These beautiful cars in the 1/24 scale were discovered, lovingly restored and donated to the LASCM museum in Los Angeles by Paul Dwyer of Spokane, WA. These cars are typical of the thousands that were hand built and raced all over the United States in 1968/1969 in the Champion "ARCO" and Car Model magazine racing series. These are true racing machines, just as much as any full-size vintage racing car today. Few have survived the rigors of racing and time, but the LASCM has been able to build a sizable collection of survivors.
Dick Hulse was a really good racer from Kansas City and on November 30, 1968, found his 15 minutes of fame when he won the first "Kingways Special" race at Mike Cenci's King Louie Raceway. To win, he had to beat several tough pros such as Team Certus Mike Staskie, Texans Joe Sullivan and Mike Story as well as Greg Bertram, Team Champion Ed Lewis and Team Zimmerman John "Tore" Anderson, all top-notch pro racers. Hulse did not have the fastest car but stayed out of trouble to win this important race. A year later, Dick built a new car with which he won the semi, then finish in 7th place in the main event of the second "King Louie Kingways" race, held November 29, 1969.
Dick Hulse's 15 minutes of fame in 1968. He moved on to radio-control flight in his later days.
Paul Dwyer purchased an old slot car box at online auction a few years ago, only to realize that it was that of Hulse. Paul restored that car as well as this beautiful Ford, and donated it to the LASCM where it joined the finest collection of historical pro-racing slot cars in the world. Also shown is an armature wound over Mura blanks by Dick, as well as a record of his motors and armatures and a few plaques that he earned while racing.
The motor is based on a Champion 535 can, with Arco Blue Dot magnets and shims, Dick's own S25 armature and a Mura phenolic endbell. The motor rotates counter clockwise, quite unusual by that time in professional slot car racing.
The chassis uses both steel and brass wire rails, a Cox "Quick-Change" guide, Cox spur gear, Parma lead wires and a drop arm and side pans of unknown origin. The drop arm could be a modified Phaze III, all period components that were available over the counters of the hundreds of raceways in the United States.
The other car is a McLaren M8B, used by Dick in the November 1969 contest at the same raceway:
The body is a Dynamic McLaren M8A, with period aerodynamic devices.
The chassis appears to be inspired by chassis guru Mike Morrissey's creations often seen in the period magazines. Lead wires are by Champion, the guide being a Jet-Flag.
This car uses a counter-clockwise rotation, very unusual on a pro-racing car by that time. Gears are Cox, they were the best before the Faas gears were introduced
The front wheels are Weldun with Riggen tires, the rears are Associated "telescopic" with orange rubber. The motor uses a Mura 16D-size can, cut to clear the magnets as was the practice in 1970, and uses a Mura endbell. The armature was wound by Dick, and used small phenolic plates to retain the wiring, as practiced by John Thorp. Note the early buss bar as they slowly came into service by 1970.
These belong to a wonderful era for the hobby, an era that has been all but forgotten, and that is the subject of a comprehensive book soon to be in specialized book stores.
Aren't these beauties?
Edited by T54, 16 March 2011 - 15:56.
