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Post by Chris K. Hale on Mar 15, 2019 12:58:00 GMT -8
 My Dad worked for Cox in 1966 as a Master Model Maker, and was the Owner of Santa Ana Raceways slot car shop at 1032 S. Main St. Santa Ana, Ca.He had a bunch of guys entering the 1966 R&C Slot Car Championships, so he decided to enter the Concours portion of the series, with a different theme for each of the 6 or so races he wanted to make each body from scratch , so with some help from Sports Car Graphic and Car & Driver he built this Ferrari 206Sp Sports racer as the article says, from .020 styrene. He completely detailed it. I remember watching him in the kitchen forming the body over a wooden buck he had carved , then opening the grilles and vents, sanding, wet sanding painting it then sanding and sanding it until it was absolutely perfect. It took weeks , every night after working at the shop 10 to 12 hours he would work long into the night perfecting this jewel. Of Course it won the Concours but also went on to be the master for the Cox Twin body slot car set, with a spyder and a coupe in the box it was a double treat. Now those kits sell for thousands. But that's not the end of the story, he had also built a Chaparral 2D Coupe that also won the Concours and went on to be one of Cox's best selling slot cars ever. The Chaparral was put into his slot car box, the box now on permanent display at the Los Angeles Slot Car Museum, the car was sold recently for thousands by the museum to an undisclosed collector. The Ferrari 206sp, after the 1966 R&C races was kept in his home shop, until about 1968 when someone broke in and stole it as well as several other historic slot cars. The Police never solved the crime and the cars were assumed lost forever. Fast forward until around 1999, I went to visit him in Yorba Linda Ca. and he told me he had received a phone call from a noted Collector , the man told him he had recently bought a Lot on Ebay, and when he went through it there it was the Original Master, R&C Concours winning slot car , in Mint Condition, like it was some 35 years earlier!!!!! The collector offered it to my Dad since he had heard the story of the Stolen Ferrari 206sp many times over the years, and wanted to return it to the rightful owner! My Dad thought about it and then told him, "You keep it in Your Collection, but some day if You decide to sell it, contact me and I will buy it from You!" So another 20 years later and the last word was the Ferrari 206SP remains as a Holy Grail Item in this Collectors case. Now that My Dad has Alzheimer's the history and story of the car are basically lost to its place in history. A couple of weeks ago, after years of trying to obtain one to build the detailed car you see in the R&C May 1966 magazine, I got an email from my Big Brother from another Mother, Patrick, and he had obtained one for me in excellent condition!!! Its the Spyder just like the magazine, and I received it today , What a beauty and a dream come true, now I have both the Ferrari 206SP and the Chaparral 2D. I will build them into detailed, curbside, static models for my case. Thank You so Much Big Brother, you continue to amaze me with your finds and your almost unlimited Modeling Ability... here is the photos of the one Patrick sent to me.     Yolanda and I Love my Big Brother and are so Thankful for all he continues to do to make my dreams come through... Chris |
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Ron S
Qualifier
Posts: 78
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Post by Ron S on Apr 14, 2019 13:24:27 GMT -8
Great historical story there. I had one of those Cox 2D slot cars back in the 60's and liked it a lot. Congrats on your acquisition.
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Post by gramps46 on Apr 14, 2019 15:23:46 GMT -8
Great slice of history, thank you for sharing it.
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Post by Joel_W on Apr 22, 2019 6:05:32 GMT -8
Chris,
I was into slot cars in the late 60s big time, but I can't recall if I ever bought those shells. Just way to many years and a fading memory in my case.
Your story is certainly what dreams are made up of, and in your case the dream came true.
I'm looking forward to following both of your builds, and then marveling at your finished miniatures.
Joel
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Post by Patrick on Apr 22, 2019 14:15:46 GMT -8
I missed this post until now. There is no greater joy than kindness.  |
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Post by Chris K. Hale on Apr 23, 2019 5:11:35 GMT -8
WHO DAT?  Its Patrick on the right and Yours truly on the left at the 2015 So Cal NNL!! My big Brother!! Chris |
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Post by Joel_W on Apr 23, 2019 13:16:58 GMT -8
Chris & Patrick,
It's really nice to put your faces to your names. it doesn't happen very often.
Joel
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Its Patrick on the right and Yours truly on the left at the 2015 So Cal NNL!! My big Brother!! Chris