This 10cc car was built entirely by Roger Haydock of the Blackpool Club. The motor is unusual for the period in having a tail shaft for an ignition system, although there is provision for a conventional timer on the front of the engine. The system was inside a built up unit so no idea could be gleaned of how it worked. The engine does not follow any existing design of the period, and again how the induction system worked can only be guessed at. Eight head screws again unusual, either then or now. Thanks to Len Yeadon for this item and photos July 2022

Ivan Prior was notable for the live steam locos he produced, but in the late 80s and into the 90s he started producing replica Oliver tethered car kits, engines and parts. The shortage of twinshaft engines led to him offering this motor based on PAW components priced at £130 as an alternative to a replica of the Oliver Jaguar at £240. Although Ivan passed on all his tethered car interests to the Retro Racing Club in the mid 90s, production of the EVY and Jaguar ceased at that point.

 Thanks to Neil Warne for this item and photo May 2022

Amongst the huge collection of cars that the late Tony Higgins acquired were the, as yet unidentified G60 car and Bill Bennett's number 7 car. Bill was one of a small group of enthusiasts in the UK that carried on running cars, following the collapse of official racing at the end of the 1950s. Racing continued at Mote Park Maidstone for many years where the #7 car was credited with a new absolute record of 167mph. This was clearly a lap scoring and timekeeping error as the true speed of the car would have been a more realistic 133mph. Both cars were sold on ebay in the US in March 2021.        Thanks to Phil Garcia for these items and photos. April 2022

This is the medal awarded to the MPBA by NAVIGA for organising the 1975 European Model Power Boat Championships. Until the 1980s, every NAVIGA class shared the same event, which put a huge burden on the organising country.

Unfortunately, and for the second time in forty years, all the MPBA archive material was destroyed, so this is all that remains of the week in August 1975 when the very best modellers in Europe congregated at Welwyn Garden City.

               Thanks to Peter Hill for this item March 2022

A 'real' Yellow Jacket
The Yellow Jacket name and Bruce Underwood's Model Power Company both predate by several years the Dooling Yellow Jacket with which the name is more usually associated. The Company and name came into being in 1944 but it was ten years before the cast, Dooling replacement crankcase was made available. The Dooling was the most successful motor of the era but was a bit delicate if subjected to big loads of nitro or the ingestion of any water in a hydro. The result was inevitably a two piece motor. The YJ replacement was developed to overcome this problem starting with the YJ-61A in 1955 with a series of versions appearing through to the YJ-61P model as seen above that dates from 1975. The foundry mark might indicate that the casting predated this by a couple of years. The engine #U969 was delivered new in 1975 to a British enthusiast working in California at the time. Despite what publications show, the P was not the last version produced as examples of a front exhaust, tuned pipe YJ-61R have been recorded.  More recently, a number of YJ replicas of varying quality have come onto the market, but the model, part, foundry and engine numbering system on the originals should preclude any confusion?
                                                          Thanks to John Goodall for this item and photos February 2022

Edvard Stelling and other members of his family used to make regular trips from Lithuania to race in Sweden and it appears that cars used to get 'left behind'? This could be why there is never a builders name attributed to the cars in the entry and results lists? Oblique lighting revealed the racing number that led us to Bjorn Larsson who raced the car in the 80s. The car is from Stelling with an AFA 1.5cc motor and is now just on forty years old but apart from not having damped suspension it could pass for a current car. Unraced since around 1985 it has been meticulously restored but not registered again.
                                                                              Thanks to John Goodall for this item January 2022