Clifton Bradley Lett (born September 18, 1957) is an American retired radio-controlled racer and former
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of
Associated Electrics
Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled car, radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories. Associated Electrics is now owned by Thunder Tiger Corporation from T ...
, where he began his R/C career in 1985. A former motorcross mechanic for
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
(particularly for
Ricky Johnson
Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. He ...
), he won seven
ROAR National Championships
Remotely Operated Auto Racers (formerly known as Radio Operated Auto Racing), abbreviated as ROAR, is the sanctioning body of competitive radio-controlled car racing in the United States and Canada. It is a US national non profit organization that ...
, three
NORRCA National Championships and the 1991
IFMAR World Championship and was one of the foremost drivers of the 1980s. Lett, known as "the Buggymaster",
helped refine the Associated RC10 and other models in the range.
He was the first driver to exceed with a radio-controlled car, recorded by ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' at in 2001.
Early life
Lett spent most of his youth in
Los Altos. From age 12 to 15, he
raced BMX bikes and was part of the Matthews Motocross team with
Scot Breithaupt
Scot Alexander Breithaupt (July 14, 1957 – July 5, 2015) was an entrepreneur, "Old School" professional motorcycle MX and bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and a founding father of BMX in 1970 whose prime competitive years were from 1970 to 1984. ...
(his best friend's cousin). Lett competed in
motocross
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
History
Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
and played baseball in high school, giving up baseball for a career in motocross.
Shortly after his mother died of cancer, Lett gave up racing and was a mechanic for
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
's amateur and semi-pro riders.
He became
Ricky Johnson
Richard Bernard "Ricky" Johnson Jr. (born July 6, 1964) is an American former professional motocross, off-road truck and stock car racer. He competed in AMA motocross and Supercross during the 1980s and, won seven AMA national championships. He ...
's personal mechanic in 1983, when Johnson negotiated a contract enabling Lett to work with him; their partnership ended after the 1985 season when Johnson moved to
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
. Lett then helped develop engines and suspensions; in his last year with Yamaha, he worked in research and development of YZ motorcycles.
Radio-controlled career
Lett entered the radio-controlled hobby with a
gasoline-powered airplane, bringing it on tour and flying as time permitted.
His first radio-controlled car was an
Associated RC12 Team Associated RC12 is an electric 1/12 scale Radio Control vehicle made by Associated Electrics. The car was debuted in 1978 and has won many IFMAR world championships and Remotely Operated Auto Racers
Remotely Operated Auto Racers (formerly kno ...
E.
During Lett's travels, he raced the car in parking lots until rider
Johnny O'Mara destroyed it by driving it under a moving car. In November 1984, after watching an
off-road race on a business trip, he bought a
Cox
Cox may refer to:
* Cox (surname), including people with the name
Companies
* Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company
** Cox Communications, cable provider
** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations
** ...
Tomahawk
A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...
at Hobby Shack and won his first race. When Lett became a mechanic, he worked away from home on weekends and in the office during the week; racing became less frequent until 1986, when he began working in research and development.
When he came across an event near
Whittier, California
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...
in 1985, Lett was introduced to racer
Jay Halsey and contacted
Associated Electrics
Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled car, radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories. Associated Electrics is now owned by Thunder Tiger Corporation from T ...
executives
Mike Reedy,
Roger Curtis
Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, GCB (4 June 1746 – 14 November 1816) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who saw action in several battles during an extensive career that was punctuated by a number of highly controversial incide ...
and
Gene Husting.
In April 1988,
when a position became available in Team Associated's
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
department,
he became a product-development manager.
The RC10 had begun to show its age, and Lett helped make the car competitive again.
Racing career
At the
1991 IFMAR 1:10 Electric Off-Road World Championships, Team Associated had built a series of new RC10s for the 2WD class weeks before and had little time to prepare. After a poor practice performance with two practice days left, Lett split the team into groups of three and four; one group focused on front-end development, a second on rear-end development and a third on tires. The arrangement succeeded, and
Masami Hirosaka
is a Japanese radio controlled car driver who is considered to be the world's most successful with a record fourteen International Federation of Model Auto Racing, IFMAR World Championships in 1/12 scale electric, 1/10 scale Pan, 1/10 scale 2WD o ...
won his second IFMAR 2WD world championship.
