Artin 1/43 stock Chassis

Every time I pick up a Artin 1/43 car, I wonder what chassis it has and what differences there might be between chassis. Here is an attempt at lifting the mystery.

 

v  The Artin 1/43 chassis has not changed much over the years and remains one of the most reliable parts of these great and cheap little slot cars. Take a 20 year old chassis and you will find the most of same characteristics as you have on the newer chassis, other than the fact that the plastic used has changed and is sturdier and offers a different texture than the older ones.

 

v  Most Artin chassis will either have the name brand Artin at the bottom or the symbolized A letter. However, more than these are in fact Artin chassis since Artin makes and sells under many other name brands or OEMs to other toy brands (Jouef, Fastlane, Mattel, etc ..). Also the older Artin chassis will not necessarily carry the name.

 

v  An Artin chassis is traditionally identified by a single letter - single number combination that can be found at the bottom of the chassis near the rear axle. Chassis that I know of go from D1 through J3. In most cases the number is only 1 or 2, for that matter the only chassis I know of that uses the number 3 is the J3.

 

v  There are notable exceptions to this rule:

o    Some older chassis have no markings at all

o    Some older chassis will have a more complex number followed by the code A1 or B1 (these will be amongst the oldest Artin cars)

o    The newer PowerPasser Chassis have no such identifying code

o    The newer IRL chassis also have no codes

o    The newer F1 chassis also have no codes

o    The 2006 Hevy Hitter chassis and the 2006 new Artin cars also have no code and have new chassis

 

v  Overall the dimensions of the chassis have remained essentially the same over the years:

o    Length: 71.5 mm (excluding the screw hole at the front)

o    Width at the rear axle: 17.4 mm

o    Width at the front axle: 22.6 mm

o    Width at the body mounting wings: 30 or 33 mm.

 

v  In the recent cars (< 2 years old), the I1 or I2 chassis are usually the narrower ones and all others (from F to J) are the wider ones. However, this rule is by far not completely accurate as I have seen other letter chassis in both dimensions and I also happen to own one called "I1" under my brand new blue Mitsubishi Evo that is 33 mm wide.

 

v  The PowerPasser chassis will also have either 30 mm or 33 mm width at the body mounting wings. The narrower ones can be found in the NASCAR while the wider ones are found in the other cars like the Mercedes Benz CLK DTM, Mitsubishi Evo, or Muscle cars.

 

v  Most recent chassis (< 2 years old) will most probably have the letter G,H,I or J.

 

v  A common characteristic to most Artin 1/43 chassis (including the older ones) is the three mounting holes for the front axle to accommodate the various body lengths. The three possible wheel base dimensions measure at:

o    Short wheel base: 48 mm

o    Medium wheel base: 53 mm

o    Long wheel base: 58 mm

 

v  Another common characteristic is the magnet placement, which is always under the motor except for the IRL cars. Some cars will have a full size magnet (16x18x2 mm) while some cars will have a half size magnet (16x12x2 mm).

 

v  Another common characteristic is the mounting screw which is always at the front center position of the chassis. The open wheel cars (IRL and F1) will have two additional mounting screw on the sides while some older chassis/body combinations will have another mounting screw at the rear.

 

v  A thing that varies from chassis to chassis is the number of mounting positions for the pin guides. There can be 1 to 3 of these.

 

Classic Chassis (in this case an H2)

 

 

Indy car Chassis

 

 

PowerPasser Chassis

 

 

Last Update: 8/19/06                                                                                              Drop me a note