12 replies to this topic

[Slotcar51]

Came across these from my childhood collection. Would like to know some info on them. Look to me like a Strombecker Motor

 

Thanks

 

[don.siegel]

Ah, this one! Yep, Strombecker Hemi motor, made in Japan, and the chassis is made in Japan, but we've never found a positive identification for the maker of this car. 

 

There should be one on the LASCM website, and previous threads on here, but can't remember what key search words to use! 

 

Maybe HIT or PI, something like that... 

 

Don 

[Slotcar51]

With some research it turn out to be as far as I can tell a 1/24 Gakken Ferrari 330 P - 2 with an export chassis.

 

Wonder how rare these are?

[TSR]

Lewis, these cars (there were two models, the Ferrari 330P2 and a Lola T70 in medium blue), are still a mystery for all, because if there is a Japanese article showing the chassis and body as Gakken articles (the Ferrari body definitely is, but the Lola is another mystery as it does not surface in any other form), the amount of modifications necessary to fit both the Ferrari and Lola bodies on that aluminum chassis are far from convincing as of their actual manufacturer. Lots of handy work to precisely fit injected plastic body mounts hand glued inside the bodies, hardly mass production method...

The cars were likely marketed not by Gakken (as they do not appear in any of their period literature) but by an outfit named "Pi", and what these two letters stand for is still being debated even by Japanese enthusiasts. 
Here is actually what one would get when purchasing a "Pi" Lola or Ferrari:



The Ferrari came in the same packaging, sorry I don't have a picture handy at this time.

But that is not all: an RTR Strombecker model of a Chaparral 2 was also offered sometimes in 1967, also in a similar clear-plastic pouch using the very same graphics.
Also, the SEGA Company appears to have been involved in this. Unbeknownst to most enthusiasts, SEGA was in 1967, an American company and not a Japanese one. SEGA stands for "Service Games" and began as a coin-operated game manufacturer for US servicemen abroad. In 1967, while based in Japan, it was owned by a Mr. Rosen and distributed slot car products including... Strombecker and "Pi" products. 

One will likely never know all the little details about the "Pi" cars and who actually made them, but little mysteries make life interesting. 





 

[Slotcar51]

Philippe,

Thanks for the reply, the Lola you pictured stirred a memory in this old brain. I seem to remember I bought two of these kits at a slot track and they were marked as Strombecker. ( But i could be wrong I was only 15 at the time so who knows  ) LOL. Oh well the mystery continues. Maybe someday I'll come across the boxes they came in.

 

Lewis

[TSR]

The Strombecker RTR models with a controller were the Chaparral 2 (white), Cheetah (blue), Ferrari 365P2 (red) and Lotus 30 (green). All 4 came in a similar vinyl pouch as the mysterious "Pi" Lola and Ferrari, but with a blue vinyl backing rather than black, and packaging was slightly larger.
Here is the Chaparral in its vinyl pouch:



Compare the graphics on the packaging between the "Pi" Lola and the Strombecker Chaparral:



This is what is intriguing, all these ties between all these companies...

Strombecker marketed for Olson Electronics, a kit with two cars, a Ford "J" and a Ferrari, also with controllers, in a corrugated box with only a shrink wrap over them.
Maybe this is what you recall?



 

[Slotcar51]

You know that kit look real familiar as my Dad did buy a lot of stuff from Olson back in the day. Love those 60's prices.

Attached Images

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[don.siegel]

Finally picked up one of these cars, the Hemi version, so thought I'd put in a few shots. There was also a version with a Kemtron type motor. A fellow enthusiast from Australia, posted a couple shots of that car, and one of them had a "Gakken" nameplate on the motor! 

 

Don 

 

 

 

[Alchemist]

Hi Don,

 

That looks to be in exceptional condition - what a find!

 

Thanks for sharing Don!

 

Ernie

[don.siegel]

Thanks Ernie, very happy to have found this one... now I'm looking for the Kemtron powered version. 

 

It had a couple of the body posts off, one just unglued in back and the other broken in front, but that was a relatively simple fix. 

 

The Pi cars had a really odd body mount system, and you can see a hint in the above photo. It had three posts to be glued into the body, with embedded screws, and you held the body on with nuts, instead of the usual way around. 

 

Don 

[TSR]

Don,
the cars at the LASCM in the pouches use metric 3 mm screws to hold the bodies, so there were apparently different methods of assebly. As far as the chassis with the KTM motor, I have never seen one with either the Lola or the Ferrari body on it. Have you? 

[don.siegel]

I can't remember now about the bodies P; just noticed this type of chassis occasionally popping up. 

 

And I thought all the bodies were held on with nuts - do your cars in the LASCM also have the glue on posts, or something different? 

 

Don 

[TSR]

Don, yes, the posts are all glued. While the origin of the Ferrari body is Gakken, no one has been able to identify where the Lola came from. Definitely a different style and pattern maker.
This in part is what tells me that "Pi" has little to do with Gakken other than purchasing bodies, in a way similarly to Western Hobbies in America with their 3 RTR cars using the Dugan chassis, Riggen wheels, leftover BuzCo motors etc.