23 replies to this topic

[Greg Myers]

Wish there were better close ups of the cars . . .

http://www.wimp.com/slotcars/

Edited by Greg Myers, 17 January 2012 - 06:21 AM.

[Rob McKee]

I don't anymore but I have a good friend who has build his own race track from plywood and copper tape. It is a real nice track complete with scenery, lights, people, etc. I have a collection of 30 or 40 cars I bought just because they are so darn cool.

[Jimk]

HOLY!!! I can't even see how they can follow that... That must be the F1 of slot cars!! LOL!!

[Eshaver]

Yes, I raced in the days ............ shoot most of did I suppose too. It was getting too expensive for me after awhile , what with the motors , track rentals , cars not able to run on some tracks . It was fun I guess while it lasted . Would i return , kinda doubt it . I enjoy building the "Static " models more . Ed Shaver

[Jon Cole]

Back in the day, every kid in town (OK, slight exaggeration) used to run HO cars. The local bike and hobby store turned his basement into a big 8 lane track. All three walls were packed with "drivers" on a Friday night. I remember making a GMC Astro truck & trailer... only one to have a TT truck! What a blast. Miss those days.

[moparmagiclives]

Still do, just ho scale. I have a few 1/43 cars but I like the pace of the ho. alot less room needed also.

[Mercman]

I had a Chapparel that I raced at the local track. Found out later that when AMT released the street freaks series, the AWB Psychlone fir the wheel base of the Chapperal. Add a rubber band to the guide pin, and I had a wheel stander. Have had many HO tracks over the years still have 2 cars left from them days.

[MikeMc]

I used to build my own flopper chassis and wind my own motors, lots of stick um on the tires and my trusty MRC controller with brakes...Ahhhhh the good ole days.....

[crazyjim]

I used to have an HO track in the basement many, many years ago. For a couple of years (about 40 years ago) I worked part time at a large scale track. I ran a blue Willys with a Dyno??? motor. Instead of the normal can at the time, the motor was a long cylinder. My temporary favorite was a VW that I had rewound the motor with very large wire. It ran real good for about 15 minutes and then started smoking. To make it even cooler, I put some caster oil on the track and was doing burnouts. The smoke would stay in the oil for a few seconds. Then it blew up.

Nothing in my day went as fast as the stuff in the video.

[440 Dakota]

used to drag race 1/25 scale,christmas tree timing system the whole shot it was popular here till about 5-6 yrs ago,still have a couple dozen HO scale cars and couple hundred feet of track but probably will never fool with it again

[Ben]

I had a bunch of AFX and Tyco sets! All the sets that had semi trucks!!!!!! My favorite was the Peterbilt with the AFX van trailer and the police car with operating lights. I remember getting that set for Christmas one year. I never understood the type in the video though? They're going so fast you almost can't see them?! I still have all my cars and a complete Tyrone Malone drag truck racing set from Matchbox where the cars can spin out and change direction. Cool stuff!!!!!!!! I have been drooling over some of the 1/43 Scalelectrix cars and the 1/25 scale cars as well. They are col enough just to use as static models!!!!

Edited by Ben, 16 January 2012 - 02:33 PM.

[Junkman]

I had one of those 'wing' cars when I was still living in Munich around 1980. The FMS (Fast Munich Slotters) club track was not dissimilar to the one in the video. It was 47 metres long and my personal lap record was 1.32 seconds (ca. 80mph average). I never really raced it in an event, because I was too slow and the running cost in real competition was considerable. Those wing cars are genuinely high-tech.

What I really enjoyed was the 'replica stock' class. The rules said you could run anything, but you must prove that the real car existed. Mine was a model of Billy Hagan's Camaro that he entered in the 1982 Le Mans 24h. Replica stock was of course much slower and raced on a different track with scenery and tighter corners. There was an annual 24h of Munich slot car race, which of course was a cultural event (in Munich this means beer is served).

[Peter Lombardo]

As a young kid I had the original "vibrating reed" HO cars set up alongside my HO trains. Later in 1965 or so, someone opened a slot car track facility where they had 4 different tracks and you rented time on the track. I had a Cox Chaparral that I really liked a lot and then a really fast Mako Shark. Later I got into making my own chassis out of solder brass rods and clear Lexan bodies that I painted from inside.

It was fun for a while, but then girls, cars, beer and the related distractions got in the way.

Seeing that video makes me wonder, I mean, what's the point? The cars go so fast you can't see them, they stay down on the track going around curves at ridiculous speeds, it is like, "floor it" and then the race is over. It seems to me that most of the skill is taken away when the cars stay down on the track that well without flying off.

[Old Sprinter]

I agree that those cars are too fast to be fun (for me anyway) It's just like stomp and steer racing without the steering part. I built a track and several cars when I was 13 and we raced in my garage, but you had to lift in the corners or they would spin out which made it a lot more skillfull and the cars were in 1/24 scale which I thought was cooler. Just my opinion, of course.

[Nate]

The video appears to be sped up a little, so the speed might be a little deceptive.

[Junkman]

Seeing that video makes me wonder, I mean, what's the point? The cars go so fast you can't see them, they stay down on the track going around curves at ridiculous speeds, it is like, "floor it" and then the race is over. It seems to me that most of the skill is taken away when the cars stay down on the track that well without flying off.

The cars aren't 'floored' around the track, they must be controlled. If you just 'floor' it, they do fly off and you can see this happening in the video. 'Driving' these cars around the track is one of the most challenging tests for your reflexes and fine movements and there is absolutely zero room for mistakes.

[Johnny]

A track opened here in town about the same time the RC track closed down. Hear that their business is starting to fade after being open a couple years.
I worked as a track marshal on race nights for track time for a track that was here in town in the 60's.
I used to build brass chassis for others and myself. (1/24 scale cars),. I also rewound armatures on motors.
The track burned down while I was with Uncle Sam. So I had a whole bunch of slotcar stuff that I could not use.
Sold it all at a yard sale for pennies on the dollar.

[Terry Sumner]

I used to build my own flopper chassis and wind my own motors, lots of stick um on the tires and my trusty MRC controller with brakes...Ahhhhh the good ole days.....

Same thing with me. Back in the 60's!

[Draggon]

I sure did. That was pretty much my life from 65 ish to 70 or 71. Those are called "wing cars" and pretty much the 2k version of what we ran circa late 60's. Heres a pic of one Jairus built replicating the way they were made in the 60's ( I hope you dont mind me using your pic Jairus ). The second and third pics are of parts Im gathering for a build off on Slotblog.

[Greg Myers]