XL500

Would you be able to list what issue number, month, and year of the magazine you are speaking of? I can't get anyone to answer the phone at that publication. Thanks, Ernie :>)

Yes - as usual, I can't figure out the proper place to look for things on the computer! But... I will be there bright and EARLY waiting to set up tomorrow morning. I'm finishing up packaging the last of the engine kits and wheel/tire sets today before loading up the SUV tonight. See you all at the show, and... ENJOY!! -- Ernie :>)

Wow, I looked at the calendar and there is NO LISTING for the largest model car show in North America! How did THAT happen? See you all there this Saturday April 22, 9 am - 4 pm. Arrive EARLY! Ernie's Model Auto Parts, in the main vendor gymnasium, first aisle on your left, right side. NNL EAST, @ PAL hall in Wayne, NJ. See ya there! -- Ernie :>)

Those 1/32 '64 FORDS are awesome, beautifully finished! The 1/24 '63 Galaxie looks like what I race at the commercial track, using 4 1/2" Parma FCR chassis. Glad to see I'm not the only guy still using those old black and white Champion "peel'n'stick" number sheets and R/C car vinyl decals! -- Ernie :>)

The wheels and tires in the photos look like model kit stuff, not slot car drag racing items. I didn't build these, so I can't help you on that point. I can, however, tell you that using model kit bodies on slot cars is common practice, especially with the drag racing guys. We call them "hard bodies", for obvious reasons. Check it out on the slot car forums either here, HRW or SCI. That's Home Racing World, and Slot Car Illustrated. Hope this clears things up a bit for you. Enjoy! -- Ernie :>)

Hello, Mike - welcome to the forum. Plenty of good things happening here for automotive plastic guys like us. And, I believe you're down the road from a favorite place of mine - The Drag Strip at Lebanon Valley Raceway! I try to get to at least one event there each summer. Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine holds annual Nostalgia and Muscle Car events there on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, they're lots of fun! Great modeling ideas to be found there as well. Again, welcome on board and... ENJOY !! -- Ernie :>)

Step right on board, Jim! You're in a great area with many great model car shows happening around you. One of the best, "Model Car Challenge" hosted by the Long Island Auto Replica Society (LIARS), holds their annual event in Nassau County each November. And the BIGGEST of them all - "NNL East" - hosted by the Tri-State Model Car Club is held each April in Wayne, NJ. Check out these websites for starters: <liarsmodelcarbuilders.com> and <nnleast.com> That'll keep ya busy for a while! Maybe you'll join one of the clubs. I'm also a vendor at both shows, please feel free to PM me with any questions. Welcome again. We'll see ya at the shows, and... ENJOY!! -- Ernie :>)

Thanks for the endorsement, Brian. Hope you saw my feature article on the cover of Friday's (11/13) NEWSDAY Explore LI (Part II) section. It really helped to get people in to see the show - we had just shy of 500 paid attendees through the door and 359 car, truck, and motorcycle models entered into the judged classes! Pretty good considering some balk at paying the tolls to cross a bridge or two from the mainland onto the Island for shows - whether they be for plastic model, slot or die cast cars. Speaking of slot cars, there will be two judged classes for slot cars (HO and 1/32-24) at next year's 2016 event, our 25th Anniversary. Thanks to everyone who attended this year, whether to compete, shop, or just to look at all the cool models on the tables. It was a good day's work setting up and working 5 vendor tables, but I once again had a great time! Are you considering joining the club? Info at <liarsmodelcarbuilders.com> -- Thanks, Ernie :>)

Both look pretty good, ready to blast down the 55 foot 'strip! Enjoy... Ernie :>)

How do I list model car and slot car shows in the Upcoming Events column? I don't see anywhere on the home page to do this. Thanks for the help, and thanks for the forum. -- Ernie :>)

Welcome, Bill - Very nice stuff, I really like the Mercs. You're from NJ so I'm guessing you go to the biggest of all the model car shows, NNL East in Wayne every April. Maybe you'd like to come out to Long Island for the Long Island Auto Replica Society (LIARS) annual Model Car Challenge on Saturday, November 14th. Info at <liarsmodelcarbuilders.com> and <nnleast.com>, check them out. Stop by the booth for "Ernie's Model Auto Parts" at either show and say hello! Enjoy -- Ernie :>)

Welcome on board, from a guy who used to race FORDs at Long Island's New York National Speedway back in the early 1970's. Enjoy your time with the car hobby - in all scales! -- Ernie :>)

YES ! If you've still got the Lotus kit, PLEASE PM me. Maybe I've got something I can send your way. Thank you very much. -- Ernie :>)

