14 replies to this topic

[Dave Milster]

I have nearly a dozen varieties of the original Model Motoring before Aurora came out with the ThunderJet chassis. These ran on an 18vac power pack where the Thunderjet used DC.
 
I do not know what they are called. Can somebody identify these?
 
The two attached are covered with a 1963 Corvette and a 1963 Galaxie Police Car bodies.
 
We called them "Buzzers." They operate like a doorbell buzzer. When current is applied this flat metal spring moves down toward the coil (out of the photo). This spring has a perpendicular reed on it that ratchets on the ribbed drum between the rear wheels. When the flat spring goes down, there's a rod in the center which it pushes down that opens the contact underneath; releasing the flat spring which pops back up and ratchets for another bite on the rear ribbed drum. It does this quickly.
 
These cars would run about 2/3 the speed of the first ThunderJet cars. They were noisy!
 

 

 

 

 

[Rotorranch]

Commonly known as vibrators.

 

Rotor

[strummer]

Interesting; I have heard of them, but did not know they ran on AC. Isn't that something.

 

The OP's close up photos really show a great deal of detail.

 

Dave, perhaps you would consider taking a body off and showing the "guts" of it...and maybe that AC power pack, if you've still got it. 

 

Mark in Oregon

[Eddie Fleming]

Not that it matters but it is a 62 Ford police car. I knew about vibrator cars but have never seen one.

[strummer]

Not that it matters but it is a 62 Ford police car. I knew about vibrator cars but have never seen one.

 

Speaking of which...

 

This is from a current eBay listing; the track looks to be very similar to Aurora's, and it also features AC power:

 

 

 

Something new every day... 

 

Mark in Oregon

[MG Brown]

It's interesting that back in the day HO slot cars were vibrators and now our retro slot cars use vibrator motors.

 

 

* Falcon/Hawk/Eagle style motors are frequently used in shavers, toothbrushes and other personal care electric devices. The specification may be different but the bones are essentially the same as retro slot car motors.

[Dave Milster]

I've attached the photos of a 1963 Mercedes 300SL "Vibrator" car. Then photos of it being dismantled.

The last two pix are of two roadsters. These "open wheel" style cars came with larger wheels and tires.

The slicks on the yellow one were not original. The other six tires were original.

These were similar to the "hop up" kit wheels and tires for the ThunderJets.

 

Anyway, does anyone know the "Official name" of these "vibrator" style chassis other than "Model Motoring"?

 

This track set came with a square base speed control for each lane. They were grey, had a speedometer indicator and a steering wheel to control the speed.

 

When I dig them and the power pack out, I'll snap photos.

 

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[ajd350]

The vibrator will run on DC as well. The 63 Vette would have had a T-Jet chassis originally. The vibrator isn't really a motor, but a solenoid with a ratchet.

[strummer]

Nice photos Dave; they make it much easier to visualize how these things were supposed to work.

 

Thanks for posting them...

 

Mark in Oregon

[tonyp]

Those were my first slot cars. 1960.


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[John Streisguth]

Wow, those bring me back. One of the "hop ups" with those cars was to use rubber faucet washers for tires.  Since there was no way to change gearing, a larger diameter tire made them go faster. I remember the A/C voltage played havoc with reception on any nearby TV set

[Dave Milster]

Al DeYoung  You wrote: The vibrator will run on DC as well. The 63 Vette would have had a T-Jet chassis originally. The vibrator isn't really a motor, but a solenoid with a ratchet.

 

It is very possible the body of the 63 vette was as you said from a T-Jet chassis. As a kid I did a lot of mix/match. The Police car, too, may have been a T-Jet...  But as I said I have around a dozen vibrator cars. I have a bunch of T-Jets, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Milster]

Those were my first slot cars. 1960.


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Can you recall the name of the chassis? (like ThunderJet which came later?)

[tonyp]

Sorry no.


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[Dave Milster]

Here is the original Power Pack showing the voltage. I had forgotten they were 24VAC...

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