I miss running 1/25-1/24 scale slot cars!! So now i race 1/32 scale slots We have race night at my house once a month on a friday night. here is a pic of my track some cars lined up and ready for action keith
man thats bitchin , last time i got to race slots was in the mid sixty's in imperial beach ca. i bought my son a set in a box and it just wasnt the same we got bored with it pretty soon ..
I can't believe I missed this thread...! It's "Amazing" how slotcars prepared me for my Real cars... constantly destroying them only to be rebuilt and modified again...! Dad's was the site for the first two "Slots of Doom" races... Here's the entries from the First Slots O Doom...! Well it certainly has enough interest... all three of the "Slots of Doom" races were a blast...! Time for you to step up to the plate and rent ther track for a couple of hours... "Oh... and bring plenty of cash to buy spare parts....! I urge all of you to promote "Slot Racing" and "Patronize" your local tracks.... otherwise they'll be... just another fond memory!!!! Besides it's an inexpensive way to build commeradary and race...!!! Lucky Bob's Raceway 5822 W Forest Home Ave Milwaukee, WI 53220 Map See the "DANGER" feel the "SPEED"...! <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNluqaRG8cQ&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cNluqaRG8cQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> What an "Awesome" time we had...! There will be more so stay tuned! What Better way of spending a Sunday afternoon than racing???
Back in August 1969, my father dropped me off at Modelville raceway in Framingham, Ma for my first real race. He joked and told me that if I did not win, I could not come home. Well... I won! Still have the trophy. Haven't won one since! Great times.
I still have 3 1/24 th scale cars and about 35 or so HO cars and a bunch of track. I fortunately don't have to hide stuff. My wife knows if she does anything with my toys it would be her last offical act on this planet. She can do anything she wants with my, slotcars, toy trains, big tonka sized trucks, guitars, amps, pinball machine, etc. after I'm gone. Till then they are strickly off limits.
Went to tracks in Encino and Tarzana on Ventura Blvd. in San Fernando Valley. Built cars out of brass tubing. Every now and then Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) would be there.
I've got a 1965 commercial track. If somebody wants it ,PM Me. 8 lanes Blue King 150 ft. new surface in pieces. A truckload. If I'm outa line for posting 4 sale here go ahead and chew Ass.
I remember there was a track outside of Chanute A.F.B. in the hobby shop,when I was there in 1984.I havent seen one since,but I remember it was fun to watch when I got the chance.
If you're from San Jose you'll remember Chuck's (on Alum Rock) and Houston's when they used to be downtown (Huge track in the basement).
Cool thread, I to had them as a kid , spend alot of time driving in the old hot rods inside of my head , That don't sound right!
ummmm there was a place on Manchester in Westchester Ca, and another place on LaTiera in westchester where they also recorded Shindig (I think) Beaulieu
Those were the times. I had 9 or so 1/24 and 1/32 cars. Raced them in Orange CA. My two favorites were my 1/32 Porsche 356, that was mounted on a Monogram brass frame and had a Strombecker HEMI 300 motor in it. That was some fast wheels, in fact spun the motor bearing right out of the motor case. My father got me a ball bearing replacement and the damn thing went even faster. The other was a "demolition derby" 56 Ford Fairlane kit that I mounted on an old Revell 1/24th frame. The Revell motor was slow as hell, so I thought it would be suitable for the Ford body. I put "Raced at Ascot" on the top and painted the wheels half yellow, half brown, like the old figure 8 and demo cars at Ascot. Took my soldering iron and put various dents, creaces, holes in the plastic body. Took the demo car to the track and it was the hit of the show. The kids would laugh when I would burn rubber and do fishtailing. I still have the Porsche around somewhere. Would be nice to race now. I would be able to test my electronic hyper drive circuit too.
I raced there in '70-'71, while going to automotive school in Littleton. I loved that place! The arcade was stupid fun!!
I remember the one in San Rafael, on 4th Street. I would go down and watch but I never had a car to run on it. It was a big store front, had a number of tracks in it. I think it turned into a Honda motorcycle store. Had a Scalectrix (spelling ?) set, wish I still had that.
We would run/race/ go to a summer camp in Abq at a place called RaceLane Man, I loved that. Still got my wing car and ford model a. The owner was awesome but couldn't generate enough revenue to keep it open and now I think has it all packed into his garage. 12 lanes IIRC, 1/64 track, drag strip, Tamiya car track (I have half of it) oh man I'm upset at you for making me feel all nostalgic now. I still remember the smell of the tires, and the tigers milk. That's what sparked the car culture in me. I still feel terrible for hooking one of his remotes up backwards and frying it, we were going to pay for it but he promised it was ok. Dick, if you're out there, I am sorry!
