The Dream
In the 1930s, the first radio-controlled model airplanes were flown and documented. Did model car loving hobbyists try to apply RC to their cars back then? We are still looking for documentation of 1930s RC cars. We do know that the Ford Motor Company had RC cars in the 1950s.
History – Document It While We Can
As the years go by, history becomes faded. In order to properly document early RC car history, I have decided to gather first hand information from back in the day. One excellent source is ‘Car Model’ (CM) magazine. They covered all aspects of model cars – building plastic kits, collecting die cast models, racing slot cars in various scales and, when various remotely controlled cars appeared on the scene, they were very involved in reporting about the various types, primarily cars being controlled remotely by radio. As the RC car hobby began to gain popularity, several of us wrote articles and columns in ‘Car Model’ as well as, ‘Model Car Science’, ‘Model Car Science’, ‘Model Car & Science’, ‘Pit Stop’ and ‘Rod & Custom Models’. Surely other magazines from back in the day have information as yet undiscovered.
History – As Documented in Print So Far
You can see an Index of RC model car magazine articles from the late 1960s and early 1970s HERE.
History – According to the Internet and Other Sources
The internet will name various people involved with early radio controlled cars when you search RC car history –
Try it and you will find early tinkerers, big companies, small groups and a lot of speculation and, unfortunately, a lot of misinformation.
Let’s take a look at what I have documented from information written back in the day HERE.