The late Bob Emott had been the design leader from the early days of the anglewinder design, and effectively became the best chassis builder in the United States and likely, the world, inspiring other builders in the USA and abroad. He would do so until 1971.
Never resting on his laurels, Emott continuously evolved his designs, and this car is typical of his progress. Built for Team Mini Wheels Chris "The Judge" Vitucci, it represents the "next step" in the evolution of the so-called "plumber" chassis (so named because described as a "plumber's nightmare" when first introduced.
The center section is now made of two rails on each side of a 1-1/4" Cobra drop arm, one being a brass rod. The "motor box" of older 1968 chassis is now gone, main rails connecting shorter "half rails" to the rear axle tube. The side pans are now hinged two ways, with the rails hinged from the front of the drop arm.
The front axle tube is now partly "vented," to allow easier lubrication and also lower the center of gravity, even if by a minuscule amount.
The front wheels are Mini Wheels, while the rears are Cobra. The guide and the gears are Cox items.
The motor is a faithful replica of a Kean massaged Champion "535" can with a Mura endbell fitted with Champion hardware. The endbell is side vented to expel as much of the heat as possible. The armature is a dual wound Kean on Champion blanks, 27/28 wire. Magnets are Champion Arco "DZ." The lead wires are Marklin stuff, lots of strands there. Axles are 1/8" drill blanks, the rear running inside Globe-Versitec flanged ball bearings.
As found in the pile of chassis retained by Bob Emott and purchased by the LASCM a few years ago, it needed a few repairs but was in quite nice condition, so it was simply repaired and washed. The soldering mess on the drop arm was left alone as it happened during the main event in which the car was raced (Vitucci having TQ'd) but he worked to destroy the car during the race. I decided not to touch it.
The guide and lead wires were still attached to the chassis and I left them alone as they showed no damage. It was missing its Kean motor, so I assembled one from parts, exactly as Bob Kean would have done in early 1969. The drop arm is engraved, as many of the 1969 Emott chassis were:
"Super Arm Batwinder"
Built for Chris Vitucci
The COBRA killer
By
Bob Emott
The body is a Dynamic McLaren M8, painted and decorated as a replica of the original Dave Bloom artwork by the best person to do such a job today, Joe "Noose" Neumeister. He was there, and his memory cells are quite excellent at remembering what colors to apply.
This one was a tough job for me, as the motor clearance was the tightest I had to deal with on an Emott chassis so far, and I did not want to remove or grind anything off that would have compromised the originality of this great car, which set the American "Blue King" qualifying record with a then fast 4.72". We now have no less than five "Blue King" record holding cars at the LASCM, the oldest from 1967, the youngest from 1985!
This car is of course fully functional, as all restorations performed for the LASCM are. But it is now a shelf queen, a witness of a great period in the history of electric model car racing.
