or terror? I will have to ask Dick next time we meet...
 

Guldstrand was a non-starter in this Lotus 30-based Special. Two weeks previous he was credited with 17th place in the second heat of the Laguna Seca Can-Am.
 
From Howard Macken:
"I just found out about this car the other day, it was called PAM. It is a rebodied Lotus 30, driven by Dick Guildstrand. This photo was also shot at practice. Shortly after I took this it went out and destroyed itself, never to be seen again. I dont know any other details, but I have never seen another photo of this car."

 

[manitouguy]

Hi Philippe,

That is wonderful info - and nice to see a larger color shot, too. Is it from a particular Can-Am book?
 
Regardless of its real racing pedigree, I think the LASCM 1/24 version of the PAM is a great-looking slot car (as are all the Russkits) so will be good to know which interior was used.
 
Will also be good to know if this is the Select shell or the Russkit proto version... in looking at the vents over the rear wheels and gas gaps it certainly appears to be the same as the Russkit one - wheel vents each have two very small round dimples under top edge and gas caps have top of cap ridge molded running 'front to back' if that makes sense, and seems to have same door sill groove, too.
 
Maybe the 1/24 Select body used his same master?? If LASCM has a Select then I suppose you can compare the two.
 
Regards,

Ron

[tonyp]

Hard to imagine making a Lotus 30 worse than it originally was. LOL.

[Cheater]

That is wonderful info - and nice to see a larger color shot, too. Is it from a particular Can-Am book?

Ron,

PdL snagged that pic and the quote from Tam's Old Race Car Site HERE.

I've emailed Howard to inquire if he has any additional photos of the car.

[John Secchi]

Lotus 40!

[oneofwos]

 

[TSR]

John,

Not so sure. Apparently the car was made from the works "30" that Jimmy ran at Riverside, that was then sold to Bob Challman:
 

The car was indeed the one raced by Jimmy at the 1964 west coast races, and sold to Bob immediately after. The car is L30/3 and was converted later into the PAM-Chevy Can-Am car, then was returned recently to its original form. How much of the original car was left is subject to vast speculation...

Bob had only ONE Type 30. There was another on the west coast, L30/2, but that belonged to Bill Krause then to John "Bat" Masterson. That car has disappeared.

 
In fact Challman had two Lotus 30s, and the other (L30/20) was converted by him into the "Cherokee MK1".
 
I know that some in the UK claim to have the "40" that Clark drove in 1965 at the Times Grand Prix and was later made in the PAM, but I believe that they are confused. Clark's "40" was sold to Bill Krause and was totally destroyed a couple years later. That someone claims its "ownership" is akin to someone claiming Pierre Levegh's LeMans Mercedes ownership today.

[manitouguy]

Here is the photo from the Pete Lyons Can-Am book:
 

 
Regards,

Ron

[TSR]

I talked to Dick about it and he said that this was the scariest contraption he had ever driven. He lost control of it in its last outing and crashed it badly enough that it was a DNS for the race.
 

[Cheater]

Well, there may not be too many pictures, but there's at least one work of art showing this car:
 


Illustration by George Bartell, which appeared in the magazine Sports Car Graphic in 1966.

[macman]

Neat body, looking to see what Dilworth does with it.

[Cheater]

I snagged another pic of the PAM-Chevy from somewhere. Here it is...



(Photographer unknown)

[gascarnut]

I don't know what Russkit interior the prototype is fitted with but I THINK that it is a cut down Porsche 906 cockpit, first because it is left-hand drive, second because of the seat's shape.

 

The photos are pretty clear that the PAM, like the Lotus, was right hand drive, so the use of a Porsche interior may not have been correct.

[Cheater]

Geez, I am really getting senile. That's the same pic that is in post #8... LOL!

[Cheater]

Spotted another rare pic of the PAM-Chevy which I thought I'd add to this thread.