I thought you fellow Hambers might like to see a few cars out of my collection. This is a circa 1938 Bunch Speed Demon. It came in kit form with wood frame and wood blocks you would carve to plan. Early cars were friction drive and used a model airplane engine advertised as a Speedway. This car was built by a young man in New York in 1939. It was put on a shelf and never ran on a track. Other cars to follow.
It would be taking quite a chance on running it with the original tires as well A Bunch is a very desirable car, and that one is a excellent example of an unrestored one. Love to see some of your other cars. Mick
Post war Smith car 1944. While stationed in Japan Gerald Smith commissioned a tether car to be built. He named it after himself. The car is rare but I do not think it is as rare as Eric Zausner's book states. Over the last 20 years I've had 3 myself . The car is in original paint and has the original Japanese Hope Super 60 engine. It also has original Yano tires and wheels. The Hope 60 is a cross between a Hornet and a McCoy.
Mick This belonged to zausner. He donated most of his cars to the Ford museum. Most of my cars are unrestored like this one. I'd love to have this car. Ron
Hassad Schock car 1939. At first look this car looks like a Dooling Mercury Rear Drive. While the body and rear end are Dooling, the rest of the car was a collaboration between Tom Dooling and Ira Hassad. I've only come across less than a half dozen of these cars over the last 20 years. The frame is magnesium and the gas tank is cast into the frame. The tank has a H/S logo cast on the top. The engine is a Hassad Schock with unique dual exhausts. Gardner wheels and tires. I bought the car from an older gentleman in Pasadena, California. He told me as a kid he worked in a gas station. A stranger came in one evening to buy gas and asked him if he would hold the car until he came back from the war. He never came back. It stayed stored in the rafters above his garage about 60 years until he answered one of my ads.
Randy Giovenali built this Dooling F car. He built it in the early 1970's. He was a true craftsman and artist. He did his own paint and graphics. He past away a few years ago. This is the first car I bought when I started collecting about 20 years ago. This F car has many custom features--the engine is moved back 3/4" backing up to the rear end with no dogbone; the front axle and grill are made out of bar stock and Randy crafted them with a jewelers saw and file. He is truly missed.
Front axle and exhaust are very nice as well. He seemed to be known for his overlapping numbers and beautiful lettering. Mick
Mick, Randy built cars with great detail. Check out page 37 in Zausners book. He would bring these cars to the L.A. Roadster meets each year. I bought a Flint roadster for $900. No telling what they're going for today. Ron
This Dooling Arrow (Narrow Arrow) was built and raced by Bob Henrick Sr. He was a member of the famed Detroit Model Race Car Association. Bob was a master machinist. According to his son after he retired he spent 8 hours a day in his basement workshop (coming up only for lunch) working on building cars and engines for himself and fellow racers. This car was one that he raced with various engines. A Dooling 61, a Yellow Jacket, and the final incarnation with a one off engine and custom rear end that he designed and built. I have run this car at the Whittier Narrows race track and it performed well .
Beautiful workmanship/machining. Mr. Henrick was very talented. What speed did it run ? Thanks for posting. Mick
Mick We put the car on the track and after 5 laps the nut holding flywheel came loose. The car ran just over 100 m.p.h. it had not got up to speed and was not dialed in. Might try again. Ron
Early 1940 Bremer Whirlwind widemouth grill. I bought this car sight unseen. The guy who sold it to me said it was in pieces. He did not tell me that someone got a dremel and used it on the Bremer for practice. Gone were the lugs on the engine. Radius rod brackets were gone, the grill was modified and front axle was broken in two. So what to do with a box of parts? I sent them to my good friend Wayne Short who restores vintage tether cars (I think he is the best). He built it into sort of a rat rod. Wayne lowered the rear end 3/4" and the front 1/2". He made a really neat guillotine ignition switch and a stubby exhaust pipe. He also mounted the Super Cyke engine repairing the lugs. Left the original patina and put on an original set of Voit tires and wheels. I think it came out really nice and is one of my favorites.
