Nothing unusual about this car, apart from its 'back story'. It was bought and run in the USA by the late Tony Higgins when he worked there. On his return to the UK he brought this, along with other cars and engines, back with him where it stayed until he sold most of them on many years later. The car is seen in an illustration from an ME article in 1978, still with its original Bruce Underwood Yellow Jacket YJ61C. having passed through the hands of a notorious dealer it was sold on to a British tethered car enthusiast, but magically, the Underwood YJ had morphed in to a very ordinary and not particularly good standard Dooling 61. The other side of the body carries decals attesting to its origins and the YJ motor and we have a pretty good idea of where the engine might have gone, but now the car is no longer original as it was in 1978.

At least, that is how it was advertised and what the box had printed on it. It has elements of Fred Carter about it but again there is a trail back to 1978 where it was captioned as 'a Dooling special' with a claim of having achieved 186mph in a plane? No mention of Carter at that time and a somewhat dubious speed quoted. Whether the odd lug shape was down to damage or deliberate is not known, but in another quirk of fate, it transpired that Tony had loaned the engine to Dave Smith a renowned British speed flyer and very knowledgeable with regards to Carter engines. Dave stripped it down and noted that the piston and liner were standard Dooling, and in addition has retained the photos he had taken. So when did it become a 'Carter Dooling' as opposed to a 'Dooling Special'?  The late owner of this engine also bought a plane with a 'very special Carter Dooling 29' in it that turned out to be a bog standard product from the Dooling factory, at which point the value plummeted to about 20% of what it had been.

The moral of both these tales is that if buying from a dealer or third party make sure what you are getting is what it should be and what you are paying for. 

We first became aware of this car back in 2016 when it was part of the sale of the late Arne Zetterstrom's huge collection of cars, engines, projects and spares. Arne was both a prolific builder and successful competitor in Sweden and at International events, winning the first of his eight European Championships in 1955, adding a World Championship in 1958. His engineering was exquisite, with very little in any of his cars being left standard. This Dooling powered 'super Slabang' from 1958 is no different, with many modifications to the motor. It remained unsold until Arne's son Per turned up at Orebro earlier this year with a selection of cars for sale. It was brought back to the UK, taken to Buckminster where it ran happily for the first time for decades without anything being touched. It is now a regular visitor to the track joining the other vintage 5cc cars.
                                                   Thanks to Ian Harper for this item and photos September 2025

Almost from the beginning of the modern tethered car era, there has a desire for a category that is cheaper and easier to run for beginners or new entrants to the sport. We covered the history and 'hijacking' of the European attempt, but over in Scandinavia there was a different approach that resulted in the car seen here, common in Sweden, but virtually unknown elsewhere. Its origins began with Lars Olaf Johanessen back in 1970 when the design for the SMRU was published. The name is derived from the Svenske Modell Racer Unionen, the Swedish federation. The instruction begin with 'you don't need power tools of any kind, but a few hand tools are needed'. Power is from a 1.5cc aero engine with a single wheel drive and one slave wheel, wire front suspension, wire knock off and a tank soldered up from brass or tin sheet. The instructions include a development of the tank and full building instructions (also available in English). Whilst successful in Sweden, the only ones that have migrated to the UK have proved impossible to start on the track, possibly due to the choice of engines fitted?
                                                                         Thanks to John Goodall for this items Aug 2025

We have previously shown two examples of this motor that was to be the next version of the Nordec produced by the North Downs Engineering Company. Unfortunately, due to changes in personnel, the purchase tax case and a factory relocation, the Special Series II never got beyond the prototype stage before the company ceased to manufacture model engines. The Series II is easily identifiable through the much wider transfer bulge, the deeper exhaust stack and most importantly, the monobloc crankcase casting, although this was due to be changed to the standard, removable fins on the production version. Neither were the pre-production prototypes ever blacked as the earlier versions were. What makes this motor unique (so far) is that it is the only one that has not seen duty in a speed plane so still has its full exhaust stack and the NORDEC letters on the transfer. What none of them have is the downdraft venturi backplate that John Wood appeared to be working on when the manufacture of engines ended in 1950. The venturi on this engines appears to be a non Nordec replacement and why the standard R10 front housing? We can however finally confirm that the motor previously claimed to be a Series II is actually a standard R10 and that the backplate with the down draft venturi is from a completely different motor and that the second downdraft backplate photographed is a standard Series I with a neat elbow on the bottom of the venturi.
                                                   Thanks to Charlie Murphy for the item and photos June 2025

Viking tethered car

From Denmark comes this tethered car produced in 1948-1950, by the company CTC  'Claus Thorlund Clausen' Allesø, who also produced the Danish Viking Engines, and was distributed through DMI – 'Dansk Modelflyve Industri' Notice that the compression is set by the steering wheel! The engine shown on the advertisement is a VIKING 2,5 which was done also in 3,2 ccm and also in a double shaft version. The engine(s) were done in more than 21.000 pcs
                                    Thanks to Jens Geschewendtner for photos and details. May 2025

The late Ian Russell was well known for his model flying activities and later his commercial engine building. However this motor is an example of an earlier attempt by Ian to build a British motor to compete with the McCoy 60. It shows elements of both the McCoy and the Nordec, but apart from that nothing more is known and just these two photos that turned up after Ian's death are evidence that it ever existed. It is possibly out there somewhere if anyone recognises it?
                                                                Thanks to John Goodall for the photos March 2025

Two more examples of the relatively rare but very very expensive OPS twin, built in limited numbers in the 1970s. The motor on the right is exactly as it was when Gualtiero Picco passed it to a fellow tethered car racer. It still has the original prop driver from its test run where the certificate states that it produced 4.1bhp at 20,500rpm, signed by both Picco and Piero Muzio.  Both engines are from the very first production run, number 5 on the left and 18 on the right. Oddly, the documentation is for a later engine though, so someone out there probably has the certificate for #18. See this month's Pylon for the history of the B20.