And now for something completely different.
Attached is an advert from the back page of the latest Hornby Railway Collectors Association magazine.
It's by a fairly renowned auction house and for once doesn't show any rare trains but rather a quartet of very fetching and abstract looking racing cars in primary colours.
Being bereft of wifi for a week meant I couldn't check them out straightaway but here's what I found.
They're tether racers, powered by the same type of miniature combustion engines as RC model aircraft and such. And they have quite a history too.
They come in all shapes and engine classes. The thin long three-wheelers can reach speeds over 200 mph. And the ones on auction could reach figures over £1000.
Here's a bunch of links:
The selection of cars on (a previous) auction:
A quick grounder:
A bit of history:
A day at the track:
And for those who haven't given up yet: a pair of young Americans reacting like young Americans do but also giving an idea and showing some nice cars:
Best
Paul V.
Well, a purpose built speedway, just for this type of model car!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how the operator in the middle didn't get tangled up with the tether line and I see he's standing on a little platform above the whirling wire!
Fascinating Paul and wholly new to me!
ReplyDeleteNew to me too. It's the ground-based equivalent of a tethered RC airplane, which I did know and have - A Cox Fokker Triplane which after several crashes first became a biplane and then a one-and-a-halfplane before losing its airworthiness altogether. You have to quickly turn round with the plane flying round you and go slightly backwards too to keep the lines taut. which certainly can make you spindizzy!
ReplyDeleteThey actually do competitions with those planes which is quite a strange sight:
https://www.reddit.com/r/theocho/comments/d1prp8/tethered_airplane_racing/
The engine of the triplane ended up in a home-made race car made out of aluminium plate with wooden axles and wheels off a Tamiya kit. It would run a crazy course on the street until fuel ran out. That engine must still be around in a box somewhere. :)
Forgot to sign that -- Paul V
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