In the 4WD class Lett qualified his
Yokomo YZ-10 in sixth place, despite losing his fastest qualifying time for failing to
marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
a round after his. He fought out the first leg of the A-Main (the finals that claims the championship title) with Hirosaka, who held the lead in the five-minute round until he made an error which allowed Lett to win. In the second leg, as Hirosaka made mistakes which left him in fourth place and reduced his chances of contending for the championship, Lett tried to fend off Jack Johnson's
Kyosho Lazer ZX-R. He rolled his car on the seventh lap, enabling Johnson to pass, and finished second. In the final leg, Lett needed to finish third or better to secure the title. After an error by Johnson, he and Hirosaka were the only remaining contenders. With the lowest points deducted from each driver's final score, they were tied; their lowest scores were used to break the tie. Hirosaka's fifth-place finish in the second leg was lower than Lett's second, and Lett was declared champion.
Record attempt
Before Lett's attempt, the fastest recorded time——was set by Audi Sports in Finland. By 2001, George M. Gonzalez of
Radio Control Car Action
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
claimed that a car with a .21 (3.5cc)
glow-plug engine was capable of that speed. That year Steve Pond reached with his HPI Super Nitro RS4, as recorded for ''Radio Control Nitro'' magazine with a
radar gun
A radar speed gun (also radar gun and speed trap gun) is a device used to measure the speed of moving objects. It is used in law-enforcement to measure the speed of moving vehicles and is often used in professional spectator sport, for things su ...
. R/C drag-racing champion Chris Collins reportedly reached at the Northstar Dragway in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, and record-breaking speeds were reached in organized events at the
Olympic Velodrome at
California State University
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...
; however, none were certified and the Finnish record stood.
Lead designer Lett
attempted a new record on January 13, 2001, aiming to exceed over a two way pass with the help of Team Associated, promoter Dan Moynihan and
Irwindale Speedway
Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702 ...
. He used a modified
TC3 and a
RC10L3O, the latter adapted to accommodate an Aveox sensorless brushless motor designed for aircraft
and fed by 24
sub-C NiCad batteries.
The body was a 1/10 version of a
Nissan P35 by Protoform, modified to reduce
drag. Further modification was made over five days to prevent the body from deforming at speed, adding a wing from a 1/10 buggy for increased
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. ...
and straightaway stability.
To certify the record, Lett needed a
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
representative at the event or its recording by ''
Guinness World Records Primetime
''Guinness World Records Primetime'' (AKA ''Guinness Primetime'') is a TV show based on the ''Guinness World Records'', and aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network from July 27, 1998, to October 4, 2001. It was hosted by Cr ...
''. Although Moynihan encouraged the show's producers to attend, its film crew pulled out at the last minute. An
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
crew recorded the event, with a speed of read on a Stalker police-radar gun. The event was broadcast on television, and video footage and radar data were submitted to Guinness.
The TC3, built to break Audi's record with a production-based vehicle, had a
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
-style
Dodge Intrepid
The Dodge Intrepid is a full sized front-wheel drive four-door sedan that was produced by Dodge for model years 1993 to 2004. It is related to the Chrysler 300M, Chrysler Concorde, Chrysler LHS, Chrysler New Yorker, and Eagle Vision which we ...
body and 14 batteries. It reached the high 80s and low 90s, until Mike Reedy built a motor enabling it to reach .
Lett was the first driver to exceed with a radio-controlled car,
according to ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. He held the record until it was broken by
Nic Case
Nic Case (born 1963) is an American radio-controlled model hobbyist from Southern California specializing in speedrunning. He is notable for becoming the first person to reach with his radio-controlled car, the R/C Bullet, having surpassed his r ...
in 2006 at , and in 2014 Case was the first to reach .
Recognition
With
Joel Johnson,
Gil Losi, Jr. and
Jay Halsey, Lett is considered by ''Radio Control Car Action'' Steve Pond as one of the 1980s' star drivers
and he was cited as an inspiration by Ricky Johnson.
In ''
Radio Control Car Action
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
'' annual top-10 poll, Lett was listed twice (in 1989
and 1993)
on its Best R/C Drivers list.
R/C racing summary
Bold in results indicates top qualifier.
IFMAR world championship results
ROAR national championship results
References
External links
Cliff Letton rcranking.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lett, Cliff
RC car racing drivers
Associated Electrics people
Mechanics (people)
Living people
1957 births
People from Bellflower, California
Sportspeople from Long Beach, California