Topic: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Tonight is yet another sad night. I learned today that Bob McFarland passed away yesterday. Bob was one of the nicest and most generous men I have ever known. He loved the slot car hobby more than anyone I have met. He did more for the slot racing community than anyone I have met. He was a talented innovative builder and an awesome competitor. Bob was not only a leader in the slot car racing community, he was the spirit of slot car racing in the Northwest. Our slot racing community will feel the loss, and I will miss him greatly.

Bob's obituary: https://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries … =195568507

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/BOBMcFARLAND.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Many of us raced with him just a few weeks ago, he was still fast.

3 (edited by howie February 14, 2020 8:26 am)

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Not only was Bad Bob a slot car guru, he was also a good dirt biker. He asked me to go on a dirt bike trip across the Columbia river to the Washington side. He provided me with a good dirt bike beings mine isn't legal these days. It was an all day event and I had a very good time with him and a friend of his. I took this picture of him during the trip on Aug. 3, 2012.

I will miss BB a lot, he was a good friend, good sense of humor, all around good guy. He will always be a big part of my memory, especially at slot car events. He was a major player in keeping the 1/24 slot car scene going in the Portland and surrounding area.

He and I always enjoyed teasing each other about Harley's vs. Honda's, Yamaha's and any thing but a Harley for Bad Bob!I will forever miss that.

RIP BB.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/BobMcFarlanddirtbikingAug.42012nearMt.Adams.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

I only got to race with him a couple of times. The first time after seeing I was a newer guy to 1/24th racing, he immediately started to help me out. He wanted to see my cars, gave me some tech tips, and let me drive a couple of his awesome cars to get a feel for how they run. This attitude and excitement to grow and invest in something he loved will not be forgotten.

I am glad I got to meet and run paint with him on a couple of occasions, he will definitely be missed as one of the staple members of the community.

Zack

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

The first time a came to a club event was just a few months back at Bill's place (Inslot's Checkered Flag Raceway). I remember Bob walked in and I assumed he would struggle to compete (like I do). I was totally wrong! He kicked butt and was amazing to watch drive. Total eye opener for me. He was also very helpful. I only met him once, but he made a great impression and I will miss him as well. Rest in peace Bob.

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Sad news

The secondnidator

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Sad news indeed, condolences to the McFarland family

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Memories...

I have one car that was built with the help of Bob - a Chaparral 2D.  The chassis is a thing of beauty as was Bob.  We worked it over a couple of sessions.  He was helpful as could be to the fumble-fingered one.

Do they scratch-build in heaven?

"Big Smooth"

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Yes, the workbench is in the kennel area with all the dogs.

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Bob was a pioneer in the world of 1/24 hard body slot car chassis building. His chassis still represent the leading edge of hard body chassis design. Here are a few of Bob's creations for you to take a look at.

This was a Porsche 962 Bob raced. Note the piece of electrical circuit board use as a terminal block for the motor wire to guide flag connection point.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1670bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1671bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1672bob.jpg

This chassis was built to compete in Pelican Park's TT Class and features a Resilient Resins body made by the late Doug Haynes.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1673bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Bob built some really nice D3 chassis for racing at Paul Painter's Mile High Raceway in Keizer.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1674bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1675bob.jpg

This is a beautiful hard body Can Am Lola T70 Bob built. This was one of Bob's latest chassis designs.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1676bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1677bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1678bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Another one of Bob's D3 chassis.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1679bob.jpg

The dimensions of this chassis allow it to accept different bodies and compete in various classes. It is seen here with a Mercury body, but some Trans Am and later model stock car bodies also fit this chassis.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1681bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1680bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1682bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

This '57 Ford early NASCAR is just beautiful!
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1683bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1684bob.jpg

This is a strange body. It is some sort of hard plastic body, maybe scratch built from plastic sheet?
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1685bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1686bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1687bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

This is a narrow sports car chassis.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1688bob.jpg

Another wider sports car chassis.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1689bob.jpg

This chassis could also be fitted with various bodies. This Ferrari F50 was just one body option for this chassis.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1690bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1691bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Bob's beautiful hard body Porsche 917.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1693bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1692bob.jpg

Another beautiful Bob built car, this time a Hudson Hornet! Check out the extra long wheelbase on this chassis! It is right at 5.0 inches!
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1694bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1695bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1696bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

This is a really small chassis built by Bob.
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1697bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1698bob.jpg

This looks to be some sort of unlimited class chassis?
http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1699bob.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_1700bob.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Bob always hated getting his picture taken, but here's a couple times he was caught off guard.

