24 replies to this topic

[TSR]

One of the hardest slot cars to find on the open market today is the Dynamic "Super Bandit", a "thingy" that was quite a sales success story in 1966, as thousands were grabbed by anxious teens with a large allowance, as its $14.95 entry fee was quite stiff.
It was a high-performance version of the "Bandit", a very popular RTR that came with a stock, AMT branded Mabuchi FT16D motor and a conventional Dynamic cast aluminum chassis, with the typical hinge in its center.

The "Super Bandit" had an evolved "Dynaflex" chassis with coil-spring suspension, a better crown gear made of nylon, a new "quick change" guide flag and smaller diameter front and rear tires. Its motor was a rewound, balanced version of the AMT motor, now painted right over the original purple with a very light metallic green, the red armature wire providing a very attractive contrast. This motor was called "Green Hornet" and the kids simply loved it. The body was now painted black, and was affixed to the chassis with the same brass mount and slots as on the original car.

It handled quite well for the time, as its CG was low and its body very light. Thing is, the slots stamped on the body sides to hold it over the brass mount did not last very long, and most show bad cracks or missing body parts in that location. Many also develop a radial crack at the very back of the body.
Most survivors found today are either missing their body or are badly damaged. Thousands ended as "parts cars" after the motor blew up...
This is a picture of all the Bandit versions and colors, as well as their packaging. They were produced for two years, 1966 and 1967.



I was entrusted in restoring one for a friend, and happily, the body survived quite well, virtually intact. It was very dirty and had hardened grease on its motor bearings and axles, requiring a solvent bath to loosen the solidified lubricant. This is what it looked after disassembly and superficial cleaning:



Originality is most critical to me in restoring real cars, real motorcycles or slot cars, so it was important that the job be done right. On this example, both front and rear original wheels had been lost, replaced by substandard items.  I was able to trace and obtain the correct front wheels and tires, beautifully cast “American Mags” so popular on hot rods in the 1960s and… today. But I could not find the correct rears, so I temporarily reconditioned the rears that came with the car, hoping to find the real thing soon.

The aluminum chassis, the brass body mount, tiny 5-50 brass jam nuts and axle spacers were corroded, so they were tumbled to bring them back to their correct finish. The body was washed with soap and water to remove a layer of built-up grime and rubber debris. The original stickers were not damaged in the process.
The motor was cleaned, lubricated with synthetic (won’t harden again!) and its lead wires cleaned from accumulated grime and oil deposits. NOS braided contacts were fitted. The crown gear was also cleaned from hardened greased and its brass hub polished. 









The owner has the original box, but the printed insert is gone and the foam on which the car was standing has rotted.  I will make a new foam insert for his box and print a replacement insert. This is what it will look like when completed:

[Tim Wilkins]

Philippe,

 

Although frowned upon as not looking original, why didn't more racers then and now utilize the center screw hole as provided in the brass body mount?  It certainly helps keep the body on when racing or being involved in a crash.

 

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[Larry Horner]

Wow, that body is in amazing shape considering it is over 50 years old. And I love how the tumbling makes parts look new but still vintage at the same time. Nicely done!

[don.siegel]

Here are a couple of Bandits I've found over the years, nothing mint unfortunately. The Super Bandit was an early ebay find, and it came like that, with the dark red, almost Burgundy body, the metal gear and the front end trimmed for guide clearance; it does have a Dynamic quick-change guide. I seem to remember it came with silicone-coated sponge tires, and I ran on those once in a Thingie race in Turin, but the sponge layer kept coming off, so changed to these gray foam tires. As Tim points out above, I used the provided screw holes, since the slits on one side especially were cracking. 

 

Now, Philippe maintains these always came in black (tip of the hat to Henry Ford here...), but I have always wondered if a few weren't also sold like this... of course, it could have also been a rebodied car, or many other possibilities. 

 

My Bandit, a more recent acquisition, seems pretty stock, but has a plastic gear.

 

The junker Bandit has an unlabeled Thord 26D, standard chassis and what I assume is a buyer-painted aftermarket body. 

 

Don 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Martin]

Nice restoration Philippe and nice survivors also Don. Tim, looking good with what is a new build? love the BZ driver to match the blue stripe.

Interesting to me that the green Bandit has the paper stripes. Were they sold clear, but with factory stickers? wonder if the number 44 is under the banana sticker.

That is one green banana. What was the Chiquita slot car connection. I remember an importer promoter racer maybe ????

 

Don, you may of have found the elusive banana car? well close.

[don.siegel]

Holy Cow, a Holy Grail! 

 

You're right about the banana connection, but I think it was Dole (was that the parent company of the Chiquita brand?). It was Bruce Paschal, major enthusiast who sponsored and encouraged a lot of the pro drivers. 

 

Seems more likely that a kid found a bunch of stickers on his breakfast bananas and said, "cool, free decals!"

 

Don 

[Martin]

Thanks for the memory Jog, yes Bruce Paschal.

 

yes, " Seems more likely that a kid found a bunch of stickers on his breakfast bananas and said, "cool, free decals!"

 

P. not trying to be all PC (Period Correct) here, but what happened to the ''knife edge'' front tires?  They look like they are flat. Is it the pic or my eyes?

[TSR]

 

Were they sold clear, but with factory stickers?

