I remember a slot car thread awhile back and ran across this info just today. Looks very cool and I hope it revives interest in this cool hobby. Get those kids off their phones/computers. http://www.scalextric.com/shop/sets/c1276-scalextric-digital-platinum-set/
Funny, my little boy (Cheytan) just turned 3 at the end of January. The kid is a gearhead already and loves anything with wheels and an engine, so I bought him a GIANT HO scale slot car set off of eBay for his birthday. He took to it like a fish to water, and now EVERY DAY I have to set aside a good hour to go upstairs and clean the track, lube the cars, round the tires, check the connections, snap on the guardrails, and then we race for a half hour to 45 minutes. He loves it, and I love that he loves it. I'm usually the '41 Vic and he's usually the '37 Ford convert. He has a bunch of OT cars that we've been collecting (67 Galaxie, a Superbird, couple of Vettes, Charger, Challenger, Boss Mustang, just off the top of my head), but nothing newer than '72 and ALL HIS SELECTIONS! I'll scroll through the cars in my price range, and he'll say "Daddy, I want THAT one..!" Always a cl***ic car, never fails. Something about the electric smell of the ionized air, the whine of the little motors, and the pain in the *** guardrails that pop off every time you tag one with a fishtail that takes me back to when I was a kid. They say we don't stop playing because we grow old, but that we grow old because we stop playing. I, for one, am not ready to grow old.
Ahhhhh, so you know it too! There is something unmistakable about that smell that throws my brains into a time warp every time I get a whiff.
It's a very distinct smell. If someone has never experienced it, there's no explaining it to them. Something about your quote reminded me of Robert DuVall in Apocalypse Now when he said " I love the smell of Napalm in the morning".
I bought my son a Carrera slot car track at a local toy store - we both love it. I found a hobby store that sells hot rods & muscle cars that are compatible ... hours of fun ! Reminds me of the 70's when I would play with my friends on our Tyco tracks.
LOL, I've recently begun chop tops and custom paint on some of the bodies. My boy watches intently as I carefully snip and tweak the plastic, superglue it into place, then sand the edges. He loves to see them custom made just for him. We just got done with our daily race a few minutes ago. Gotta hand it to the little guy, for three years old he's doing well with knowing when to decelerate into the turns then hammer it on the straightaways. We primarily run the old AFX non-magnetized ch***is, so if you go just a bit too fast into a corner your car becomes a missile. I'm proud to say I get my *** handed to me by a three year old on the track. I'd like to get him into racing just as soon as he's old enough. He's a big boy (43in. and 54 lbs at 3!) and seems to have a real interest in things that go fast. I see this as a breeding ground for a future champion.
I used to put baby powder on my home track & do burnouts it thinking the tire would 'smoke' I love slot cars!
Oh man,! I used to have so many feet of track and lots of cars. I gave them all away to a good home when we moved over here. I still have my Lionel train set though....
My kids and I were pretty heavy into 1/32 scale racing a while back. The club we belonged to sent me and three others to the grand opening of the Chapparal Race Car Museum in Midland Texas and we setup at 4 lane replica track of Rattlesnake Raceway. Scalextric donated the track and all the cars. It was fun to see three generations of Halls racing together. We brought a lot of vintage Chaparral slot cars with us. Here's a picture of us with Dan Gurney. I'm the short guy on the left. Jim Hall and one of the grand kids.
I know what you mean. I also loved the smell of those old Cox/Wen Mac gas cars. Oh man, I thank God for being able to experience that.
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