Jeron Quarter-scale Classics, Ltd
Jeron Quarter-scale Classics, Ltd cars were built in limited numbers of 25 or less. The car models they offered were:
- Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa
- Ferrari 250 GTO
- Alfa Romeo 159
- Maserati 250F
- Maserati 250F "Prototype"
- Mercedes-Benz W165
- Mercedes-Benz W154
- Lancia D50 F1
- Indianapolis Indy Roadster
- V12 Engine
These magnificent cars including their wheels and tires were designed and made in a manner unlike that before and with nothing less than perfection being the goal. The chassis were built on assembly jigs and made of stainless steel tubes with suspension mounting flanges brazed to the chassis tubes and with each chassis bearing a nameplate with the serial number of the car. With the earlier chassis having stiff aluminum bulkheads bolted to the ends of the chassis tubes and the later ones having laser cut stainless steel bulkheads that precisely located the chassis tubes and were then brazed together.
All the cars have a quick-change rear end and independent suspension at all four wheels, except of course for the Indy Roadster. With the earlier cars having a Jeron designed and relatively massive rear end with a live differential and change gears and incorporating inboard hydraulic disc brakes. While the later cars incorporated Jeron designed hydraulic drum brakes at all four wheels and the considerably smaller Halibrand style rear ends made by Skellenger Engineering Co. Jeron installed live differentials of his own design in the Halibrand style to accommodate the rear suspensions and permit relative rotation of the rear wheels.
The bodies of the Mercedes-Benz W165 and W154, the Maserati 250F Prototype, the Indy Roadster and all of the Ferraris were made of hand formed aluminum that was very time consuming and costly, but produced a true work of art in metal. Wherein solid wood full- body forms of all the cars were first made and for the Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165 and the Maserati 250F Prototype, the aluminum panels were free formed with an English wheel and then hammered into shape to fit the wood body forms. While for the other aluminum bodied cars and to speed production, Kirksite hammer forms were made from plaster casts pulled from the body forms and the panels were formed in these after preliminary forming as much as possible with an English wheel. On the other hand, the body panels of the Lancia D50 F1 and Maserati 250F were made of high strength carbon fiber having a uniform thickness substantially the same as the aluminum body panels and using molds made from their body forms and with the use of zoned vacuum. This change in body material being because of the inability to make the aluminum bodies fast enough to meet orders as well to incorporate what was being done on the most advanced racecars at the time.
The braking systems comprised of a radio-controlled hydraulically operated rear disc brake assemble in the Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165, Lancia D50 F1 and Maserati 250F and it’s Prototype. While all the other cars have radio-controlled hydraulically operated drum brakes at all four wheels. Steering was accomplished in all the cars with a radio-controlled rack and pinion system that linked up to a spoked aluminum steering wheel having a brass- riveted wood rim.
The Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165, Alfa Romeo, Maserati 250 F and its Prototype were powered by either a radio-controlled German-made glow plug helicopter engine or an overhead valve Japanese-made glow plug engine to which Jeron added a DC motor powered engine starter incorporating an overrunning clutch. Both the engine starter and engine throttle as well as the steering were all radio controlled. The V-12 engines for the Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa and 250 GTO and the Mercedes-Benz W165 had a Jeron designed Bendix type starter with a powerful space age DC motor that was radio-controlled to start the engine. And unbelievably, all the cars have a working tachometer, and in the later cars there were also oil and coolant temperature gauges!!
In extending beyond building cars, plans were put in place to produce a quarter-scale V-8 small block Corvette engine and a Ford Model A engine based on what had been accomplished by the brilliant model engine builder Lee Root of Seattle, WA. Lee, who was a mechanical and electronics engineer as well as being a master craftsman, had been able to produce these engines in every detail in quarter-scale such that they ran as well as looked exactly like the full size engines. They were shown and demonstrated for executives at Chevrolet and Ford respectively and as a result, approval was given for the necessary licenses to use the Chevrolet and Ford names on these engines. But unfortunately, Lee Root passed away shortly after the production tooling for the quarter-scale Corvette and Ford engines were underway and these plans never came to pass. Lee was also involved in resolving some unexpected and perplexing problems encountered in the development of the quarter-scale V-12 engines for the Ferrari 250Testa Rosa, Ferrari 250 GTO and the Mercedes-Benz W154 and his loss delivered a major blow in preventing them from coming to fruition as well.
