anyone know the history of chassis materials?

[PerKr]

Was just thinking. Back in the day, schumacher started out with fibreglass chassis, right? I'm thinking of the C-Car, the CAT and so on. And then comes the topcat with an alloy tub, which is kept until the cougar 2000 arrives with a carbon fibre chassis. Time goes by and suddenly there's a milled aluminium chassis.

So, does anyone know why they went with the alloy tub (of course it paid off in time as they made so many cars in the same press tools but they couldn't have known that at the time)? and why did they then switch to CF? and then a milled aluminium chassis? And why didn't the 4WD cars follow the same evolution?

[rccars4sal]

Probably had alot to do with current trends. Tubs were the rage for a while because of simplicity, stiffness, and electronic protection. Then g10 and carbon fiber became more affordable and cf cars were popping up more. I thought milled aluminum was a more recent thing using super hard alloy to take the abuse of 1/8 size jumps.

[Groomi]

Don't forget the original lexan chassis.

[rccars4sal]

I kinda figured there were a few missed steps. Like the molded tub rage, and the rail frame trend, then the vertical plate thing that gets revisited here and there. Seems like Schumacher were at the leading edge of some of these trends. I know other companies have followed their lead in suspension design, probably for chassis design too.

[Grunger73]

Don't forget the original lexan chassis.

I'm no Shumacher aficionado so I have to ask. What car was that as I feel compelled to read about it.By "original" I assume you're talking about their very first road car, am I correct?
Thanks,
Shawn
Edited for spelling

[Groomi]

Yes, I believe the XL Lexan 1/12 pan car was their first complete car. It had a moulded lexan chassis which was designed to flex.

[tamiyadan]

.

[terry.sc]

Yes, that's mine.

Schumacher started making ball differentials as a hop up for Mardave chassis.

As we raced on the polished wood floors in sports halls you needed a chassis that would generate a lot of grip. Neal Francis dominated the UK nationals and won the 1980 Euro champs with a scratch built folded lexan car, then they started selling them as the Phantom.


The lexan isn't moulded, it's cut out of a flat sheet of 2mm polycarbonate, then the sides are bent up.

Schumacher went one step further, rather than having vertical sides Schumacher cut away the sides and added an extra bend at the top . This meant the whole rear end floated separately from the rest of the chassis, like a 4 link rear suspension using the flexing of the polycarbonate as the springing. The Schumacher XL then dominated 1/12th racing until we moved to carpet.

[Grunger73]

Yes, that's mine.

Schumacher started making ball differentials as a hop up for Mardave chassis.

As we raced on the polished wood floors in sports halls you needed a chassis that would generate a lot of grip. Neal Francis dominated the UK nationals and won the 1980 Euro champs with a scratch built folded lexan car, then they started selling them as the Phantom.


The lexan isn't moulded, it's cut out of a flat sheet of 2mm polycarbonate, then the sides are bent up.

Schumacher went one step further, rather than having vertical sides Schumacher cut away the sides and added an extra bend at the top . This meant the whole rear end floated separately from the rest of the chassis, like a 4 link rear suspension using the flexing of the polycarbonate as the springing. The Schumacher XL then dominated 1/12th racing until we moved to carpet.

Wow. That is really cool. I'd imagine it to be super light weight compared to similar style cars of the era. Any idea as to what the rolling chassis weighed?