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HealeyRick

HealeyRick

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A thread got me thinking about slot cars. In my small town we had a rather large slot car track. I was probably about 13 years old when it opened and as a car nut started building cars. Back then you were a Ford or a Chevy guy. As a Chevy guy, I had a Cox Chapparral and later a Cox Cheetah. Learned a lot of valuable lessons about driving and performance; There was always a better driver than you; even if you had the latest factory set-up, someone would come along (like a motor rewinder or guy with softer tires) that would kick your butt; the prettiest cars were seldom the fastest. Any other memories?
 
We raced the HO cars at home and with a club we formed, we had weekly races with class and points system to rival the SCCA or NASCAR. One of the guys in the club went on to race at the local ovals. The tinkering, taking things apart, and trying to improve performance continued on a larger scale when I started driving and got my first British cars.
 
I got an HO slot car set from a neighbor when he didn't have the room for it. I expanded it and made it larger, and then acquired a bunch of cars. Among recent cars, I liked the Hot Wheels offerings. I also purchased some vintage Aurora cars. Those are fun, but not nearly as fast. They do, however, require a more deft touch on the triggers to keep them from fishtailing around the corners.

Sadly, our expanding household meant that we needed more room, and the slot car track had to be packed up, where it still sits today.
 
A few years before racing on the local slot car track, I woke up o Christmas day to get this really cool Stombrecker set:

Strombecker_set1.JPG


I actually wrote to the organizers of the LeMans 24 hours and told them I'd like to build a replica of the track with my Stombrecker layout and asking if they could send me a circuit diagram. (yeah, I was a precocious 12 year old) They sent me a lovely letter in French (that I had to have translated by my 8th grade French teacher) with all the info on how to enter into the next year's LeMans race. Geez, I wish I still had that stuff.
 
Had a Varney set... with an XKE and Corvette. Big wide tracks. Loved it. 1/32 scale. They occasionally come up on eBay (or at least components do).
 
About 20 years ago I used to take my kids to a local slot car track where you could rent cars (I think 1/24 scale). The tracks were about 6 cars wide and you rented cars by the 1/2 hour. There were employees that would act as "flaggers" to put cars back on track if they crashed. We had two of these places within 15 minutes of my house. We took our Boy Scout troop there several times and it seemed like a popular birthday party place. It was great fun and there always seemed to be plenty of customers, but both places shut down. :(

I still have a nice HO set stored away. I will probably break it out for the big family party we always have between Christmas and New Years.

The closest "toy" I have to this these days is an O-gauge train set that I always set up around our Christmas tree.
And we'll probably play with our ~RC quad-copters~. :smile:
 
We would all take our tackle boxes full of slot car stuff up to the local 8 lane track. My best car was a 1/32 Cox with a clear plastic Cheetah body painted BRG from the inside. My favorite car had a more crude Pittman motor with a homemade brass frame but I could never get that thing set up right. At home I had a fairly large Aurora HO set but that couldn't match hangin with the guys at the track.
 
Mowed lots of lawns to pay for my addiction in the mid-sixties! Cox, K&B, and Champion were my mainstays. I never was satisfied with out-of-the-box performance, and would often rewind the motors.

A few buzzwords:

Sidewinder chassis
Silastic tires (maybe made from the same stuff as Super Balls?)
LIGHTER FLUID (!)
26D motors
 
HO at home (you know, the set with Stirling Moss on the box) but 1/24 for the commercial tracks -- we had three within a reasonable driving distance (my elder brother drove).
 
I have a good HO collection. Mostly Thunderjets and Tuff-Ones, with a few modern ones in there to satisfy the speed need. We also have an active track just a mile away from my house, but I never seem to get over there...... sad
 
To my knowledge, we never had a track in my hometown, but I remember looking in magazines and being very envious. got a set for Christmas one year (can't recall the name) though it was used then - so, older. Had two "front engine race cars" - I recall going to our local hobby store Stephen License ( https://www.stephenlicence.ca/ -it is still open and still on the same street) and buying a couple of closed body bodies for the cars. Stephen License was the most magical place in the world - balsa planes that really flew, HO trains, model cars - I could rarely buy anything but could spend hours there.

My parents sold the set years ago when downsizing - I do miss it - though, they gave away my teddy bear and I miss that more <sniff>

The same Christmas, my brother received a Switch 'N Go set, which was sold at the same time - I miss that also

 
Oh Man! Switch and go, I would never have remembered what that was called, if I ever knew, probably would not even ever have remembered it existed, but seeing the picture on the video jogged the old memory banks, my brother had a set, I was very envious.
 
Amazing how many slot-car YouTube videos are out there!
 
If you want a nifty little Slot Car App - try Groove Racer. It's free. I know it definitely is available for iPhone, not sure about Android, but the company's other apps are available in both. It's only drawback are the ads that pop up between races. Warning: It is VERY addictive.
 
I see several slot-car type apps for Android, including Groove Racer. I'll have a look. Thanks.
 
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