Pancake Motors and Slot Cars

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Pure Pancake Power

The Pancake Motor as used in slot cars is a type of electric motor that has a flat commutator and vertical shaft.

It was a feature of the highly successful Aurora HO Thunderjet 500 slot cars of the 1960s and 1970s. The motor was not a separate unit; instead, its individual elements - magnets, armature, commutator and brushes - fit into recesses in the blocky chassis.

The power was carried by a chain of spur gears along the top of the chassis, to a pinion which drove a crown gear at the axle. Like most slot car motors, the Aurora pancakes ran on low voltage direct current.

Aurora's Literature often refers to their motor as:

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“The Fabulous Thunderjet 500 Pancake Motor”

Common Usage

The term 'pancake' is also loosely used to refer to a car or chassis which has such a motor.

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Other Slot Car Chassis Types

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