Matchbox 1964 Fairlane wagon

Discussion in 'Station Wagon Memorabilia & Toys' started by Jim 68cuda, Aug 31, 2017.

  1. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Classic Metal made those GM buses in true HO scale a couple years ago, and I went ahead and snagged one, just to have one.
     
  2. Grizz

    Grizz Are we there yet???

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    Speaking of buses... i have a windy story: I remember when around 9 or 10 we had a big ice storm. Here in Tennessee winters, it rains then all that freezes then it snows 1/8 inch. Well it did this off and on all weekend and by the time Monday rolled around the whole city was literally frozen. The trees that didn't fall were cover in about half inch of ice, heck everything was! Well, needless to say school was out for about a week. It was a great time marauding around the neighborhood and staying at grandmas sleeping by the fireplace. On of these days I came across a backhoe at a road project and of course climbed on in. I couldn't find the keys but I did find a cool toy bus which I promptly stuck in my pocket. I feel bad about it now but, my thinking then was Me being a child, could get more use out of it than a construction worker. I often think about that bus. It was really neat. Now here's a cool thing about the Internet. I just googled "espaƱa toy bus" and found several pictures. Just like I remember it. What a window into the past... I'm welling up over here talking about it! IMG_2802.JPG
     
  3. OrthmannJ

    OrthmannJ Always looking for old ford crew cabs

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    This is more along the lines of what I remember at Grandma and Grandpa's house:

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    That's also what I remember. What I don't remember is if I had one. My brother Tim had collected a whole bunch of Lesney Matchbox cars, then gave them to me when he went to Aurora Model Motoring slot cars. But I just don't remember if he had the Grey Dog bus or if a friend had one.
     
  5. uncledave

    uncledave Active Member

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    Grey Dog bus. I like it may borrow that one. lol Brother Tim doesnt still have his slot cars does he?
     
  6. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    That's a bad story. The box of his cars got lost on the Interstate in a move to a new apartment. He then gave me the track and controls, and my supposed 'friend' would not give them back. So, no more cars, no more friend. Tim had a bunch of the cool cars: the Batmobile and Black Beauty, the Ford Mustang, and a bunch of others, perhaps a dozen, that he had.
     
  7. uncledave

    uncledave Active Member

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    Track is not too valuable but those cars in good condition bring serious money. I lost my original cars by leaving them at a buddys house for an extended period and his mother gave both his and my stuff to a relatives kid. Not happy but what can you do...
     
  8. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Right. And yeah, years ago, I read an article about Model Motoring sets and cars; none of Tim's had the 'doorbell' drive, all of his had the 'pancake' motor drives. The article also told about the plastic the bodies were made of; did you ever wonder why they looked and felt familiar, but couldn't put your finger on why?
    The 'doorbell' drives created so much heat, that they had to go to Western Electric for their thermosetting ABS plastic, used in the outer shells of Bell telephones, to keep the car bodies from warping.
     
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  9. uncledave

    uncledave Active Member

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    One of my friends is a collector now, he calls the old ones vibrators(?)
     
  10. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Ha ha, yeah, that's a nickname I've heard.
     
  11. Jim 68cuda

    Jim 68cuda Well-Known Member

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    The Aurora "vibrator" slot cars (prior to the original "Thunderjet" series) basically operated by vibrating a small sheet of sheet metal against a grooved drum on the rear axle. As the sheet metal came down it would hit a ridge on the drum propelling the car forward. These early slot cars didn't operate very well. They were rather slow, and they couldn't go up a slight incline as there was nothing to prevent rolling backwards when the sheet metal strip was between downward strokes.
    https://www.hoslotcarracing.com/image/Aurora/AuroraVibrator.gif
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2017
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