Racing Turbo (RT) Chassis
(Click on a photo for larger picture)
The Racing Turbo chassis was released in late 1985/early 1986. The chassis material was ABS plastic and included a can motor making it easier to work on than the pancake motors. There were two versions of the chassis with variations of each. The short version (wheelbase 1.5"/ 38.1 mm) had tabs molded into the side of the chassis to allow the bodies to clip on. This chassis was used for all bodies except the formula/Indy bodies. The long chassis version (1.625"/47.4 mm) had slots molded in the side of the chassis to allow the tabs molded on the formula/Indy bodies to snap in place. (Jim Russell called this long chassis the "mono-posto" meaning single seater chassis, but this designation did not catch on.) When the RT chassis were first released, the ceramic traction magnets were square and did not extend beyond the inside edge of the tires. This is referred to as the "narrow" chassis. In about 1988 an "L" shaped traction magnet was used in place of the square one. This is referred to as the "wide" chassis. In order to fit the formula body around the "L" shaped magnet a small notch had be fabricated in the bodies. There were also several variations of the guide pin mounting boss (the area where the guide pin snaps in). In addition, the bulkhead width between the traction magnets also changed once or twice during the life of the chassis. All versions came with a 7 tooth pinion and a 22 tooth crown gear. My thanks to Brad Bowman for the majority of this historical information. I have also seen some cars released by Irwin (Canada) that refer to a Turbo Plus chassis. This appears to me to be a Racing Turbo chassis, but I could be wrong.
Long / Narrow. AFX stock #?. Release Date: 1985-1986. Chassis material: ABS plastic. Traction Magnets: Ceramic.
The Formula racing turbo cars used this chassis. Wheelbase is 1.625". Note the slots for body mounting (tabs are on the bodies). To many people this denotes the "narrow" version, however the slotted chassis is actually the "long wheel base" version with narrow traction magnets. Photos ©2014 MSWaterlogged. View Schematic.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Long / Wide. AFX stock #?. Release Date: ~1988. Chassis material: ABS plastic. Traction Magnets: Ceramic.
The Formula racing turbo cars used this chassis. Note the slots for body mounting (tabs are on the bodies) and the wider traction magnets, this denotes the "wide" version of the long chassis. The wider version was released after the narrow version. Note the metal wrapped around the rear chassis section on bottom two chassis photos. This was to hold the rear axle in place and was only found on some chassis. Photos ©2016 MSWaterlogged.
Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged
Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged
Photos ©2016 MSWaterlogged
Photos ©2016 MSWaterlogged
Short / Narrow. AFX stock #18888. Release Date: 1985-1986. Chassis material: ABS plastic. Traction Magnets: Ceramic. All but the Formula racing turbo cars used this chassis. Note the tabs for body mounting (bodies snaped over these) and the square traction magnets. The is referred to as the "short wheel base" version. Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged. Information courtesy of Brad Bowman.
Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged
Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged
Short / Wide. AFX stock #?. Release Date: ~1988. Chassis material: ABS plastic. Traction Magnets: Ceramic.
The non-Formula racing turbo cars used this chassis. Note the tabs for body mounting (bodies snaped over these) and the wider "L" shaped traction magnets, this denotes the "wide" version. The wider version was released after the narrow version. Photos ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
RT chassis lighted with backfire option
There are multiple versions of the Racing Turbo chassis. Stamped on the chassis (under the front axle or between the pickup shoes) are numbers. Many of the differences appear to be with the guide pin boss (porch). They appear to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. If you find a 5 or 6, please let me know. Following photo courtesy of Brad Bowman.
Photo courtesy of Paul Chapman
Photo courtesy of Paul Chapman
Photo courtesy of Paul Chapman
Chassis #5
Note different guide pin mounting boss (where the guide pin snaps in). These changed over time. Unsure of the order of release.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Photo courtesy of Dave Armstrong.
Photo courtesy of Dave Armstrong.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.
Photo ©2015 MSWaterlogged.