Monday, February 12, 2024

Monday Mystery, Chassis model- $250 reward for information...

I first posted this in 2020, and got some guesses from readers, the owner has some new information so I'm bumping it.  

 (Feb. 2024) From the owner: 
This seems too detailed to be a toy and the electric motor doesn't represent a Wankel/rotary engine. 
   The only marking on the model is MALOJA, readable on the tires. It also reads: 6.00-16 Reifenfabrik Gelterkinden. Looking for this brand I found out it was a Swiss tire company long ago.
Not much history to find on that brand besides what I discovered on Wikipedia.
Translated from Google it reads:   Maloya (tire manufacturer)
Maloya AG, founded in 1936 by Fritz Maurer, was a Swiss tire manufacturer.  The “Swiss Velo-Pneufabrik Fritz Maurer” was opened in 1936 in a former silk ribbon factory in Gelterkinden as the first tire manufacturer in Switzerland. Bicycle tires were initially named after the Maloja Pass, which is located in the company founder's home canton. From 1949 the product range was expanded to include motorcycle tires and car tires. Increasing sales and several company takeovers led to rapid growth, and in 1972 Maloya began producing radial tires. Concentrating on new sales markets, the spelling of the company name was changed to “Maloya” with a “y”; the original spelling “Maloja” had too strong a regional sound. With the closure of the Firestone tire factory in Pratteln, Maloya was the last Swiss tire manufacturer.  In order to remain internationally competitive, the company entered into a partnership with the Dutch Vredestein Group in 1993. Both companies concentrated their research and development activities in Enschede. Tire production also takes place mainly in the Netherlands. The company is now also active in the summer tire segment.  As part of the takeover of Maloya AG by the Vredestein Group, the activities of Maloya AG were transferred to the newly founded Maloya Vredestein AG (today Vredestein Schweiz AG) in 1993 and Maloya AG was dissolved. In 2004, the name Maloya also disappeared from the joint company name, but remained as a brand name.

 So I contacted Maloja and later on Vredestein asking for info but unfortunately they have no history on my model so they could not help.
Looking closely at my model, it’s so highly detailed with real working front suspension /shock absorbers, almost looks like they was made by a Swiss watchmaker.
Notable as well are the gear shifter and (hand)-brake which both can be operated on the steering column.
 The mystery remains; Who made it, why was it made, when was it made?
And last but not least, He is offering a $250 reward for the person who can give exact info on his model!
New images here;






Original post below.

Here is a model chassis mystery. The 25 inch long model is battery powered. The electric motor feeds through a transparent-cased transmission which is shifted with a column mounted shift. The suspension all works, the rear suspension is independent. The age is unknown, but wheels have the appearance of those from the 1950s or 60s. It appears to be Swiss made, the name on the tires is Majola. The owner of the model would love to know the history of the model. 











Update;July 2020.
 More information from the current owner. From this angle it looks like a sports car, the steering wheel is well detailed. 
The previous owner bought it long ago in Austria from a Swiss antique dealer. It appears to have been intended as a display model, professionally made and mounted on a wooden turntable. The battery-powered motor is by Marx, commonly used in RC cars and boats and is marked Monoperm Super 6V. A switch allows forward and reversing directions. Below, details of the powertrain.




Below; the base.

5 comments:

pzak said...

This really has me confused. If the electric motor is the gray part in the middle what is the thing that looks like a motor at the very front?And the reverse also, i.e. which one is the motor? You can see through the cutouts in the gray part some mechanism that is surely not an electric motor, looks more like a clutch? It looks more like a proof of concept model for some alternative propulsion system, turbine, or rotary engine?? Could the motor at the very front be the starter for the thing in the middle?It sound far fetched but hard to imagine this is a toy with those nicely machined parts.

pzak said...

I think if we could see through that clear window at the front of the large cylindrical item in the middle we might have a better idea of what this represents. Is it a NSU wankel engined prototype model? Certainly looks Germanic in origin and of the right period. Does the electric motor drive a cutaway view of the inner workings? Or is it just a model,a toy or a beautiful work of art?

Mister G said...

The clear portion is the gearbox, the electric motor is way out front, maybe the grey cylinder in the middle is a clutch? I've added more pictures. If it is a demo model, what is it demonstrating? It's a bit confusing.

pzak said...

Stranger and stranger, The added pictures do appear to show a clutch ahead of the gearbox. I wonder what lay between the clutch and the switched electric motor at the front. Clearly no clutch or gearbox is needed on an electric car or toy so what is going on here? I still am of the opinion this is a display model for some potential engine development and the motor is there simply to power the models moving parts as in a cutaway engine.Some early wankel engine designs did appear as smooth cylinders on the outside. Anyway it is a thing of beauty and anyone would value it in a collection of industrial art.
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Anonymous said...

I would admit that this was a model used in the fifties and early sixties to teach the bases of mechanics in driving schools, search for Fahrschulmodelle there's similar concepts, in my opinion the electric motor replaced the original showing the principles with cutouts