I just saw a guy with some old slotcars at LARS last weekend. Should have bought them...Brings back the kid in me!
I remember an old guy teaching me a bunch of tricks to get more out of a motor. Cutting brushes, sanding the arms, lapping in the bearings, stealth balancing. His motors seemed to always win the "stock" classes/
Yowee !! That brings back memories ! I was in high school when the slot car thing first got popular in the early sixties . You could say it was my first hot rod building experience . I built all of my own chassis from scratch and added whatever body I had . My cars weren't super competitive but they were always different . I even built a birdcage Maserati style frame by soldering solid copper wire together . What happened to cheap fun ?
There was a slot car joint in South Arcadia and another in Temple City, both bicycling distance from home. I was never into going fast with my slot cars. Instead, I put and altered wheelbase red Falcon body from a model kit on a slot cat chassis with a long swing-arm electic pickup, so it would do wheelies the whole length of any straightaway. Went like crap around the corners, but due to the fact that the rear had weights inside, it sure did wheelstands. Looked much cooler than those guys with their slick, fast, formula style cars.
Yep! I built a Willys just like that. That was before they had dragstrips in the slotcar places. Hated having to go slow around the track just to get back on the straight to do another wheelie...
My brother in law belongs to a slot car club here in Denver and they have slowly been getting into drag racing. One of the members built a 1/24 scale 8th mile drag track that is complete with a burnout box in the staging area and everything. You flip a lever to hold your car into place do your burn outs and then stage the car. It is hooked up to a timing system that records reaction time, dial in and who wins. It is sick. There is a 1/24 unlimited class, 1/32 class, street eliminator class and various others. We use Hardbody cars with slot motors and chassis. My brother-in-law is working on his track that will be a replica of Lions. One look at the track and you will be knee deep in drag cars. Tons of Fun. Check it out...
In about 1966 my dad bought a slot car track kit for a little father /son bonding. I'm pretty sure it was a Strombecker and it was older style Formula cars. Well, that to to more modern (for the time) stuff and then in 1967 he bought the local slot car store! Go Go Raceways on Route 66 in Duarte, Ca. I was now the most popular kid in town! It was a perfect scenario, he was the local music teacher, so he would open after school, the same time the customer base (school kids) was ready to come play. He would also hire students to work the store. Many took their pay in parts and track time - 50 cents for an hour of track time. We had three different tracks, 8 lanes each for the 1/24 and 1/32 cars. We also had an HO drag strip on the counter that was 30 feet long, that was a real hoot, although he took that down when he found out we used to pour lighter fluid on the glass counters and race through the flames! It was a big store, 20,000 sq ft. It was a blast for 4 years when he lost the lease and was going to move it down the street but that never quite made it. We had painted the new building all kinda psychedelic and paisley (Hey this was 1970) and renamed it Mr. L's but alas never reopened. The crazy looking building stayed that way for years. We had some crazy times - we did a 24 of Durock where the cars had to run their own lights (little grain of wheat bulbs) and we left the lights off over the track, pretty wild looking at 2:00 in the morning. We used to go and race the guys from Tom Thumb in Van Nuys and the store in Simple Tity among others. I got rid of most of my stuff back in the 80's but do still have an original ASP.
Edward's hobby shop at Lynhurst and Rockville Rd.... I spent many Saturdays there, They had 3 large banked ovals, good memories. I still have my 1/24th scale "angle winder" I built 40 yrs ago, it was one bad son of a bitch. 1/ 24th's ruled back then, no HO tracks that I knew of. Good thread.
Yep ... in the late 60's & early 70's, I used to go with my father and some of his hot rodder friends to a track in Hayward, CA (or maybe it was San Leandro). I still have my father's Gar-vic "sidewinder" and his other hand-built brass chassis cars ... and an s-load of Tradeship MK-70 Micro Motors. We also raced 1:24 Eldon cars at home ... Me & my Eldon "garage track" (circa 1970) I still have all my old Eldon sets ... and a couple years ago started purchasing several other Eldon sets on eBay ... including a mint Top Eliminator dragstrip set (kinda bummed that I sold that one).
That's so cool! I always wanted a big set at my house. I'm thinking about building a Scalectric track. Still won't be the same...
Here's video of the drag track. Check it out. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v161/Super2nr/?action=view¤t=DSCN0580.flv
i still have a shit load of slot cars and parts from the early 80's mostly hand me downs from my 2 older brothers. sponge drag slicks, modified suspensions, and leaving black marks on plastic... those were the days.
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