The origin of Jeron Quarter-scale Classics, Ltd began with a concept by Ron Phillips in 1980 to design and produce a series of radio-controlled quarter-scale cars based on certain vintage cars that especially appealed to him but were out of his reach. Ron was an avid follower and collector of vintage racecars and believed that working models in a relatively large scale would also be attractive to others with like interests and desires as well as those that owned the real thing. Pursuing his goal, Ron was eventually joined by Jerry Mrlik. Who was a brilliant and well-recognized automotive engineer at GM and a world-class designer of competition model gliders and understandably more interested in Corvettes than old racecars. Jerry after his retirement from GM took up the challenges posed by Ron and thus the name Jeron was coined in identifying what became their company to produce quarter-scale cars unlike any before.
Ron held Bachelor and Master Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and a Juris Doctoris and had taught both engineering and then law. And had joined GM in 1959 and served as Patent Counsel to Chevrolet Motor Division and several GM Parts Divisions as well as the ill- fated GM Rotary Engine Group where he met Jerry for the first time. Ron eventually took an early retirement from the GM Legal Staff in 1992 in order to devote full time to Jeron Quarter Classics including the production of a quarter-scale Corvette small block engine and Ford Model A engine. Jerry Mrlik also had a Mechanical Engineering Degree, was a Chevrolet Staff Engineer and had been transferred to the GM Rotary Engineering Group where he was given various problem-some assignments and in the process invented a significantly improved sealing arrangement for the engine's rotors. During the process of Ron obtaining a patent for GM on Jerry's seal invention that Ron discovered that Jerry was a hands- on designer and detailer as well as an engineer which is most unusual. Moreover, Jerry had designed both suspension and drive line systems for Chevrolet including the Corvette. And when Jerry retired from GM in 1982, it was only then that Ron disclosed his quarter-scale car concept to Jerry who surprisingly said that he wanted in and would devote full time to the tasks while Ron remained on the GM Legal Staff. With the result that they were able to design and build a prototype of their first car (the Ferrari 801 F1) as well as one with a cutaway body exposing all the interior details. They first introduced it at a vintage racecar event at Laguna Sea in California in 1984 and were surprised with the orders they received. As the price they had set was far more than any other quarter-scale car but nevertheless not enough to eventually show a profit if this was to be the only car they produced. So the next year at a Barrett -Jackson Auction outside Phoenix, Arizona they introduced their Mercedes-Benz W165 and again received more orders than expected along with more orders for their Ferrari 801. And at that time they realized they were on to something and could raise their prices significantly to help recoup some of the startup costs while continuing on to design and build other cars of equal quality. As the present ones were being described as fine works of art that gave the cars a place of their very own in being sought by art enthusiasts as well as car enthusiasts. Their next cars were the Lancia D50 F1and Maserati 250F. But Jerry Mrlik suddenly passed away in 1987 before the latter were shown and actually entered production.
Surprisingly, Jeron Quarter Classics, Ltd never advertised its cars and instead, Jerry and Ron and after Jerry's passing, Ron and his sons exhibited the cars at various vintage car and club events across the country and by invitation at the Meadow Brook Concourse de Elegance outside Detroit, MI and at the SEMA Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. While numerous magazines, newspapers and trade publications became interested in the cars and started writing articles. Beginning with Road and Track in 1984 followed by Auto Week, Automobile, Car & Driver, Cavallino, Chrysler, Classic Cars, Ditzler Paint (PPG), RC Model Cars, Ferrari Club, and Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese and Swiss magazines, metal trade publications, and ultimately as a feature article in Forbes Magazine in 1991. And with these articles and interviews on TV that followed both in the states and in Japan, it appeared that Jeron had officially taken the quarter- scale car world by storm.
After Jerry Mrlik passed away, Ron then employed and trained two of his sons along with other young talented young men in order to meet the demands for the earlier cars and also the new cars. And Ron also engaged a brilliant Russian by the name of Lee Root (Rootski) from Seattle, WA whom he had met at a North American Model Engineering Exposition in Michigan and became fascinated with what Lee had accomplished. And from that first meeting, Ron and Lee quickly became close friends and Ron saw opportunities for both of them in working together. As Ron was at this time planning on taking his cars to the next level in bringing something to the market that would blow everyone's minds. Lee was a brilliant engineer and craftsman who invented the first fish finder and was a master model engine builder who had built a quarter-scale V-8 small block Corvette engine, Ford Model A engine and a fuel injected overhead valve 4-cylinder engine which were all liquid cooled and of a quality and running ability unlike any other. With Lee's first task being to help Ron on a VERY special project… a quarter-scale liquid-cooled spark ignition V-12 engine with 4 cams and 48 valves for the Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa and GTO and a V-12 engine with 4 cams, 48 valves and a gear driven Roots type blower for the Mercedes-Benz W165. And wherein these engines would not be replicas of their full size counterparts and instead incorporate various features including allowing them to turn at much higher rpm as well as outwardly appear very unique.