That's a loss to us all. I met him at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, I think it was the 1996 MoPar Nationals with a special Hemi Challenge event. He was doin' runs side by side with Bob Riggle and his Hemi Under Glass Barracuda. Got Bob to sign one of his T-shirts which I gave to my younger brother. Bill was hangin' out signin' the same reissue Lindberg Little Red Wagon kit all weekend. When I presented him with my original, sealed IMC Little Red Wagon kit for an autograph, he freaked out! He started callin' for his wife, sayin' "Honey, this is the old kit I was tellin' ya about!" Told him I was going to make a small slice in the shrink wrap and peel it back an inch or so for him to sign. He said, "Man, you're gonna cut the wrapper?!" I told him if I was gonna open the seal on the kit, it would be either to build it (not gonna happen), or for him to sign it. What a smile that put on his face, he must've spent five minutes just floppin' the box over and over, gazing at all the artwork panels multiple times. We were able to talk for a bit before the next group of autograph seekers started lining up, so after a hardy handshake I said thanks and goodbye. That was a really cool moment for me, I'll tell ya. Never thought to take a picture with the guy! Before the weekend was out, I was able to get Roger Lindamood's signature on one of those Lindberg "Color Me Gone" reissues, too. A cool weekend in MoPar land, even for a FORD guy like me! Really sad to hear we've lost another one of our motorsport heroes. :>( A pioneer in drag racing history... Ernie PS - I'm adding this the next day. When I had finished the above post last night, it was time for dinner, and I never went back to the computer for the remainder of the evening. Today I finally watched the video at the top of the thread, and it's from Englishtown 1996! Odds are I was there watching that run - pretty freaky how things work out...

Hey, Matt I'm a newbie here, too, but not to the hobby! I belong to the LIARS model car club and will have my big model car parts vendor set up at our annual Model Car Challenge show and swap meet Saturday, November 14th in Freeport. Contact me for more info, our next meeting is Thursday, September 17th in Blue Point, 7-9:30 pm. C'mon and join us - our annual dues are low, we've got a good group of guys, and your models look great, too! Talk to you soon... Ernie :>)

I'm new to this forum, and am having a problem viewing some of the posted photos. I'm legit and logged on, but some of the photos show a picture of a cat where the photo should be. Am I doing some thing wrong? It doesn't happen all the time. Please help. Your "digitally challenged" forum member... Ernie :>)

Welcome in Brian, I just signed on last month myself, but have been in the hobby over 50 years. Hope you enjoy it. Walk straight to the back of the room at the LIARS show November 14th and come by my vendor set up and say hello! Remember this year's special theme class is Chevrolet Impala 1958-present. Looking forward to seeing you there. Would you like details on joining the club? That guy Rich Manson knows what he's talking about, and is one helluva builder. Contact me... Ernie :>)

I'm logged in but can't see the photos. There are pics of a cat saying photo not found. Don't know what's wrong. -- Ernie :>)

Been doin' just that since the early-mid 1980's for commercial and club track racing with 1/24-25 scale models. First with cut and "stretched" womp chassis, then later on with the Parma FCR chassis when they became available. Almost always with some type of 16D power. We'll have to see about the availability of the Parma 16D series of motor in the future, but there are many alternatives out there to run in place of the 16D can. I'm pretty much done with the lexan bodied stuff, and ran my last USRA GP27 "wing car" race back in 1977. I have some older Flexi and Womp builds that are used for recreational running, but they haven't been actively raced for years. I do run the Reality Modified type of cars in club races, along with the FCR hardbody classes. The possibilities of builds using the model kit bodies are so varied, and kits are still being released every month or so. Build them right, and they can be fairly durable. Look at all the fun everyone who has posted photos here is having! Enjoy -- Ernie :>)

Thanks for all the kind words from all my friends, both old and new! Looking forward to working my way into the forum as time allows. See ya all soon... Ernie :>)

I believe the Matchbox Motorway actually had a long spring running through the slots, which hooked onto the cars and dragged them along in place. Now you know where all the NOISE comes from! I acquired one of these sets many years ago in a lot along with HO slot cars that I was purchasing. Couldn't get rid of that thing, show after show! Finally, I just traded it away for something, I don't even recall what. Hardcore Matchbox guys can probably give you a better explanation, maybe try a Matchbox club site? That's all I've got for ya... Ernie :>)

So... by my username you can tell I'm a Ford guy, but I like most American Iron and a few from overseas, too. Started in the hobby at the very end of the 1950's, then got bitten HARD by the slot car bug in the Winter of '62. Still racin' slot cars today, mainly vintage HO and 1/24-25 "hardbody" cars on both club and commercial tracks. Oh yeah, owned a raceway in the late 1980's - early 1990's, but the rent's a killer around here! Now here's where my car modeling comes in - just about every 1/24-25 scale kit I've built in the past 30 years or so has seen the body go to the slot car track - whether it be a road course, oval track or drag strip. I've been a member of the Long Island Auto Replica Society (LIARS) for a few years, and a vendor at their annual Model Car Challenge for the last 15-20 years. Since the early 1980's or so, I've been vending at many other model/slot car shows in the northeastern US, including such events as MassCar in Taunton, MA, and NNL East in Wayne, NJ. So, between slot car racing/building, and doing the show circuit, I can never find the time to build a proper model! But I'm workin' on that. A longtime friend of mine in the hobby (who no longer lives in NY), suggested that I would enjoy this forum, so I'm joinin' in on the fun! I belong to and am moderately active on two well known slot car forums, so I'll slowly work my way into this thing as I go along. And yes, I DO read Model Car magazine, and have picked up the first two issues of the new sister magazine, Slot Cars. Really glad to see that come onto the newsstand! And, well yeah, I'm a long time reader of that other one, (say it quietly here) Scale Auto. All of these activities have kept me pretty well connected to the model/slot car scene for the past 50 years or so. I guess that's enough for my "short" introduction, so I'll see ya all around the forum, here and there. ENJOY! -- Ernie :>)