Retro Chassis Builders - Who's Who?

**oldweirdherald** · 05-07-2015, 09:07 AM

I'm doing a bit of research, and it occurred to me that there has been a resurgence in the art of slot car chassis building, that is for the most part directly parallel to the popularity of Retro racing.

However... although the race reports are full of photos of fantastic, innovative, and beautiful looking chassis... I do not really know who all of the current crop of Retro chassis builders are.

While I know that a lot of the chassis are being self-built by the racers (which is great!), I am pretty sure that a lot of the chassis are also being built by top experienced builders, and mostly built on a custom basis and sold directly to racers through direct contact or word of mouth.

Although I know of several top builders, many of which have been around for ages, or have resurfaced during the birth and growth of Retro racing... I have also seen names of builders on tech sheets, photo captions, & various race report or Facebook posts... many of whom I am not so familiar with.

So who are these chassis builders???

I would like to see some posts here from OWH Slot Car Talk readers, sharing names of who you feel are some of the most "influential" among current Retro chassis builders.

By "influential" - I mean builders who's chassis are winning races, used by top racers, setting trends, raising the bar, and/or influencing and inspiring other builders.

Rather then to start it off by naming the ones I know of... I would like to see some posts from Retro racers on who you think fits this list.

Please post the name of the chassis builder that you feel should be among this list, and a brief explanation of why you consider them to be an influential Retro chassis builder.

Thanks!

Paul K @ OWH

**Noose** · 05-07-2015, 10:23 AM

Here are some from across the country that are known excellent builders with premier race wins
Tony P
Ed Sohl
Eric Gehrken
Ray Duran
Mike Katz
Greg Van Peenan
John Gorski
Dennis Samson
Bud Bartos
Rick Davis
Tom Hansen
Bryan Warmack
Duran Trujilo

**GT1** · 05-07-2015, 10:48 AM

I'm a big fan of Dennis Samson. His F1 cars are the best I have ever had. He is also one of the "go to guys" for Retro Pro. CanAm cars are good as well but he tells me he is working on something "new" that should put him right up there. I also think Erick Gehrken is one to watch in the future. Great young man with a lot of talent. Watch for him in the coming years!

**RonFX** · 05-07-2015, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by Noose

Here are some from across the country that are known excellent builders with premier race wins
Tony P
Ed Sohl
Erick Gehrken
Ray Duran
Mike Katz
Greg Van Peenan
John Gorski
Dennis Samson
Bud Bartos
Rick Davis
Tom Hansen
Bryan Warmack
Duran Trujilo

Guys:
There is a Big name missing from the list, Tom Lauterbach, founder of the PA Posse !

**swiss** · 05-07-2015, 12:08 PM

Along with the wrong spelling of Eric's first name, a few names off of the top of my head, Don Campbell, Josh Crutchfield, Dave Gardiner, Cap Henry, Jim Lange, Kamo, Michael Kettelson, George Kimber, Dennis Krivacek, Rande Marshal, James Merriman, John Molnar, Mike Muir.

Plus there is a bunch of guys, like Chuck Gambo, who are as good as anyone, but only builds for themselves.

**Noose** · 05-07-2015, 12:18 PM

LOL I fixed it. I left off names so you guys could chime in. It worked! Even Swiss could be on the list with his Z rail!

**brassy** · 05-07-2015, 12:38 PM

Another excellent chassis builder is Paul "Pablo" Wolcott, in Bay St. Louis, MS. Pablo doesn't built just Retro chassis but the ones he does build work very, very well.

**Bill Fulmer** · 05-07-2015, 12:41 PM

Josh Crutchfield,Mark Kitto

**swiss** · 05-07-2015, 02:36 PM

I almost forgot a few obvious ones, Hip Culy and Jim Fowler.

**Frankie** · 05-07-2015, 02:41 PM

Cap Henry.. Building some of the best retro cars in the country.

**Ron Hershman** · 05-07-2015, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by Noose

Here are some from across the country that are known excellent builders with premier race wins

Yep and forgot one

Rande Marshall RPM Race Cars

Thanks Mike Swiss for the mention of Rande

Winner of 25 "Premier" Races ( Can Am, F1, GTC, JK Spec, Stock Car ) and over 200 Retro A Main Wins.

Retro Champions of....

The R4 X 10
The Sano X 9
The Retro Summit x 9
The Music City Shootout
The Demon 500 x 2
The MMW Turkey Nats
The F1 500 x 3
The Columbus Classic x 3
The Fiedler 400 x 2
The Southern Shootout X 2
The Buckeye Bash X 2
Race of Champions Stock Car Champion
The RETRO Halloween Hillclimb Challenge X 3
The RETRO Texas Two Step Race X 2
The RETRO Cozine ARCO Classic Race

Retro All Stars Race

Nine Time ORS Series Champion

Nine Time ORS Constructors Champion

Retro South Series Champion

IRRL Can Am Series Champion

American Raceways Series Champion x 4

Two Time BRS/Buckeye Retro Series Champion

Jerry Ward Memorial GR 7-68 Can Am Race Winner

Lee Watson Memorial Can Am Race Winner

2014 RETRO Can Am National Championship Series Champions

2014 RETRO F1/Indy National Championship Series Champions

Winners in...

BRS South
BRS North
OVCC
ORS
IRRL
PENN OHIO
RETRO EAST
RETRO SOUTH
MRRA
IRRA
American Raceway Series
RETRO Retro ElecTric Racing Organization
Midwest Slot Car Series
Great Lakes RETRO
Tri State Retro Series

https://www.facebook.com/pages/RPM-R...76?sk=timeline

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3171376&type=3

**Ron Hershman** · 05-07-2015, 02:53 PM

Rick Stagen, Jobiwon, Jersey John, Dave Krumnow, Rich Attee, Rick Sloan, JP Milcherka, Sano Dave Fiedler, Mike "Raisin" Garrett, Ken Wehnert, Greg Fox, Russ Toy..... just to name a few more