Vintage Tether Cars

[ Grandpa's old tether car Has an Olhsen motor(spelling might be wrong). It is un restored.

Ohlsson & Rice (O&R) built model engines in several sizes in the '40s and '50s. I had a .23 at one time, but their biggest was a .60 (10cc). I knew a friend with one; he called it an "Ohlsson Sickly" because there were several other engines of similar size that gave more power. I think the one in your grandpa's car is probably a .60.
Fearless

 

Been trying to find my input or another pick of another motor, If you happen to find anything let me know, or post up

 

I finnally asked Grandpa, he couldnt remember why He changed the number, I guess I can cut him slack.

 

Nice pictures of Vintage tether car, got jealous to have one soon. Good shots guys.

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Best Makeup for you

 

Wow, i have just read this whole thread from begining to end - some great race cars and stories. Thanks to everyone for posting their photos etc.
I have a small collection of the smaller 'mite' size race cars, hot rods, streamliners that i have collected, built for the past 10 -20 years or so.
If any one is interested i will try and post a few photos soon.
Cheers!

 

Ok, here is a little 'mite' Track T roadster to start with.
All aluminium hand formed body and chassis and running on Thimbledrome Champion wheels. Power is from a small 2.5cc English D.C diesel engine.
More photos from my Hot Rod division to follow depending on the response!!

So let me know if you want to see more from my collection.

 

There is some really neat stuff in this thread!

 

My Olsen and Rice in the midst of the planes

 

I never had one of those old style tether cars but I did have a Wen Mac 57 Chevy, A Cox dune buggy, and a Cox Pinto funny car. They were alot of fun to play with and I loved the smell of the gas. A few years ago, someone was selling on ebay and outdoor slot car track set made by cox for the cox Corvette and Riviera. I never knew that they had those.

 

I never knew anything about tether cars 'til today; very interesting. I learned something new today.

 

Quote Speedtwin:

So let me know if you want to see more from my collection.


Hell yea we want to see more !

tom in Detroit

 

Here are three more from my collection:
The first is a all hand built 'Bonneville' racer. All aluminium including hand formed body and chassis powered by a vintage 1950s E.D english diesel engine. Mustard pot lid front wheels and spun ali discs on the rear. 'Miller' style front grill was a nice touch.
Second car: Again hand formed/welded aluminium chopped coupe body and pan. Twin 'Sea Fury' glow plug engine and bevel trans. Vintage english Raylite tires and home turned ali wheels.
Last car is a vintage 1950s Oliver 'Bomb' streamliner....... only in this case, powered by a very powerful KMD twinshaft diesel engine.
All my cars are of the smaller 'mite' size.
Hope everyone is liking this - it feels good to share them with you all. Please let me know what you think - more to follow!!!
Cheers!

 

Ok, here they are!!

 

I'm loving this tether car stuff. The only time I ever got to see any in person was at Carlisle or some swap meets. I was wondering if they repro or where do you get those razor thin front tires, or the tires and wheels in general?

 

I was wondering if they repro or where do you get those razor thin front tires, or the tires and wheels in general?[/QUOTE CUSTOMCORY - ABOVE QUESTION]



If you meant the tires on the Oliver 'bomb' streamliner, they are vintage 1950s 'Heli-arc' razor edge rubber tires with aluminium disc wheels with high speed bearings inside. These wheels are actually the rear wheels!!
The nose/front (to the left) of the car contains the engine cylinder head and is cooled by vents underneath on the pan. Note the race damage around by the engine/wheel mounts - cool!!

Hope you like the cars!

 

Hi, I am new to the H.A.M.B. but I have been doing tether cars for a long time. I have two on ebay right now. I'm having trouble adding a photo to this post, one of them is pictured in my profile if anybody is interested.

 

Great looking tether car on your profile/album. What size is it?

 

posting for a fellow Hamb'r:
Looking for info on this 1949 Challenger (mighty-V) deisel tether car. I am in need of new solid reubber wheels & a canopy for the top. I am also looking for some mechanical info/Tech advise on the deisel engine.
Anyone that has info on were to get parts or tech info please PM me back. Can't seem to find info on the internet for this model?

Paul

 

Hi Paul,

You have a Challenger, Jr. car produced by the A.L. Maxey Mfg. Co. of Burbank, CA. The car is powered by a .278 cid Air-O Diesel engine...one of very few tether cars produced in the US which was powered by a diesel engine. The engine is actually a diesel variant of the pre-war .451 cid ignition engines produced by Bunch Motor Co. Although quite common in Europe, diesel powered race cars were not popular in the US.

John

 

Hi Paul.
Great looking Challenger mite car. Try looking on ebay for a repro replacment plastic top canopy for this car - there is one on there now. But, be warned it is quite an expensive purchase!!!!!!!

I am glad to see that John (above) has given you all the correct information about this car - mind you he should know - check out his mitecars website and be prepared to be blown away!!

(Hi John)

Cheers!

 

If any of you in the L.A. area are going to the L.A. County Fair, be sure to check out the display of tether cars we have put together in the Millard Sheets building. Here are some pictures:

 

Insane. That looks very well done. Gary

 

The Los Angles County Fair Tether Race Car Exhibit opens Saturday September 3, and will run until Oct 2, 2011 in the Millard Sheets building for Fine Arts next to the NHRA Museum. (sneak preview below)
There are over 70 tether cars representing the period from 1939 to 2011
The Fairground address is: Fairplex 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768

 

Don't know about the Air-O, but most model diesel engines run on an equal mix of kerosene, ether and oil, preferably castor. The fuel can be home made, or you can get it from Tower Hobbies..it's pricey, about 35 bucks a gallon plus shipping, but model diesels aren't very thirsty either, and they have bucketloads of torque.
Here's a link on Model Engine News about the Air-O.

http://modelenginenews.org/ad/aerod.html

 

Don't know if anybody's posted this, but another source of info on tether cars, especially the earlier ones, is the Model Engine Collector's Association.
Also, some of the RC modelling sites have forums for vintage modelling, Ukie, Free-Flight, probably some info on those boards too.
Cash

 

We have a cool old concrete tether track here in Adelaide, down near Clarence Gardens or Black Forest. It's within a mini railroad kiddy park ( with outtasight sit-on & drive- type steam engines). cool. I've been there & seen a few tether hot rods run one Sunday, 'bout 10 years ago. Nitro. Bitchin'.

 

Just read about some of the cars and took this off my shelf. Has Thimble Drome Special, Santa Anna, Calif. on the bottom. What have I got and some kind of value?
Thanks, Milton

 

This thing is beautiful!
I've always been into R/c stuff, But never even knew about these little babies!!