Hi,
I have had a few requests to publish some of my chassis, so here they are with a surprise or two. Unfortunately I do not have many left, but a few in any event. Please realize that in the day we did not bring the finish to a jewel like level, as some great builders do today. I used to finish them with steel wool and never tumbled. In spite of which, these all have their original patina, even though over 50 years old. Honestly I can not remember the history of each, but will try my best to provide a little context and discussion. Some of these were published about 10 years ago by Steve Okeefe.
The first chassis, which may look somewhat crude, is actually very interesting from an historical perspective. I built this in the winter/early spring of 1966, after Jim Russell met me at Peter Pan Raceway, gave me one of the Team Russkit cars, and asked Howie and I to form Team Russkit East. Needless to say we were thrilled to join and work with Mike Morrissey et al. This was my first attempt to emulate the west coast cars, which I built immediately after receiving the car from Jim, and it was probably the first west coast style car built on the east coast.
The next chassis, which is minus its drop arm, must date to the fall of 1967. I would often salvage drop arms from older chassis to incorporate in later ones, as in the days before plate drop arms the drop arms were rather complex multi-rod affairs. And even when we started using unstamped plate arms they were still rather complex. I was not churning out chassis, so there were really not that many and each was unique. This would have come early in the days of floppy body mounts. It appears that it may have been a converted Formula One chassis, and may have been the first one I did with floppy body mounts. This would have not been unusual as I often did this. As I recall the first anglewinder that I won with at Hamilton Raceways was originally an inline that I cut down, and then later added floppies to to make a sports car chassis. I know that this one came before the one that follows because of the simpler bracing of the motor bracket.
The next one also appears to have been a Formula One chassis that was converted into a sports car chassis. You can clearly see the evolution of the bracing of the motor bracket, which continues in the next chassis. To the rear of the drop mount hinge is what appears to be one of the body mounts for an F1 body. Also note the complex construction on the front of the drop arm to hold the guide. I am not certain, but I believe that this is a chassis that I ran at the Arco Nationals in Atlanta. If it was I would have run it as both a coupe and Can-Am car. While it is possible that I ran the next chassis in Atlanta, I believe I ran this. I can't remember the order of the races there, so it is possible that I ran it there as an F1 and then converted it, but I don't think so. I was in three of the four finals in Atlanta, finishing as high as third (probably with this chassis) and was fourth overall. Just out of the money, sigh...
Next is a later more refined chassis. As I said, possibly run in Atlanta. It was over 50 years ago, so please forgive me for not remembering. PdL has pointed out that this chassis matches pictures of the one I ran and won the final East Coast Car Model race and the series championship with) at Mini Wheels Raceway the winter of 1968. It must be that one then as I never built the same chassis twice. Again note the yet more complex motor bracket bracing and the wider drop arm. This is how it appears to me that this came after the previous one, even though it is using four frame rails on each side rather than three plus the piece of flat brass. This surprises me, as normally the chassis were evolving heavier and heavier. Well, the drop arm was. Otherwise I can not explain it, unless I was trying to make it more flexible and more similar to the chassis I ran and won with at Don's in California the summer before.
Next is not my build, but certainly my design. This is Steve Okeefe's gorgeous recreation of the rather unique Puzzle Pan that I built in California the summer of 1968. Needless to say, Steve did a fantastic job and I thought I should include it. This was my attempt to reduce the chatter I (and many) were encountering with the new anglewinders. It was based loosely on the 1/32 chassis that the cub racers were running in the midwest. The idea was to combine a heavy low center of gravity pan with slightly loose jiggle elements. It worked really well. I ran it at a major race at Buzz-A-Rama the fall of 1968. I did not qualify for the main, because I qualified late and the power was really down. I made it up through the consistency and semi, but the motor was overstressed and got very hot due to power issues, plus pure fatigue, and the pinion actually separated from the motor shaft, spinning freely. I loaned it to Howie who qualified really well at a major race at Nutley later that fall and I believe came in second to Mike Tango, the owner of the track. Then it was stolen.
And the final chassis is not one of mine, but rather a Bob Emott creation. I borrowed this from Bob and Chris Vitucci and ran it in my final Car Model race in Baltimore the fall of 1968, where I was going to school at Johns Hopkins, and won. PdL has claimed that this was not an Emott chassis but I know for sure that it was as I personally borrowed it from them. It was pretty current with what was happening and I am proud to have it as a memento of my friendship with Bob.
Sandy
) in his dorm room when I went to Rutgers. Class of '02 Electrical Engineering. Damn, that system sounded Great!