Here's the car in my avatar. I purchased this from Doug Parker of Beast Tether Cars as a project. It was the frame with running gear, engine, and a cast bantam body and what I'm told is a Trackmaster grill. I fabricated the hood, belly pan, dash, and seat. Got it all wired up, painted it, and had a local pinstriper do the numbers and stripes. The battery pack is attached to the back of the seat, and the seat is held in place with two rare earth magnets epoxied to the underside. Makes removal easy. Rick Jolliffe
To Restore or Not I received an email from a fellow member asking me why I don't polish or paint my tether cars. Its a question I've been asked before. While he likes my cars he thought they would be more appealing and valuable if restored. There are good reasons to restore or not. Nicely refinished cars do look good on a shelf. People who know little about tether cars can relate to the beauty. Also, there is a element of satisfaction to making things look better. When I first started collecting 20 years ago I restored all of my cars. Some I still have. After awhile I realized I liked the cars in their original condition. When an original car became available I would sell the restored one and replace it with the non-restored car. I like the character of a car in as found condition with all its bumps and bruises. An additional reason not to restore it is that it can lessen the value. Most long time collectors prefer their cars looking like they just came off the track. It does not make much difference in common cars, but in the higher value ones it can affect the price as much as 25% . So think about it before you strip that paint. In the end, it's your car so do what makes you happy. Just my thoughts. Ron
Ron, I agree 100 percent with what you wrote, I would never restore/repaint a decent original/as found/as raced car, and I love seeing cars like yours. However, when you live in an area that was not a hot bed of tether car activity, the chances of finding a higher end car at the local yard sales or swap meets is pretty much zero. This means I rely mostly on e-bay where occasionally a fairly complete as found car will pop up, mostly though it's cars that have a lot of missing or broken parts, have been repainted several times or are have just been neglected. These are the ones that are perfect candidates for restoration/updating. My hot rods are finished and at my age I ain't starting another one, so I really enjoy restoring/polishing/painting these more common tether cars. Mick
Mick We are on the same page except it seems that I can never finish my hot rods, usually I sell before it's finished. By the way I think I sold you a McCoy Invader about a year ago.
Ron, I think I've actually bought a couple of cars from you. The McCoy Hot rod I bought some time ago ago. The Invader I redid as the blue car that I've posted on here before. (You may want to avert your eyes.) Mick
Mick I do not remember the hot rod but the invader I sold you looked like it spent the last 20 years in the bottom of a rain barrel. Nice job bringing it back to life. If you have a picture of the before members might like to see what it looked like. Ron
Ron, you're right, it was one rough puppy but I knew that going in. The photos make it look better than it actually was. One thing I liked is that it was pretty much complete. Took about 2 weeks of soaking in various concoctions and a heat gun to get the engine unstuck but it now turns over with decent compression. A lot of cleaning, polishing, paint and some Bruno Perry lettering and it turned out pretty good. I had a lot of fun doing this car. Probably the reason you don't remember the Hot Rod is I bought it in 2014. Mick
1940 Rexner Deluxe. The Rexner in my opinion is one of the best looking pre-war cars. They were quite large and heavy so gave up perfomance for aesthetics. Very few were made Zausner reports between 35 and 40. The car is a front wheel drive and could be run on cable or on rail as it had attachments for rail adapters on the front and rear axles. Engine is a dual plug super cyke and has Voit tires and wheels.
It was a good Friday. Coming back from Home Depot a sign on a lamp post "Estate Sale." I'm there. Looked through the usual pottery, old clothing and furniture from the 60's. Went to the back yard to a small workshop. Poking around I found a few tools. On a shelf under a workbench I could see the rear end of a large tether car. I pulled it out and took it to the lady running the estate sale and asked her for a price. She had no idea. So I pointed out the car was without an engine or an electrical system. There were cracks in the wood body and poor paint. I'm sure you get the idea where I was going with this. We worked out a price agreeable to both of us. After 20 years of collecting this was the first car I found at an estate or garage sale. It is a 1939/40 Speed King (not very pretty). The car was manufactured by Dan Holley Industries. Better known for his Holley carburetors. The Speed King never had a motor installed or any electronics, gas tank, etc. I will be looking for parts to get it together. Will re-post when done. Ron