When Ron announced these new cars with his V-12 engine to his existing clients and also through the Forbes Magazine article and at different vintage car events, orders started pouring in for the new creations. But what had seemed to be a blessing turned out to be an Achilles heel that doomed his whole operation. As the V-12 engines proved to be problematic even with continuing refinements due to challenges with providing the high-energy system required as well as delivering the proper air/fuel ratio to all the cylinders. And Ron was not going to downgrade the engine to running with "Glow plugs" and not on gasoline as nothing less than the real thing and perfection was going to be acceptable. But while working on the most perplexing problems involving the V-12 engines that centered on ignition and the fuel delivery system, Lee Root suddenly passed away in 1996. Ron found that there would have to be a switch to a highly sophisticated fuel injection system with the required miniature fuel injectors, a 12-volt 6-coil ignition system and an engine control module with a computer for operating both the ignition system and the fuel injector system. This system ultimately proved to be beyond reach with the loss of Lee's expertise in miniature injectors and the need for further cash infusion in the mid six figure range coupled with the long lead time projected to bring it all to pass. That included having to tool up and make the miniature fuel injectors as there was no source otherwise for them and especially in the special winding of their miniature coils that was required to provide the needed flux field. As a result, the V-12 engine cars then under construction were left without an acceptable engine for delivery to the customers who had ordered them. Unfortunately this led to the end of Jeron Quarter Classics, Ltd. And also the plans to produce the quarter-scale Corvette and Ford Model A engines.
These cars are absolutely amazing!! Anyone that has the honor of having such a car in his or her home is VERY lucky. Any of these would easily be the flagship of a collection. It is a shame that it's unlikely that anyone like myself will own such a machine, nevertheless even seeing one in person.
- Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa
- Ferrari 250 GTO
- Alfa Romeo 159
- Maserati 250F
- Maserati 250F "Prototype"
- Mercedes-Benz W165
- Mercedes-Benz W154
- Lancia D50 F1
- Indianapolis Indy Roadster
- V12 Engine
These magnificent cars including their wheels and tires were designed and made in a manner unlike that before and with nothing less than perfection being the goal. The chassis were built on assembly jigs and made of stainless steel tubes with suspension mounting flanges brazed to the chassis tubes and with each chassis bearing a nameplate with the serial number of the car. With the earlier chassis having stiff aluminum bulkheads bolted to the ends of the chassis tubes and the later ones having laser cut stainless steel bulkheads that precisely located the chassis tubes and were then brazed together.
All the cars have a quick-change rear end and independent suspension at all four wheels, except of course for the Indy Roadster. With the earlier cars having a Jeron designed and relatively massive rear end with a live differential and change gears and incorporating inboard hydraulic disc brakes. While the later cars incorporated Jeron designed hydraulic drum brakes at all four wheels and the considerably smaller Halibrand style rear ends made by Skellenger Engineering Co. Jeron installed live differentials of his own design in the Halibrand style to accommodate the rear suspensions and permit relative rotation of the rear wheels.
The bodies of the Mercedes-Benz W165 and W154, the Maserati 250F Prototype, the Indy Roadster and all of the Ferraris were made of hand formed aluminum that was very time consuming and costly, but produced a true work of art in metal. Wherein solid wood full- body forms of all the cars were first made and for the Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165 and the Maserati 250F Prototype, the aluminum panels were free formed with an English wheel and then hammered into shape to fit the wood body forms. While for the other aluminum bodied cars and to speed production, Kirksite hammer forms were made from plaster casts pulled from the body forms and the panels were formed in these after preliminary forming as much as possible with an English wheel. On the other hand, the body panels of the Lancia D50 F1 and Maserati 250F were made of high strength carbon fiber having a uniform thickness substantially the same as the aluminum body panels and using molds made from their body forms and with the use of zoned vacuum. This change in body material being because of the inability to make the aluminum bodies fast enough to meet orders as well to incorporate what was being done on the most advanced racecars at the time.
