In 1964, Walter Pettit had his
pompously named company, INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING, based in Redondo Beach,
California, steal many of the proprietary designs of AMT, JoHan , MPC and
Revell static kits as the basis for crude molds, for its line of clear plastic
bodies. This was later expanded with a line of stamped brass and aluminum
chassis parts, and a few accessories such as guide flags.

This was followed by a few RTR cars, their main fame being that their vacuum-formed
bodies were painted by famous slot car artist, “Bob” Kovacs.

After the famous “Tijuana Taxi”, a contraption sure to be placed
at the altar of the Politikally Inkorrekt church-du-jour, there was a “Piranha
MKII” (don’t even ask what the MK1 looks like, it’s even freakier). The
last two cars used more evolved technology, those being, before International
thankfully collapsed, the “Super Sportsman” and the “Furious
Fiat” using the same running gear.

Thanks to buddy Karpo, I was able to complete my Super Sportman, by far the
cutest car in the line. I had a perfect chassis but… no body! Karpo found
one in very good condition laying on the bottom of a box.

A shape that only its mother could love, but I find it cutesy.

Vroom!

The wheels are Riggen, the guide International or Cox, the motor a Classic CM450 (Mabuchi FT26 painted in orange in plain language…) and the gears were by Spacific. It actually ran quire well with its suspended front wheels once adjusted properly.

The all-important (and rare) clear sticker that identifies this chassis as definitely an “International”.

International also made a few Kurtis 500 roadsters and ’27 Lincoln RTR, beautifully
painted and striped by Kovacs. It is not known if those were actually sold
to the public, but it is probable that some found their way through International’s
own raceway, also located in Redondo Beach.

Pettit sold most surviving cars, molds and patterns shortly before his death
in 1995.

International cars are highly collectible today. Go figure.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 8th, 2006 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Vintage Slot Car News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.