Pancake (slot car)

The motor was not a separate unit; instead, its individual elements - magnets, armature, commutator and brushes - fit into recesses in the blocky chassis.

Its two-inch (50 mm) unitized chassis, containing a wide, flat motor-armature, was strikingly different from the conventional inline motors of its HO competitors.

The Thunderjet could outperform contemporary inlines primarily because the vertical-shaft layout allowed the bulky motor magnets to be mounted to the front and rear, which left the full width of the chassis for the armature and windings.

Aluminum, brass or plastic wheels were more precision and the car drove smoother, as well as accepting wider soft rubber or silicone racing tires.

Faller (Germany) produced it for sale in Europe, and competing companies could not match the speed and reliability of Brand's pancake design.

[4] Since 2002, the pancake motor is found primarily in the reproductions of the 1960s and '70s Aurora HO chassis marketed by Johnny Lightning, then Auto World.