The braking systems comprised of a radio-controlled hydraulically operated rear disc brake assemble in the Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165, Lancia D50 F1 and Maserati 250F and it’s Prototype. While all the other cars have radio-controlled hydraulically operated drum brakes at all four wheels. Steering was accomplished in all the cars with a radio-controlled rack and pinion system that linked up to a spoked aluminum steering wheel having a brass- riveted wood rim.
The Ferrari 801, Mercedes-Benz W165, Alfa Romeo, Maserati 250 F and its Prototype were powered by either a radio-controlled German-made glow plug helicopter engine or an overhead valve Japanese-made glow plug engine to which Jeron added a DC motor powered engine starter incorporating an overrunning clutch. Both the engine starter and engine throttle as well as the steering were all radio controlled. The V-12 engines for the Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa and 250 GTO and the Mercedes-Benz W165 had a Jeron designed Bendix type starter with a powerful space age DC motor that was radio-controlled to start the engine. And unbelievably, all the cars have a working tachometer, and in the later cars there were also oil and coolant temperature gauges!!
In extending beyond building cars, plans were put in place to produce a quarter-scale V-8 small block Corvette engine and a Ford Model A engine based on what had been accomplished by the brilliant model engine builder Lee Root of Seattle, WA. Lee, who was a mechanical and electronics engineer as well as being a master craftsman, had been able to produce these engines in every detail in quarter-scale such that they ran as well as looked exactly like the full size engines. They were shown and demonstrated for executives at Chevrolet and Ford respectively and as a result, approval was given for the necessary licenses to use the Chevrolet and Ford names on these engines. But unfortunately, Lee Root passed away shortly after the production tooling for the quarter-scale Corvette and Ford engines were underway and these plans never came to pass. Lee was also involved in resolving some unexpected and perplexing problems encountered in the development of the quarter-scale V-12 engines for the Ferrari 250Testa Rosa, Ferrari 250 GTO and the Mercedes-Benz W154 and his loss delivered a major blow in preventing them from coming to fruition as well.
The origin of Jeron Quarter-scale Classics, Ltd began with a concept by Ron Phillips in 1980 to design and produce a series of radio-controlled quarter-scale cars based on certain vintage cars that especially appealed to him but were out of his reach. Ron was an avid follower and collector of vintage racecars and believed that working models in a relatively large scale would also be attractive to others with like interests and desires as well as those that owned the real thing. Pursuing his goal, Ron was eventually joined by Jerry Mrlik. Who was a brilliant and well-recognized automotive engineer at GM and a world-class designer of competition model gliders and understandably more interested in Corvettes than old racecars. Jerry after his retirement from GM took up the challenges posed by Ron and thus the name Jeron was coined in identifying what became their company to produce quarter-scale cars unlike any before.
Ron held Bachelor and Master Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and a Juris Doctoris and had taught both engineering and then law. And had joined GM in 1959 and served as Patent Counsel to Chevrolet Motor Division and several GM Parts Divisions as well as the ill- fated GM Rotary Engine Group where he met Jerry for the first time. Ron eventually took an early retirement from the GM Legal Staff in 1992 in order to devote full time to Jeron Quarter Classics including the production of a quarter-scale Corvette small block engine and Ford Model A engine. Jerry Mrlik also had a Mechanical Engineering Degree, was a Chevrolet Staff Engineer and had been transferred to the GM Rotary Engineering Group where he was given various problem-some assignments and in the process invented a significantly improved sealing arrangement for the engine's rotors. During the process of Ron obtaining a patent for GM on Jerry's seal invention that Ron discovered that Jerry was a hands- on designer and detailer as well as an engineer which is most unusual. Moreover, Jerry had designed both suspension and drive line systems for Chevrolet including the Corvette. And when Jerry retired from GM in 1982, it was only then that Ron disclosed his quarter-scale car concept to Jerry who surprisingly said that he wanted in and would devote full time to the tasks while Ron remained on the GM Legal Staff. With the result that they were able to design and build a prototype of their first car (the Ferrari 801 F1) as well as one with a cutaway body exposing all the interior details. They first introduced it at a vintage racecar event at Laguna Sea in California in 1984 and were surprised with the orders they received. As the price they had set was far more than any other quarter-scale car but nevertheless not enough to eventually show a profit if this was to be the only car they produced. So the next year at a Barrett -Jackson Auction outside Phoenix, Arizona they introduced their Mercedes-Benz W165 and again received more orders than expected along with more orders for their Ferrari 801. And at that time they realized they were on to something and could raise their prices significantly to help recoup some of the startup costs while continuing on to design and build other cars of equal quality. As the present ones were being described as fine works of art that gave the cars a place of their very own in being sought by art enthusiasts as well as car enthusiasts. Their next cars were the Lancia D50 F1and Maserati 250F. But Jerry Mrlik suddenly passed away in 1987 before the latter were shown and actually entered production.
