Matchbox HO cars?

[Monty]

The other night I was looking at some HO stuff on Ebay when I came across a listing for a Matchbox HO car (C3 Corvette with IMSA flares).  I've been racing HO cars since I was young (late '60s) and had acquired cars made by several different brands over the years, but I never knew these even existed.  From what I can tell, they seem to have been made in the late '70s, but must not have sold very well.

Anybody have these?  Are they competitive with other cars of the time?  Will they run on any other HO track?  TIA for any other information.

[rattle can man]

I'm not sure about Matchbox. But I do have an Aurora Magne-traction Vette with IMSA flares. If I recall, it was yellow with blue and white design and the No. 12.

[Monty]

47 minutes ago, rattle can man said:

I'm not sure about Matchbox. But I do have an Aurora Magne-traction Vette with IMSA flares. If I recall, it was yellow with blue and white design and the No. 12.

I've got a couple of those already (different paint schemes).  I'm interested in learning about the Matchbox line of HO cars because I'm just now discovering that were available when I was just starting to ramp up my collection, but I never saw them for sale anywhere.  I'm guessing they weren't available for long in the US (AFAIK).  The 'Vette in question is called the Evel Knievel Corvette. Kinda looks like it had working headlights.  

[Zen]

Is the whole car Matchbox made or just the body? Have a pic of it without the body?

[Mike 1017]

I do want to Hi-jack your thread.

I was reading one of my Sargent Rock Comics and this was on the back cover. Did any of the HO guys used this?

Mike

Edited August 28, 2024 by Mike 1017
wrong word

[rattle can man]

That picture looks like my memory of the one I have. I'll check it later today.

[Monty]

3 hours ago, Zen said:

Is the whole car Matchbox made or just the body? Have a pic of it without the body?

Matchbox made a series of cars (body and chassis) for their sets, just like Aurora, Tyco etc.  I don’t think I’ve seen a pic of the chassis by itself.

[Monty]

3 hours ago, Mike 1017 said:

I do want to Hi-jack your thread.

I was reading one of my Sargent Rock Comics and this was on the back cover. Did any of the HO guys used this?

Mike

I woulda been interested but those probably would have been out of my price range at the time.  I’ve seen some YouTube videos where they use a modern HO chassis dyno to tune their cars.  
 

Edited August 28, 2024 by Monty

[rattle can man]

Mine is definitely not like the one in the picture. And I do not recall any "analyzer" to tune up the cars. I still have my AFX book on hopping up slotcars.

[rattle can man]

I just found this. Powertrack - Wikipedia  I don't recall seeing them.  All I remember are Aurora/ AFX, Tyco, TCR, and the cheap battery ones.

[Phirewriter]

Slotted Matchbox H.O. slot cars are not compatible with common track systems (Tyco,AFX,etc...) The rails and therefore pickup shoes have very narrow spacing which do not work on anything but Matchbox track.

[Brian Austin]

https://www.bssauction.com/auction-lot/matchbox-slot-car-racer_31741E2A88

 

 

http://www.matchbox-powertrack.co.uk/

 

Some of the cars.  Note the MB cars might actually be 6 volt.:

https://www.matchbox-powertrack.co.uk/cars/speedtrack/

Edited September 3, 2024 by Brian Austin