Vintage AE Ad -- 1979 RC12E "Go Racing With The Team"

[WC1982]

Dean nailed it. Tony was a huge VH fan in the 80's, he used to have his headphones cranked at races. I don't think he had any connection to the band, he just like their music.

Kent-
Tony Neisinger use to have a 12th scale car with a Van Halen logo on it. I believe the paint scheme also copied Eddie Van Halen's guitar. Do you know if there is a story behind the VH car? Or if Tony was friends with them?

Thank-you

dirtdiver

[WC1982]

Hi Dean. Those were fun times at Frank's carpet races. I see Frank a few times a year. Post the photos! It seems like most of my photos from those races were of the Bikini Contest girls at the RG Canning car shows

--Kent

Kent, it's cool to see you here on the forum. Back in the day when I was a kid, I raced all of Frank Killam's carpet races (and other tracks as well) in So Cal and got to see you, Tony, Randy Hunter, Killam, etc dice it out on the track and it was awesome to see. I still keep in touch with Frank and we still talk about those days. I've got some pics of you from those races. I'll post 'em later tonight.

Dean

[drbelleville]

My Streamliner speed run car used the HPI front and rear end, held together with a custom graphite chassis that I cut myself.

We no longer have any of the HPI option parts for the 10L, but I can scan one of the old catalogs if you want to see the parts and part numbers.

I don't have any plans to race, my eyesight and reaction time make me drive like a very ordinary club racer these days.

Kent,

Thank you for the info and stories of Tony. I remember when you had left Associated Electrics and went to HPI, and out came a Roadstar 10G Streamliner (although I never knew if it was based on an oval chassis?) At the time I was racing Pro-10 in Germany and was fortunate enough to get my hands on a 10GW (which although a bit hefty, was very stable for my driving). Before then I had a RC10L with many HPI parts on it, such as the aero rear pod lower plate, and the front brace to tie the two steering blocks together, and HPI Wheels.

I was wondering and I had inquired through customer support at HPI, is there a list of vintage HPI parts offered for the 12L & 10L cars?

Lastely, I do not know if this had been asked, do you still or have the plans on running 1/12 once more either for fun or otherwise?

Thank you for your time.

It would be great if you posted some scans of the L car accesories, as far as racing, I know many of us are no longer up to par, but its always nice to race just for the enjoyment, and passion of it, even if I am not winning, its great to wrench on a car, help some fellow racers out, bench race and have a great time. It would be cool and so awesome to see you wheeling once more, maybe even with Joel J.

Thanks once more

[LoneStarHobbies]

Well, I dug through some old photos and came to the conclusion that my dad was not a good photographer. Almost all the pics are blurry and/or from across the track at the driver's stand or the starting grid. I did however find 3 pics that are okay.

A brief history... Frank Killam who is somewhat legendary in the RC world, had a traveling carpet race series in So Cal back in the mid 80's. The races traveled around with the RG Canning car show circuit as an exhibition, and for the most part it was the same group of racers traveling around to each location. Although they were serious race events, they more laid back than some of the other high profile races and as a result they were extremely fun. The 'A' main usually consisted of Kent, Tony Neisinger, Randy Hunter, Rick Howart, Big Jim Greenemeyer, and a few others. Needless to say it was extremely exciting to watch these guys drive the perfect line every lap for 8 minutes. And for young up and coming racers, all these guys were always eager to help and shared valuable information. Good times!

Anyway, these 2 pics are from one of Frank Killam's carpet races. I believe this was at Pamona or Del Mar where Kent won the concourse competition.

[LoneStarHobbies]

Here is another pic. It's from the ROAR regionals at SRS Raceway in Tempe, AZ. I'm sorry the pic is a bit blurry. I don't remember all the driver's names.

From left to right in the picture...
unknown, Big Jim Greenemeyer?, Tony Neisinger, Kent, Jeff Abrams, Randy Hunter, unknown, unknown, Rick Howart, unknown.

[WC1982]

Vintage photos, nice!

On the drivers stand:

Steve Hickman, unknown, Tony Neisinger, Kent, Jeff Abrams, Randy Hunter, Shawn Ireland, unknown (Kevin Mercadante?), Rick Howart, unknown.

[drbelleville]

Dean, Yeah maybe you should start a Tony Neisinger Tribute thread with some scanned pics, that would be awesome as well. Thanks for the pics, and cant wait for the TOJs.

Maurice

[karnivool]

Here's another vintage AE ad from 1980.

AE_nats-car-ad-k.jpg

kent can i ask, your 12e in the centre pic what front end is on that? doesnt look standard am i wrong?

[WC1982]

It looks like a standard 12e front end that has been dyed black. We did mill the blocks flat on the bottom so we could shim them for ride height, caster and camber. I can't remember running anything other than stock until the 12i prototype front end (with springs) was released in at the Worlds in 1982, but I didn't run the spring front end at the Worlds because the spring choices were all too soft.

[a01butal]

Kent, what was the deal with the monoshock front end on the RC12i. I don't think it had much race history, did you ever run it?

[clinehobbies]

Here is another pic. It's from the ROAR regionals at SRS Raceway in Tempe, AZ. I'm sorry the pic is a bit blurry. I don't remember all the driver's names.

From left to right in the picture...
unknown, Big Jim Greenemeyer?, Tony Neisinger, Kent, Jeff Abrams, Randy Hunter, unknown, unknown, Rick Howart, unknown.

Nice, I attended that race if it was the region 6 championships? I was 16 and ran in the amatur class. if you have any more pictures I sure would like to see them. Bill Cline

[drbelleville]

Kent, I am curious, what caused the switch from your original race Colors to the Tide scheme? I love the tide scheme, and thought it was great that it made it to the streamliners and the HPI RS4 Mini Civic Hatchback:)

Thanks,
Maurice

[scr8p]

Kent, I am curious, what caused the switch from your original race Colors to the Tide scheme? I love the tide scheme, and thought it was great that it made it to the streamliners and the HPI RS4 Mini Civic Hatchback:)

from page 1.....

My colors were a white car with yellow/kawasaki green/medium blue stripes. I replaced the yellow with graphite grey sometime in the mid-80's. In the late 80's I changed to Tide colors because I was racing mostly oval at that time, and the fluorescent orange was easy to see at high speeds.

[prp]

Article from Auto RCM France:

[Dirtdiver]

Thank-you for the article. I only wish I could read French, but the color pictures are worth a thousand words. It was really nice to see a close up of the early electronics and to view the Parma lineup. Do those 1/18th and 1/18th scale Parma's look tiny next to the 1/12th scale panther.