Retro Club member Gary Maslin has set himself the task of building replicas of each of the seven 'pioneer' tethered cars that were responsible for starting this sport in Britain. He has now completed the first of these, which was also the first design to be published commercially. It represents the true beginning of tethered cars.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, aero-modellers were faced with a total ban on flying petrol engined model aircraft. In September 1942, by way of relief for those frustrated folk with their grounded craft and idle engines, the editor of ‘Aeromodeller’ Douglas Russell, published the plans for a simple, direct drive,  petrol engined tethered car.  Designed by A. Galeota, the car was named the 'A G midget model race car' and it's power source was a 2.5cc 'Spitfire' motor.

The 'Spitfire' was manufactured for Model Aircraft Stores of Bournemouth by Rodgers and Geary of Leicester, better known for the Stentor.

With hardly any commercial activity-taking place in the model market, it was a case of making what you wanted or utilising what was to hand, and the Galeota was ideally suited for the times. The 18 ½ inch long car had a chassis of hardwood with reinforcements and cross members glued and screwed. The body of five wooden formers covered with thin plywood could also be easily made.

Intended for the 'amateur' who didn’t have the use of a lathe, the only other thing the constructor needed , apart from the engine and flywheel, was a Meccano set. The direct drive was through a spur reduction gearbox to a set of Meccano 3:1 brass bevel gears for the final drive. The driving axle ran in plain bushes (Meccano double-arm cranks) screwed to the insides of the side members. No clutch was fitted, and all the gears were run in the open. The driving seat and back were balsa covered in red rexine with the coil and condenser under the seat. Dummy instruments on the dashboard, a Meccano steering wheel and the wind shield cut to shape from the celluloid of a pocket watch. The switch and sockets on the tail are for a booster battery for the ignition.

In conjunction with this plan, the Aeromodeller launched a competition for the 'Two fastest tethered runs achieved by model race cars'. One of the rules was they had be replicas of full-sized racing cars or bear a distinct resemblance to a full sized machine. Divided into two classes, 6cc and 10cc, the real incentive was the ten guineas offered for the fastest times over a 10-lap circuit for each class. It was a considerable sum in those days and over two hundred people sent for copies of the full sized plans of the "AG" Midget Car. At two shillings each this hardly covered the prize money offered.

In the October Aeromodeller, D A Russell wrote reminding reader's about the competition, and that 'It is essential that a flywheel be fitted" to the car, so they must have had several queries on this subject  Also an additional rule had been added which stated that all model cars entered, must be insured under the new NGA (National Guild of Aeromodellists) scheme at a cost of two shillings and sixpence. Negotiated with Lloyds Underwriters, it offered £5,000  third party insurance, available through the magazine.

In the same article Mr Russell devoted a further two pages to calculations, proving that by correctly designing and building a model car that theoretically, speeds nearer to the American claim of over 100mph could be obtained.
Mr Galeota had claimed a more modest speed of 20mph for the Galeota. In 1947 ‘Model Cars’ carried a report of a Galeota built by Mr L Manwaring that had had slight modifications to its bodywork. Powered by a 3.5cc Atlas engine it had achieved a speed of 20-25mph. However it went on to state that ‘when minor problems with the switch contacts etc are ironed out’ it would be quicker.

The winner of the 5cc class was Jim Cruickshank with the first version of his Kestrel engined M G Midget, which achieved 40mph. Gerry Buck running his No. 2 car was first in the 10cc class with a speed of 45mph. The later Buck 2a and the Cruickshank MG joined the list of car plans offered by Drysdale Press another of Mr Russell’s companies. These plans cost fifteen shillings and sixpence, while the plans for the Galeota, now called the 'Galeota Beginners Car', had increased to seven shillings and sixpence.

Gary Maslin has made a great job building this car, and tells me the floor is covered in metal shavings as he is now well underway on his next project. Thanks to Gary for sharing the various stages of his work with us and for providing these excellent photo's.

©copyrightphotosGaryMaslin2007