Spindizzy Tether Car models

[Michael Chriss]

Stumbled across this tonight, interesting.

Click here

[robh]

That is interesting. I'm curious about the heritage of the originals.

[alterrenner]

The heritage of tether cars, in general, or Spindizzy in particular?

--Frank

[robh]

Either or both.

[alterrenner]

Colloquially, a spindizzy and a tether racer are the same thing.
Around 1934, model builders began putting "gas"powered (glow fuel) model airplane engines in model cars made from aircraft aluminum. A stake in the ground, or a nail in the asphalt acted as the center of the racetrack, with a heavy cord first tied or looped to the tether, and the other end to lugs on the side of the car. A looped cord gave a nice, even circular track. A tied cord would wind around the tether, giving a decreasing circle, with the model lapping faster as the cord shortened. If there was enough room, a second circle, overlapping the first, would give a "thrill show", as the two cars would enter each other's circle, promising a collision.
If you've ever flown a "gas" powered airplane, you know the starting drill of spinning the prop' until the engine started. The tether cars could be started by pushing it on the ground, but the most common method to to turn someone's bicycle onto the handlebars, crank the rear wheel, and run the car wheel on the bike wheel until the car started.
A spindizzy? Well, if you lived in the city, with only concrete expanses to race on, someone (usually someone's little brother) would hold the cord while everyone watched the car do laps. The younger brother would spin with the car until he became too dizzy to stand. As he fell and let go of the cord, a new dimension was added to the next lap. We were all so easily entertained, back then...
Tether car racing seemed to come in cycles: the mid-thirties, the mid-forties,the mid-fifties, and then in the mid-sixties, when plastic-bodies cars had their turn. CO-powered tether racers had a moment, but the lugs were normally too weak, being made of the same plastic as the car, and would destroy themselves on the first run.

--Frank

[robh]

Thanks for the info. I did have one of the u control airplanes when I was a kid.