Mystery Chassis!
by Thomas Sasse, May 2003
Some
Slotmanias ago I picked up a box with around two doz. of 1/24
chassis made of brass and piano wire. It was supposed that they might be
Riggen frames. On the first glance they were nothing special and I
bought them to build up some pretty fast race cars for our
Superslot
class.
The main frame consist of a brass inline bracket (with bronze bearings)
soldered to two triple piano wire rails, both middle rails are shorter to
generate a gap for the bracket. One piano wire at the front and two short
brass tubes at the back are crossing the triple rails (right handed) to
hold the two brass pans (app. 73 x 12.7 x 0.8mm or
2 7/8" x 1/2" x 1/32") in place.
The swingarm is made from a stamped brass sheet pick-up retainer to
take the jet flag, a 2 1/4" x 1/2" x 1/32" swingarm and a 3/32" tube that is
connected by two (right hand) bent 1/16" piano wires to the rail frame.
The tiny (9/16") front wheels, plastic disk with o-ring, are kept in
place by brass tube spacers on a 1/16" piano wire in shape of a bicycle bar soldered
two the main rails. The swingarm travel is limited by a bendable 1/16"
brass or 1/32" piano wire stopping on the front axle. Body attachment is
with pins and tubes on the pans. Only one chassis has a black C-can motor with yellow
endbell and balanced arm, the identification label isnīt readable anymore.
Having a closer look there are some names and numbers written on the
undersides. It was possible to decipher: #37 INGRAM, #55 LAWRENCE,
#16 CAROIN LAURENT; #18 (or #81) BERNADINO, #25 303 ..., #66 ...,
#42 P. STOX (STOT, SHOT), # ... ANDERSON, #7 LYON, # 1 207 Laster.
Does someone know which years these chassis were raced, which manufacturer
built them, which bodies are contemporary ... ?
Mystery Solved!
Slot car historian Philippe de Lespinay solved the mystery!
He told me the following:
"Thomas, These chassis were built in the late seventies by REH from old parts, and were
supposed to be used as Vintage Racing Cars by Van Rossem at the Toulouse
World Championships in France. Somehow, it never happened, and these are
the leftovers. REH used old brackets and nose pieces from leftover U-Go
parts from the late sixties."
--Thomas Sasse, May 2003