A Few More Questions...

[strummer57]

1. The single Aurora example I have (the Mustang) is the smoothest runner of any of my little fleet of vintage cars; yet, I seem to recall reading somewhere (perhaps here) that the "Challenger" motors are/were not highly regarded. In fact, on page 49 of Philipe de Lespiny's wonderful book, he mentions a "lack of performance..." Were they not fast enough to be competitive? Mine is certainly a nice runner.

2. There has been some fairly recent posts showing Eldon cars, and those have been generally met with some enthusiasm. I remember seeing some examples and they struck me as being rather (forgive me)...cheap-looking; what with their white plastic frames and unrealistic wheels. If you compare their Indy roadster with the Strombecker model, there is no comparison...what am I missing here?

Am hoping this will trigger some lively discussions...

Mark in Oregon

[ourwayband]

Well the Eldon cars are kinda cheap looking and basic.They were the cheap set that working class Mom and Dad could afford to get junior for Christmas. Would have been my first set,
if I had gotten a first set when young.They are what they are.Eldons are also some of my favorite vintage cars.New tires on the back and a set of braids and your off to the races.
To me they run kinda like a 1/32 scale T-jet.Not the fastest at all but very fun to run. I'm in the process of building a small layout just to run these little 'cheap' cars..
Your Aurora 1/32 Mustang is a great model,very smooth running.You place that next to an Eldon Pony,and your right,no comparison.But ,for some reason they are my favorite cars,vintage wise..
Then again I've always been different...

[strummer57]

Thanks for the input, Rusty; I hope/trust you took no offense to my observations regarding Eldon.

I'm guessing that, although they were fairly basic models, the bodies are pretty good and with some details can be upgraded...at least that's the vibe I got from some other threads. Hope you'll post some photos of the cars and your "in progress" layout.

Mark in (wet) Oregon

[chrisguyw]

1. The single Aurora example I have (the Mustang) is the smoothest runner of any of my little fleet of vintage cars; yet, I seem to recall reading somewhere (perhaps here) that the "Challenger" motors are/were not highly regarded. In fact, on page 49 of Philipe de Lespiny's wonderful book, he mentions a "lack of performance..." Were they not fast enough to be competitive? Mine is certainly a nice runner.

2. There has been some fairly recent posts showing Eldon cars, and those have been generally met with some enthusiasm. I remember seeing some examples and they struck me as being rather (forgive me)...cheap-looking; what with their white plastic frames and unrealistic wheels. If you compare their Indy roadster with the Strombecker model, there is no comparison...what am I missing here?

Am hoping this will trigger some lively discussions...

Mark in Oregon

Hi Mark, The "Challenger" motors in the K&B/Aurora cars were fine for home set racing,.....smooth and reliable, and their magnet position did provide some slight "magnetic downforce", which did not hurt the handling on plastic tracks. Their "lack of performance" is relative, and against the quickly emerging 16D motors (particularly on commercial tracks) they were not competitive.
K&B did produce a "Super Challenger" which had a few internal revisions, including a slightly hotter armature wind, and while these were certainly a step up from the "Challenger", they still failed to match the Mabuchi 16D can motors.
You can still find gear sets for these motors on epay, and a higher numeric ratio is definitely a bonus for most home tracks. Again, they are smooth, reliable, and are just fine for running on home based tracks, particularly when run against each other.

As far as the Eldon's.......well ....they are generally fondly remembered because so many folks in the US started with Eldon sets, and while certainly the most toylike of the home set brands of the time, with a few mods., they can be made to go round just fine.

I have done some refurbs of a few Eldon cars for some folks (you can make some of their bodies look OK with some work), but, I personally do not seek them out for my collection or personal use.

Happy Holidays

Chris Walker

PS Below are some "Super Challengers" I have (for future projects)

[strummer57]

Thanks Chris...and Happy Holidays to you too!

One of the things I find interesting about all this is the fact that the very things/products that made the "average" home racer's cars non-competitive was kinda what killed the craze in the first place..."too much too soon", perhaps.

Also, I remember (all those years ago) being struck by what I thought was odd: the "sidewinder" (is that the term?) layout of the K&B/ Aurora cars. Seems most everyone else used the more typical motor with pinion/crown type set up. Now, all these years later, it looks like the "sidewinder" layout has become the preferred arrangement; the current thread about the "Ford GT Mk. IV" for example, shows this style...

Mark in Oregon

[ourwayband]

Thanks for the input, Rusty; I hope/trust you took no offense to my observations regarding Eldon.

No offense at all Mark..
I enjoyed your post .
This is all about having fun.
I find these little cars just that ,fun!!!

[chrisguyw]

Mark,... Williamg has an Aurora chassis (looks mint) for sale...in the sale section of this forum......if you are looking for another.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[strummer57]

Thank you Chris...I have emailed him.

Mark in Oregon

[RichD]

Back in 1965 I bought an Aurora 1/32nd scale Ford GT and it ran well on a 220 foot 1/24th scale commercial track. Aurora bought K&B in 1965 and the 1/32nd cars were similar to the K&B 1/24th cars.

[williamg]

on it's way Mark

[strummer57]

Thank you SO much...and Merry Christmas, Bill!

Mark in (as you can tell by the receipt) Oregon

[chrisguyw]

Mark, This chassis from Williamg looks to be in near mint shape,..... 4 new tires (Paul Gage makes front and rear repro urethane tires for the K&B/Aurora cars), and a touch of oil, and you should be running !!

This one has the "Super Challenger" motor, which is a touch more potent than their "Challenger".

Cheers
Chris Walker

[strummer57]

Mark, This chassis from Williamg looks to be in near mint shape,..... 4 new tires (Paul Gage makes front and rear repro urethane tires for the K&B/Aurora cars), and a touch of oil, and you should be running !!

This one has the "Super Challenger" motor, which is a touch more potent than their "Challenger".

Cheers
Chris Walker

Wow, that's great news...how can you tell it's a "super" version?

Mark in Oregon

[chrisguyw]

Wow, that's great news...how can you tell it's a "super" version?

Mark in Oregon

The upper and lower motor plates are a gold colour, not silver.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[olskoolslotz]

The upper and lower motor plates are a gold colour, not silver.

Cheers
Chris Walker

I've seen both the standard Challenger motor and the Super Challenger motor available with either the gold or silver color motor plates. So I don't think you can go by the motor plate color to determine between the two different motors. What's pictured a few posts above looks to be an Aurora 1/32 rtr chassis with standard Challenger motor. I don't think any 1/32 rtr set cars would have come with the 6V Super Challenger motor in them. I think the best way to determine between the two motors is by the modified/extended brush side of the Super Challenger.