Dooling PeeWee

(click on photo to enlarge)

Tom Dooling with Dooling Rear-Drive race car (circa 1940)

Most automotive historians trace the beginnings of the hobby of building and racing gas powered miniature automobiles to a Sunday evening in early 1937.  Writing in the June, 1940 issue of "Model Craftsman" magazine, Tom Dooling noted that he and his brothers were sitting around the fire in the living room of their southern California home, discussing the day's activities at the Los Angeles Model Airplane field located at Rosecrans and Western...a barren field that was affectionately known to hobbyists as the Dust Bowl.  In his article, Dooling described himself as:  "an ardent model airplane fan, had a plane of my own, and like most amateurs in aero-dynamics, I managed to bring my plane home in pieces after each Sunday's flying.

"This particular Sunday evening, the discussion came around to the possibility of building a miniature car powered by a small gas engine similar to the motor used in my airplane.  Being like any other average American, I have always had the desire to tinker with gadgets of one sort or another, and this model car idea could not be passed up.  The following week, with the aid of my brothers, we assembled our first car."

The first gas powered car which the Dooling brothers built was a rather crude contraption, with front wheel drive powered by a Bunch Gwin Aero engine.  In describing the car, Dooling remarked:  "This little buggy had the beauty and grace of a one-legged duck - and with all its ugliness."  The performance of Dooling's first car was marginal; but, nonetheless, it attracted the attention of a number of fellows who had come to the Dust Bowl to fly their model airplanes.  While most of the die-hard model airplane buffs ridiculed the unreliable little racer, a few decided that they too wanted to try their hand at building their own gas powered cars.  Following their initial attempt at building a gas powered miniature race car, Dooling noted:  "The basic principle proved a success, and we immediately started designs for a new one."  On that Sunday afternoon early in 1937, a new hobby was born.

From those humble beginnings, the hobby of building and racing gas powered miniature cars began to grow.  And so too did the impact which Tom, Russell and Harris Dooling would have on the hobby.  Race cars designed and manufactured by the Dooling brothers, and cars powered by their famed .61- and .29-cid engines, would dominate miniature car racing at various times in the history of the hobby.  Not surprisingly, Dooling cars and engines are prized by collectors today.

The first production race car manufactured by the Dooling brothers, first advertised in December, 1938, was the Mercury Midget; a car best known to collectors as the First Series Front Drive.  This initial front drive design car was followed in October, 1939 by the Deluxe Mercury Midget; an all-aluminum rear drive design usually referred to, simply, as the Rear Drive.  Both cars were often powered by Dennymite engines and were distributed by Reginald Denny.  A third car in the Mercury series, another front drive design, was introduced in October 1940.  This car is usually referred to as the Second Series Front Drive.  Arguably the most attractive of the Dooling race cars, this model was typically powered by either a Dennymite or a Super-Cyke engine.

In March, 1941, the Dooling brothers set the miniature car racing hobby on its ear when they introduced the Streamliner, a uniquely styled car which competitors soon dubbed the Frog.  While each of the previous three cars in the Mercury series had resembled an upright, open-cockpit race car of that era, the Streamliner had a low-slung, but not unattractive, style of its own.  And while the three Mercury-series cars were all bevel-gear driven, the Frog became the first spur-gear drive car produced and sold commercially.  Even though the Frog's appearance may have been somewhat controversial, its performance was nothing short of spectacular, as it demolished track records on its initial outing.

During this period of time, the predominant sanctioning body for gas powered miniature car racing in the United States, the American Miniature Car Racing Association (AMRCA), was operating under a set of rules which established two classes, based upon the displacement of the engine used in the race car.  One class was established for cars using engines up to .36 cid (i.e. the ".36-class") and a second class for larger cars using engines with displacements ranging from .36 cid to .625 cid (i.e. the ".60-class").

While persistent attempts were made to increase the popularity of smaller cars and engines capable of competing in the ".36-class", the majority of competitors wanted none of it.  But even though virtually all of the really competitive race cars of that era raced in the larger ".60-class", a few die-hard proponents of the smaller ".36-class" soldiered on in their efforts to encourage newcomers to the hobby to build and race less expensive cars with smaller displacement engines.  Competitive ".36-class" cars of that era were few, being limited to the Peerless, the Hulse Hustler and a number of home-built cars...often constructed from plans published in national magazines as a means of encouraging participation in the smaller displacement class.

It was in this environment that the Dooling brothers introduced what they called their "Small Class Conventional Racing Car...Series 6000" in November, 1941.  The editor of "Model Craftsman" magazine had been badgering manufacturers to produce more cars capable of being competitive in the ".36-class", and now his efforts began to bear fruit.  Who better to establish the credibility of the smaller displacement cars as truly competitive racers than the Dooling brothers!

Like its Dooling-manufactured predecessors, the name of the Series 6000 was quickly replaced with the PeeWee nickname, and you would be hard-pressed today to find a collector who would refer to the car as a Series 6000.

The 12-inch long Dooling PeeWee bore a strong resemblance to a scaled-down version of the Second Series Front Drive car.  The car's design featured an engine placement with the cylinder laying on its side and the cylinder head pointing toward the front of the car, with direct drive off the engine crankshaft powering the left rear wheel.  The floating front axle was mounted to the pan with a single coil spring.  The car was sold in kit form with a list price of $16.95, less engine.  The kit included a two-piece cast aluminum body which was fully machined and polished.  The kit also included the cast aluminum front axle and motor mount, as well as the front and rear axle studs.  Solid rubber tires and chrome plated wheel halves, the front axle spring, and all other hardware needed to complete the assembly of the car were included.  Detailed assembly instructions accompanied the kit and included recommendations for fabrication of the fuel tank as well as installation of the coil, condenser, battery pack, and bridle.

Even though the car was specifically designed to compete in the ".36-class", the assembly instructions noted that the car was suitable for use with engines ranging in size from .23 cid to .45 cid.  The instructions also noted that, to be compliant with AMRCA rules in effect at the time, the car should weigh a minimum of one pound per 1/10 cubic inch displacement of the engine used to power the car.  To satisfy this requirement, Dooling recommended adding as much lead as necssary in the tail end of the car.

In their early advertisements for the PeeWee, Dooling noted that the car had exceeded 70 mph using a "strictly stock Bunch Tiger".  But the .45 cid Bunch Tiger would have placed the car in the larger ".60-class", where the car would not have been competitive against cars running with much larger engines.  As a result, most Dooling PeeWees which were actually raced were equipped with Forster .29 or Phantom P-30 engines.

The Dooling PeeWee, like all other Dooling race cars, was a beautifully designed and well-engineered car and the manufacturing quality of the car was exceptional.  But, probably for reasons beyond their control, the Dooling brothers did not enjoy the same success on the race track with the PeeWee which they had experienced with their previous cars and with their post-war F-car and Arrow.

The timing of the introduction of the PeeWee was unfortunate, coming just at the time when the United States was entering World War II.  Interest in racing gas powered miniature cars began to wane, especially racing cars in the heretofore unloved ".36-class".  As a result, the impact of the Dooling PeeWee on the popularity of the ".36-class" proved to be negligible and PeeWee kits languished on the shelves of hobby shops across the country.

The Dooling PeeWee shown in the photographs below was originally built and raced by Bill Atwood, best known for his own line of Atwood engines and race cars.  This as-run example is powered by a Phantom P-30 engine.  Legend has it that this car actually beat Tom Dooling's Bunch-powered PeeWee car in a head-to-head competition prior to World War II, but that claim has not been substantiated.

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This website was created and maintained by John Lorenz (e-mail:  mitecars@gmail.com)