Thomas Sasse: Auto Union Type C Hillclimb
Posted Feb 24, 2002
Thomas Sasse sends these pictures of his beautiful Auto Union slot car,
a mechanical marvel, the essence of German engineering.
Thanks, Thomas, for letting us have this closer look.
Thomas Sasse writes:
"Here are pictures of my Auto Union Type C Hillclimb car.
The chassis is a three rail piano wire frame, with steering
front wheels and turning driver's head! The FT26 motor has an
inline gearbox, which uses an idler gear for low center of gravity.
The model's Auto Union engine was made completely from scratch.
If you have a close look, you can find the firing order on the
central cam housing. On the 1:1 engine, the inlet valves are driven
directly via rockers, while the outlet valves in the outer housings are driven by
pushrods and rockers.
How do I make the driver's head turn? A brass rod attached to the guide weight runs back
to a small lever under the seat. The driver has a 'brass tube spine' and a piece of
piano wire runs from the lever, up through the spine, to the base of the
driver's head. This mechanism
transfers the rotation of the guide to the driver's head.
The weight of the slot car (210 grams), and the braking power of its FT26 motor, taken together,
sometimes destroys the gearbox. The car is highly succesful in concours, but
is often a DNF in the race. However, one time at the Oldtimer GP at
Hamburg, it made the 'double', winning both concours and the race."