Surprisingly, Jeron Quarter Classics, Ltd never advertised its cars and instead, Jerry and Ron and after Jerry's passing, Ron and his sons exhibited the cars at various vintage car and club events across the country and by invitation at the Meadow Brook Concourse de Elegance outside Detroit, MI and at the SEMA Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. While numerous magazines, newspapers and trade publications became interested in the cars and started writing articles. Beginning with Road and Track in 1984 followed by Auto Week, Automobile, Car & Driver, Cavallino, Chrysler, Classic Cars, Ditzler Paint (PPG), RC Model Cars, Ferrari Club, and Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese and Swiss magazines, metal trade publications, and ultimately as a feature article in Forbes Magazine in 1991. And with these articles and interviews on TV that followed both in the states and in Japan, it appeared that Jeron had officially taken the quarter- scale car world by storm.
After Jerry Mrlik passed away, Ron then employed and trained two of his sons along with other young talented young men in order to meet the demands for the earlier cars and also the new cars. And Ron also engaged a brilliant Russian by the name of Lee Root (Rootski) from Seattle, WA whom he had met at a North American Model Engineering Exposition in Michigan and became fascinated with what Lee had accomplished. And from that first meeting, Ron and Lee quickly became close friends and Ron saw opportunities for both of them in working together. As Ron was at this time planning on taking his cars to the next level in bringing something to the market that would blow everyone's minds. Lee was a brilliant engineer and craftsman who invented the first fish finder and was a master model engine builder who had built a quarter-scale V-8 small block Corvette engine, Ford Model A engine and a fuel injected overhead valve 4-cylinder engine which were all liquid cooled and of a quality and running ability unlike any other. With Lee's first task being to help Ron on a VERY special project… a quarter-scale liquid-cooled spark ignition V-12 engine with 4 cams and 48 valves for the Ferrari 250 Testa Rosa and GTO and a V-12 engine with 4 cams, 48 valves and a gear driven Roots type blower for the Mercedes-Benz W165. And wherein these engines would not be replicas of their full size counterparts and instead incorporate various features including allowing them to turn at much higher rpm as well as outwardly appear very unique.
When Ron announced these new cars with his V-12 engine to his existing clients and also through the Forbes Magazine article and at different vintage car events, orders started pouring in for the new creations. But what had seemed to be a blessing turned out to be an Achilles heel that doomed his whole operation. As the V-12 engines proved to be problematic even with continuing refinements due to challenges with providing the high-energy system required as well as delivering the proper air/fuel ratio to all the cylinders. And Ron was not going to downgrade the engine to running with "Glow plugs" and not on gasoline as nothing less than the real thing and perfection was going to be acceptable. But while working on the most perplexing problems involving the V-12 engines that centered on ignition and the fuel delivery system, Lee Root suddenly passed away in 1996. Ron found that there would have to be a switch to a highly sophisticated fuel injection system with the required miniature fuel injectors, a 12-volt 6-coil ignition system and an engine control module with a computer for operating both the ignition system and the fuel injector system. This system ultimately proved to be beyond reach with the loss of Lee's expertise in miniature injectors and the need for further cash infusion in the mid six figure range coupled with the long lead time projected to bring it all to pass. That included having to tool up and make the miniature fuel injectors as there was no source otherwise for them and especially in the special winding of their miniature coils that was required to provide the needed flux field. As a result, the V-12 engine cars then under construction were left without an acceptable engine for delivery to the customers who had ordered them. Unfortunately this led to the end of Jeron Quarter Classics, Ltd. And also the plans to produce the quarter-scale Corvette and Ford Model A engines.
These cars are absolutely amazing!! Anyone that has the honor of having such a car in his or her home is VERY lucky. Any of these would easily be the flagship of a collection. It is a shame that it's unlikely that anyone like myself will own such a machine, nevertheless even seeing one in person.