48 replies to this topic

[rmjlmartin]

Hi, does anyone know what this chassis is, and about how old it might be?
 

It kinda makes me thing of a Eurotoy, but I know it's mot that, at least the standard one that has the spur gear inboard of the oilite.

 

Thanks!

 

[Danny Zona]

It's the Gambler chassi.

2001-03 ballpark but I'm not 100% sure on time frame.

[rmjlmartin]

Thanks! Is it any good? I've heard of it, but it apparently wasn't but so popular.

[Paul Menkens]

As I am just getting back into slots after a 30-year "vacation," it would be handy if someone with knowledge of the subject and samples of all, or most, of the Flexi and flexi type chassis would put up a post with pictures of them and give their names and when they were produced.

 

I know this would be quite a job, but it would clear up a lot of questions

[rmjlmartin]

That's a good idea, Paul. I'd contribute to it, as I have a number of them myself. If no one else gets to it first, I'll start it, at least.

[Danny Zona]

I've heard of it, but it apparently wasn't but so popular. I don't think it's good.

 
I've never seen one raced.

Only on the parts walls of raceways back in the day.

[Cheater]

... it would be handy if someone with knowledge of the subject and samples of all, or most, of the Flexi and flexi type chassis would put up a post with pictures of them and give their names and when they were produced.

It is a good idea and if you guys will post the data, I'll create a 'reference library' post from it once there's sufficient material.

[rmjlmartin]

Sure, Greg, I'll post some pictures. I have a number of older chassis that would probably be a decent start.
 
Would you like us to create a new thread, or put it in a particular place?

[Cheater]

Just put them here and I can move them into a new thread once there is a decent amount of material.

[Bill from NH]

The Gambler was a Las Vegas father & son's (hence the name Gambler) recreation of the original Slotworks Spyder with a few modifications. I never had one, but at least one racing friend did. I recall him saying that their metal was soft & they bent easily. I don't think the handling was anything spectacular either. This was on routed commercial tracks. . I remember the time you could buy two chassis for $20, so they weren't a big seller or available for long. I would say Danny's dates above was about the correct time they were available. That doesn't mean they can't be set up to run adequately on a smaller home/club track. So set one up & tell us how it goes.

 

Jason, the Eurotoy may look ugly & I agree it does, but when set up properly, both the 1/24 version & the 1/32 version make good slot cars, particularly the 1/32 version. A British club group in North London ran them competitively for years against the Parma Int. 32 & Proslot Demon.

They would be harder to find now, at one time new ones were being fire-saled for $4 or $5. Eurotoys are steel chassis that are cadmium plated. You want to remove the plating from areas to be soldered. Heated soldering acid & cadmium generate a poisonous gas.

[MSwiss]

Looks like you could adjust the handling by running one, two, or three O rings, on each of the front wheels. Lol

[John Luongo]

looking for a handling "edge", i had one at qcs. yes, they were very lite and bent VERY easily. not unusual for the pans/chassis to need an "adjustment" during the race. they were even more marginal on oval tracks. when we raced 4.5", .040 nascar bodies, the heavier bodies did absorb the impacts better. the crashes looked like something on espn. during that time period, the champion turbo flex reigned supreme. very best regards

[Danny Zona]

Looks like you could adjust the handling by running one, two, or three O rings, on each of the front wheels. Lol

20210424_113022.jpg

Lol.

Those front wheels were popular back in the day.

I always preferred the Parma PSE front wheels.

The good old days when front wheels actually had to touch the track in order for a car to be legal.

[MSwiss]

I was not involved much with Flexi's back then.

Who made them?

I remember finishing my King in 2005, and being told Flexi's don't require front clearance. Lol

[Danny Zona]

I was not involved much with Flexi's back then.

Who made them?

I remember finishing my King in 2005, and being told Flexi's don't require front clearance. Lol

2005ish was around the time flexi went away from front wheels actually touching.

I believe slick 7 made them.
It's been a while. 😉

[Ramcatlarry]

Eurotoys in cadmium plating were hard to solder without grinding a bare steel spot where needed.  I recall Prof Motor sold a batch  of the 1/32s that he had nickel plated.  A rarer version (both scales) in BLACK OXIDE is out there also....rumoured to have come from South America.

 

Heat treating  and nickel plating the gambler might help.....

[Bill from NH]

2005ish was around the time flexi went away from front wheels actually touching.

I believe slick 7 made them.
It's been a while.

 

If this is about those multi-O-ring front hubs, yes it was one of Slick 7's scale wheels. Why run 6 o-rings if the track owner passes tech with 2? 

[Bill from NH]

I forgot to mention that before retro racing was ever thought of, Buena Park Raceway in CA started a monthly series running vintage bodies, mostly early JKs, but a few old Lancers too, on 4" Eurotoy chassis powered by Parma Deathstar motors. This series lasted about two years & the races got good photo coverage on OWH (Slotblog didn't exist then either) & many were posted to the BRP website also. I don't believe online photos still exist. Turnout wasn't huge but they averaged 15-20 entrants per race.

[rmjlmartin]

You're probably right Bill, I'll just have to find one and try it. This one was on Ebay, and I was thinking that if it went cheap enough, I would grab it, but it had a nice-looking body on it and went much higher than I can spend at the moment.

 

I actually have a pair of Eurotoys that I picked up recently, a 1/24 and a 1/32 scale. I've only run the 1/32 scale one for a few laps without doing any setup on it, and as it is, it didn't handle very well, but I think the tires are too dried out, so I'm not putting much stock in that first impression. I also noticed when I pulled it out a few minutes ago to take some pictures that it's missing one of the screws that holds the pan on, so depending on when that disappeared, that could be part of it, too. The 1/24 scale one doesn't have a motor in it, so I haven't done anything with it yet.

 

I've developed a fascination for 1/32 scale flexi-style cars, so I've been collecting some of the different ones to play around with, even though the local track doesn't have a race class for them at the moment. I'd like to find a ProSlot Demon and a Parma Flexi Womp yet, as well as get one of the current JK 1/32 scale Chettah 11 cars, maybe the direct drive version, just for something different?

 

I'll attach some pictures here of the 1/24 scale one, and then another post with pictures of the 1/32 scale version. Greg, you're welcome to use these for the flexi information database. The picture of the Gambler was a screenshot from an Ebay listing, so I don't know if that's fair game for us to use or not, but the rest of the pictures I'll post here will be my personal cars, so you're welcome to use any of them.

 

Was the purpose of the multi-groove front wheels to tune the handling? I have an older car that I picked up that has them, and I was wondering what the point was.

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[rmjlmartin]

And here are a few pics of the 1/32 scale version...

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[old & gray]

If this is about those multi-O-ring front hubs, yes it was one of Slick 7's scale wheels. Why run 6 o-rings if the track owner passes tech with 2? 

 

 

Was the purpose of the multi-groove front wheels to tune the handling? I have an older car that I picked up that has them, and I was wondering what the point was.

 

Just as a guess - multiple o rings could have been used to meet a minimum width of front tire (3 x .062 = .187).

[Mark Onofri]

Great idea! As soon as this Smartphone capitulates, I'll post some variants that I have that are either very early and changed immediately, or orphaned ones that never caught on.

[rmjlmartin]

Here are some pictures of an original Flexi-Kar.

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[rmjlmartin]

And another one that's been updated to a modern minican motor and has a Parma Hot Wing attachment added.

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[rmjlmartin]

And a Flexi 2...

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