Gary Tipton (L) and Bob McFarland at Paul Painter's Mile High Raceway in Keizer.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/BobMcFarlandatMileHigh.jpg

Bad Bob & Tachometer Ted at Bob's Checkered Flag Raceway in Aurora.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/BadBob&TachometerTed.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Amazing craftsmanship. I already learned so much from his cars at the races.  Thanks for sharing, many good ideas there!

Zack

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Works of art.

"Big Smooth"

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

With this Coronavirus thing going on I've been spending a lot of time in the shop going through boxes and trying to get things put away and organized. I think I have found most of the chassis I have that Bob McFarland built. I first started collecting Bob's chassis when I attended one of the races at Lee Dundas' in Wilsonville in the early 1908's. In addition to this particular race up in the attic of his barn, Lee held a swap meet where guys could sell some of the stuff they were no longer using. Bob had brought out quite a few of his "no longer current" chassis to sell. The later ones went really quickly as I remember. At the end of it all there was still a little pile of chassis left over. I have always felt that all of Bob's chassis were works of art, and his ingenuity just fascinated me! So I bought the remaining pile from him. After that I would pick them up whenever he would part with one, or somebody else would be selling one. So here's some old Bad Bob stuff for you guys to check out.

I was away from slot car racing with the PASER group from 1989 or so until right around 1995. Somewhere in that time frame they were racing their NASCAR class using this type of rattle chassis. I remember Larry Cockerham calling them sliders as the side pans would move for and aft. I don't know who came up with these but, it wouldn't surprise me if it was Bob! You can see by the rear axle and motor bracket this is one of Bob's older designs. Before the use of the machined motor and axle brackets Bob would fabricate his own set up using a brass sheet motor plate and steel rod to locate the axle bearing. Bob had a special metal block machined to serve as a jig to perfectly align the motor output shaft with the rear axle centerline.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2274BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2275BB.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Here is another slider style chassis. This one features a lot more mass in the front around the guide flag, as well as more in the rear behind the motor.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2276BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2277BB.jpg

I do not know when Bob was using this style of chassis. It does however still utilize his built up motor and axle configuration. Still before the machined motor mounts. I think this design may predate the Sliders. I know when I attended one of his early chassis building classes in the early 1980's, we built chassis with this type of hinged side pans. The steel wire chassis rails with a 90 degree bend upwards were also used as front axle mounts, like the chassis in this photo.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2278BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2279BB.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

This chassis was one of Bob' mules. It had been built and reworked many times, as evidenced by all the soldering residue and cut pieces. There was all kind of experimentation going on with this one! Evidently it didn't work out as I have not seen any other chassis with any of these innovations included.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2280BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2281BB.jpg

This is a later chassis, built in early 2001. Sometime after I acquired this chassis, Bob and I were talking about chassis design and I had asked about weight and chassis thickness for hardbody cars. Bob told me .090" brass was optimum for chassis pan thickness. He said he had experimented with .105" but found it too be too heavy. I did not realize until today I actually had that experimental chassis. I noticed all the holes drilled in it and thought that was odd, so I mic'd it. This is that McFarland .105" chassis, from now on to be known as the McFarland 105!

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2282BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2283BB.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Back to another early chassis. This is one of the chassis I picked from the pile in the early 80's. I distinctly remember it because I remember asking Bob about all the silicone around the stop. He said he had tried using it for dampening and to restrict the movement. He said it did not work out, but he returned to the idea in some of his later chassis, even experimenting with it up to the time he quit building. You can see this chassis was rebuilt many times in an effort to improve it.

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2284BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2285BB.jpg

Here is a much later chassis, looks like March of 2003. In fact I believe this chassis would still be competitive today. You can again see Bob's use of silicone to help dampen movement. I may try this chassis out in a future race!

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2286BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2287BB.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

And the best for last! Check this baby out! I'm thinking Bob built this chassis after seeing one of Parma's Scorpion chassis. The Scorpion had a similar center pivot for the rear end. But look at the innovation in Bob's design. The steel wire arms and the square tubing inside the tubing help locate and dampen the movement of the rear section. It all moves very precisely! Amazing!

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2288BB.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/IMG_2289BB.jpg

Re: PASER Co-founder Bob McFarland

Some really cool looking stuff there Bill!

Zack