# Could these Camaros have come with this Tyco set?



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

I picked up this Tyco slotless set at an antique store, mostly because the Camaro bodies looked cool. I had the green/silver fade and yellow checkerboard paint jobs in this body style before, but traded them off long ago.



















So as I'm looking at the set at home, something looks wrong... The box art cars are late 70's Camaros, and the paperwork inside the box has HP7s and 440X-2s with body styles as late as '83 Camaros and '83 Corvettes (yeah i know there was no '83 Corvette, apparently Tyco didn't know that). I'm figuring this set is early '80s, and the Camaros that match the box art are shown in the brochure in the box. (oops, the brochure is closed in this pic--they're on the previous page)










So why did this set come with Tycopro-style Camaro bodies? Did Tyco even make that body that late? I would have figured they stopped making the Tycopro ones in the '70s when they started making the ones that match the box art...

any Tyco pros  that can shed some light?

thanks--

--rick

(p.s. now i can see why slotless didn't catch on. i set this up and tried it and it doesn't seem to work for squat, even tho the cars seem to have very little wear. i don't remember my old afx speed steer set being this bad, but then that was what, 30 years ago?)


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

I am pretty sure those are the correct cars for that set. I was really only going to ask how well you cleaned the track rails and the shoes for those cars. Those sets seemed to need constant cleaning. They should work though.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

I gave them a quick scrub with the little piece of Scotchbrite stuff that came with the set. I will try a more thorough cleaning job and see if it makes a difference...

--rick


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## Im Paul (Nov 3, 2008)

Thats a pretty odd set.If you look at the box art it shows the blue gumout camaro which it was released on a u turn chassis as well.Shouldnt the box art match the cars sold with the set?


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

i would have thought so too, but look at the front of the box under the red car's bumper. there's a note that says the cars may not match the box. so it doesn't really surprise me that they don't match, just that they are such an old body style compared to the age of the set...


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## Im Paul (Nov 3, 2008)

yeah those two funny cars are common in gloss but the gumout camaro is a rare car.ever see the funny cars with the neon glow finish?they look nice.it took me a while to find the bodies in great shape because the flat paint on the glow cars seem to scratch off pretty easy.not to mention,the neon funny cars are much harder to find.


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## FullyLoaded (Apr 19, 2006)

Tyco used those 1970-ish Camaro Funny Car bodies into the late 1970s and early 1980s for their Command Control and Command Control II slotless line-up. The more common is the Orange/Black one and the Yellow/Black 1970 Mustang funny car with those prism stickers. The Yellow/Black 1970 Camaro funny car is less common. It looks like the set could be about 1982-ish which was the end of the line for their slotless line-up so they could be clearing out some old stock. Compared to the earlier TycoPro cars and Curve Huggers, you will notice the wider front wheelwells for the steering front wheels with them using the CC II chassis.

The CC II cars used actual steering up front so remove the bodies and make sure they are steering left and right using the switch on the controller. A good cleaning of the track rails is needed for constant electrical contact especially to keep the correct polarity going to these slotless cars.

A quick look in Dan's Tyco book notes that they did make CC II Gumout 1979 Camaros in Red/White and rarer Blue/White issued around 1982. Maybe they were planning on throwing in those but put in others instead due to supply issues or that just being a basic set.


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## Im Paul (Nov 3, 2008)

wow man,you know your tyco stuff.are you an avid tyco collector?


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## FullyLoaded (Apr 19, 2006)

Im Paul said:


> wow man,you know your tyco stuff.are you an avid tyco collector?


I'm not collecting or racing at the moment but it is just a combination of years being involved in the slot car hobby favoring Tyco 440X2s and Tomy AFX but had many others in my collection and racing stable at times, Dan Esposito's Tyco books, and just seeing different cars over the years. I also am a slotless racing fan as well. I did basically favor the Tyco track for my set-up as it was more common for my simple 4 x 8 set-up.

Before Dan's Tyco books, I never really knew or recall seeing the Yellow / Black Prism Camaro except for the 1970 Mustang Funny Car version as a Command Control slotless car. This is the first time I saw an actual in the flesh example but it is a shame that the yellow one had to get the busted window posts as the orange one is fairly common.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

FullyLoaded said:


> (snip)... but it is a shame that the yellow one had to get the busted window posts as the orange one is fairly common.


yeah, i wish the yellow one had fared better. i've never seen either of them in the flesh before finding this set...

--rick


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## Im Paul (Nov 3, 2008)

i had both of them at one time.The more rare colors are the fluorescent orange and yellow.They look awesome.ill post pics of them soon.


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## kyle2084 (May 2, 2009)

the cars are originals. they are stock bodies on the command control series


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## copperhead71 (Aug 2, 2007)

*wow!*

Just scored 4 tyco's(some of the above for $25).red #3 gumout body $5/funny car #6 burgundy body $5/ and two 80's trans am -red and white /black and gold with hp2 chassis for $15 .This post already answered my ID ?'s .The guy even sold me 15 feet track of tyco track,controllers for another $10.GREAT WEEK!:thumbsup:and they work (trans ams)on my tyco pro short chassis!!!


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