Eric and I both remember Champion muti-rod inline chassis for sale at Oakland Speedway back around 1966. They were prominently located along the back wall near the cash register. As Eric remembers, they were fairly expensive. It was the coolest chassis we had ever seen. Neither one of us could afford to buy one that day. The inline Champion chassis were for sale at Oakland Speedway for a short period of time. Racing sports cars were not really that popular at Oakland Speedway back then. Everyone seemed to be running Formula/Indy cars or lightweight thingie cars. Later on, Cox La Cucarachas seemed to take over.
I envisioned building a Lotus 40 sports car with a multi-rod Champion chassis one day. Well, here is the car that represents what I had envisioned. An old Champion chassis was cleaned up, and the center of a Russkit motor bracket was added. The Champion bracket has a huge hole for a Champion ball bearing end bell. The Russkit bracket piece fills the void, so a standard bearing endbell fits better. Champion wheels and wheel inserts are used. Rear tires are modern treated foam rubber. The crown gear is a Weldun. The guide is a shortened Cox. The motor is a rare Chong 16D rewind. I purchased a couple of these motors from a New York racer. Both motors have a mild silver wire wind. I reduced the motor spring tension a little.
The body is a Russkit, and the interior is Dynamic brand. The body needed to be stretched to fit over the chassis. The car has the look I wanted.
It drives nicely and has neutral handling. You can tell there is some mass with this car. Most of the cars in this time period were lighter. The motor supplies good power and brakes. The motor runs cool.
