These two cars, the Floodlight (left) and the Searchlight are the rarest two in the Red Litho Frame (RLF) series. These have been
in my collection for many years and recently I have begun to entertain doubts about the Floodlight. I know I found this car in a
lot I bought from a neighborhood man early in my Marx collecting years. This was in my collection before 1993. I remember taking
the car apart to rewire it. In those days I was unaware of part swapping so I did not examine the car to see if it had been
tampered with. A couple years ago Fred Pauling expressed some doubts about the black deck. He had only seen red decks
on the RLF Floodlight. Since then I have taken notice and have not seen another with the black deck. Of course I don't see these
often enough to rule out the black deck, but I would like input from other collectors.
Part of the dilemma I have is this. Why would someone swap a red deck for a black deck? The correct frame is the primary
component of this car. If you had the frame you would have had the deck. So why a swap? Furthermore, the person I got this from was not a Marx collector.
If you have one of these cars either red or black deck please let me know how yours is configured.