 

Yes, both the Bandit and Renegade bodies were sold unpainted with the stickers applied, and the gold and metallic red version of the Bandit was also sold separately , all in a clear plastic bag with the typical red and white Dynamic tag  affixed with a staple.

[Mad Mark]

Nice resto Philippe.

[TSR]

Mark, thanks!
I found a better set of rear wheels for it, still not quite the correct ones but of correct size, but I am far too busy helping in the production of that book of mine, won't have time to do the job for a while.

[TSR]

Well, those Dynamic wheels, while they are not the correct "American Mags", are better than the plain jobs that were on the car. They are dimensionally identical to the correct jobs, so I glued ans trued these Cox foam donuts on them, and ground them to correct size. Now the model is far better and I restored its box and am giving it back to its lucky owner next week.



The finished beast, ready to slip in its original box...






 

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Job done.
Next...

[Jesse Gonzales]

Philippe, did the super bandit come with a green hornet motor in it? if i recall the green hornet was about ten bucks by itself. that was way too rich for a barrio kid so stuck to rewinding russkit 23's with anywhere from 55 to 60 turns of 30 gauge wire. you were right that the kids with allowances sucked up the dynamic stuff as quick as it hit the case.

 

Jesse Gonzales

[don.siegel]

Jesse,

The Super Bandit did come with a Green Hornet rewind motor. And 10 bucks was a lot of money for many of us; I think the only time I invested that much was on a Versitec SS101, in late 67 or early 68. Otherwise, rewinds of all sorts, lots of 26Ds, etc.

 

Don

[Pablo]

Thanks for showing it, Philippe   

[TSR]

The entire car was priced at $16.95, a fortune at the time! Here are pictures of the "Green Hornet II" motor, that came in a few variations over its 2-year life:











All had red wire, # 28 AWG, about 60 turns. All were made from the stock purple AMT/Dynamic "Hornet" motor, opened, their can repainted in light metallic green right over the purple paint, the armature stripped, a better commutator fitted, then rewound and dynamically balanced on the Tradeship dynamic balancer.
The first were clear varnished, then balanced.
The second had their stack sanded-polished.
The third had their stack machine-polished.
Last issues had a Kirkwood commutator.

Within all these, some could have fat screws retaining the endbell after the tabs broke, the later used push tabs.  All receive a gold and black Dynamic sticker.

In 1967, the very last (and rather rare) Super Bandit received a new motor, made from the updated Mabuchi FT16D with a ball bearing replacing the gimbal bearing in the can, a new nickel plated can with oval vent holes and a Mura armature.








 

[Bill from NH]

If they were balanced on the Tradeship balancer, who did the arm rewinding? Dynamic employees or someone at Tradeship?

[TSR]

Bill, virtually all the Tradeship arms were wound in Japan, then sent to Tradeship for truing and balancing. In their early days and until the Mura "M400" line that incorporated the Mura-Cukras motors, Ron and George Mura depended on Freddy Foyn's Tradeship company for balancing their armatures.
Dynamic balancing machines were a novelty and were expensive. Bill Steube had all his armatures balanced at Thorp's because John had a machine.
Hence, the early Dynamic arms in the Super Bandit were first, Japanese, later wound at Mura and in any case, all balanced at Tradeship...

[don.siegel]

Looks like "Bandit-mania" has led to a certain "stretching of the truth", to say the least... 

 

https://www.ebay.com...wwAAOSwJ5pdxmme

 

Don 

[Bill from NH]

Not very original with the Cox fronts & the red rears, but at least it's not another "Cox-mania." 

[MattD]

The only thing right on the Ebay car is the body and mounts, the frame is just made up from  over the counter bits.    Slotblog discussion is good for driving interest and prices in run of the mill slot cars!

 

Found these rare, original bodies in a box in the closet, I was surprised to find an original gold Bandit in the box.  It is  a really rare one off

gold body from the Dynamic vaults.  It was a saleman's sample, at least that's what I was told by Dr.  Otto Von Slot.   I found it on Ebay.  He is 4 star honest seller.

 

  Actually these all came from our favorite body maker!!

 

[don.siegel]

Right you are Matt; I do think the forums have stirred up interest in things like Thingies and scratchbuilt cars over the years. 

 

Interesting group of bodies there: where do they come from and are you the painter? 

 

I would usually send a comment to a guy like this seller, but I seem to remember doing that years ago and I did not receive a warm welcome to say the least. He knows perfectly well what he's doing! 

 

Don 

[MattD]

Spray can lacquer.    Bodies by Gene.    Something to put on all those Manta Ray chassis I have and each one will be lane color of my track.   Replacement body for my Stinger roadster.

 

I like this one, too.

 

[Phil Smith]

There are a lot of ebay slot car sellers that knowingly misrepresent their stuff.

 

The worst one I was personally was a victim to was a small lot of old motors. It was cheap and I wasn't expecting much, but they were all junk. I unwrapped one and it literally fell apart in my hands. The rest were missing parts. None of this was described or apparent in the photos. This was from a guy that sells a lot of vintage slots and fully knows what he's doing.

 

I don't know how these people sleep at night.

[TSR]

Phil, it's like a new wife. "Buy her, be wary"

[Bill from NH]

 

I don't know how these people sleep at night.

 

 

Phil, I hope you gave this junk dealer what he deserved,  negative feedback.