A follow-up to the Great Womp Question.
Greg ("Cheater") asked about the first appearance of the Womp Bug, so I dug into my archives and found some interesting information on the origin of the Parma Womp-Womp. I thought we had covered this before, but couldn't find anything in a forum search, so am posting this here.
In fact, it dates back to... 1972! October 1972 issue of Car Model to be precise.
Except, he says that the car has a "two-piece brass chassis", so not quite the Womp we all know and love... but the principle and the name - "Lil Womp-Womp" - are already there. The chassis photo is a bit dark, so not sure if it was really a 2 piece unit, but from what we can see, it may be closer to the Russkit Rattler.
The second mention is in the November/December 1973 issue of Car Model, but since there's the same ad, only a little clearer, in the May '74, I scanned that (and also because my one Racing Coast to Coast article was published in that issue...). Still no details on the car, however.
But at the same time, in the May '74 issue of International Modeler, Parma published a full-page ad with the "new wider chassis, wider body", and a shot of the new chassis underneath.
Confirmed in the 1974-1/2 Auto World catalog, not in the 1/32 RTR section, but in an added page at the front of the book dedicated to new releases.
So, there you have a quick look at the Womp-Womp Timeline... I was getting back into slots in '74-75, but frankly I don't remember seeing any Womps around Portland and Seattle, or being interested in them, which is probably why I didn't notice any. Our Group 12, 20, and 27 races were what interested most guys, so maybe we didn't need them...
Don
