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Well, ladies and gentlemen... Buzz-A-Rama has officially been cleaned out. There is nothing left but four walls and 56 years of memories. Everything is gone... maybe an occasional motor brush or single pinion gear on the floor in a corner somewhere. There is no sign of it ever being a raceway...The gate has been pulled down for the last time. That is, until the new owners take over and start the rebuild.

 

Thousands of people of all ages walked through those hallowed doors... men turned into boys... boys turned into men as they worked on and raced their little toy cars around one of Buzzy and Dolores' five tracks. It's where many kids got their hands dirty for the first time. Some turned out to be real car mechanics. Some opened companies. Some became stockbrokers.

 

Whatever they became... we all shared in one very important fact: we all had a great time at Buzz-A-Rama. Buzzy and Dolores might be gone... but their memories and the memories of racing there will forever be in our hearts and in our minds; those can never be taken away.

 

Ask anyone who grew up in Brooklyn, and the surrounding areas, if they heard of BAR... and they all say yes. It was the most iconic raceway in all the country and even in some parts of the world... everyone knew of or wanted to race there. Buzzy and Dolores were legends... the basement of BAR was a thing of folklore. We all wanted to get down there, we all wanted to see what all the talk was about, we all tried our hardest to get Buzzy to change his mind, open the door and let us into his wonderful world of slot cars. I helped him out for the last eight years. He trusted me to open any drawer, any closet, and any box... but not the basement door. That was off limits. I was hoping to see the memorabilia and hear all his stories about how one man could have accumulated so much stuff.

 

But it never happened... the stories all died when he died. The book never got written... and a good book it would have been. I used to love talking to him on those Saturday and Sunday afternoons when he would open at 2 PM. I always asked him about something that I found in the bottom of a drawer that hadn't been opened in over 30 years. He never skipped a beat, he would tell me the story like it happened yesterday. Dolores would always chime in and say, "Hey, Buzz, remember when..." and she would bring up an old story or race or person that made a significant impact on BAR.

 

I miss then both very much. They complemented each other like fine wine... he was rough and tumble and she was the forever voice of reason. They were a perfect couple. They ate, slept, and breathed Buzz-A-Rama. He told me he would die before he closed up... and he was right.

 

I miss you, Frank 'Buzz' Perri and Dolores Perri. May you rest in peace forever. 

 

PS: Buzz, I finally got down into the basement but it just wasn't the same without you.    ;(

Something a little different, thought this might be interesting for some.  

 

With this chassis you can adjust the weights trackside with your tire tool without even taking the body off, and they can even be adjusted between (or during) heats in seconds. Great for back-to-back comparison of different weight locations. This is something of a proof-of-principle prototype and the next version will probably be a good bit more elegant.

 

 

I get asked frequently why I still race slot cars by friends of mine who did it when they were kids. I started in 1963 in NYC racing at Polk Hobbies, Cobra Raceway, Buzz-A-Rama, Roosevelt Raceway, and many other tracks in the NYC area. Most of them know what I did for a living and they seem puzzled.
 
So over a drink I told him that as we get older (I am 70, going to be 71 in Aug) we tend to lose motor skills and hand eye coordination. It's just a factor of getting older.
 
I told him that I know of no other hobby that will challenge your hand eye coordination motor skill set on a daily basis like slot car racing where you can't get hurt.
 
In my previous life I was an airline captain for a major airline so flying kept that skillset up to speed. Landing at night in the rain will challenge your hand eye coordination especially in a crosswind.
 
I flew helicopters in Vietnam (see picture) which takes an extraordinary amount of hand eye coordination to fly.
 

 
I also flew fighters, which required you to perform air-to-air refueling. This is one of the most challenging maneuvers that you must be able to do day or night! At times in the clouds!  
 

 
To say the least, hand-eye coordination is of the utmost issue doing this, and, yes, it can be a little scary
 
The only other hobby that, to me at least, challenges your hand-eye coordination to the max is motorcycle racing, and I used to do that as well. I sold all my race bikes when I turned 69.
 

 
Once again, this can get you seriously injured, but not racing slot cars
 
So, for me it was an easy choice. I want to maintain my motor skill set which has been with me for a long time and have fun at the same time!
 
Clyde

A local racer spotted this and shared on my FB page.

 

It was constructed by a man by the name of Sherman Collings.

Hi,

 

I have had a few requests to publish some of my chassis, so here they are with a surprise or two. Unfortunately I do not have many left, but a few in any event. Please realize that in the day we did not bring the finish to a jewel like level, as some great builders do today. I used to finish them with steel wool and never tumbled. In spite of which, these all have their original patina, even though over 50 years old. Honestly I can not remember the history of each, but will try my best to provide a little context and discussion. Some of these were published about 10 years ago by Steve Okeefe.

 

The first chassis, which may look somewhat crude, is actually very interesting from an historical perspective. I built this in the winter/early spring of 1966, after Jim Russell met me at Peter Pan Raceway, gave me one of the Team Russkit cars, and asked Howie and I to form Team Russkit East. Needless to say we were thrilled to join and work with Mike Morrissey et al. This was my first attempt to emulate the west coast cars, which I built immediately after receiving the car from Jim, and it was probably the first west coast style car built on the east coast. 

 

 

 

The next chassis, which is minus its drop arm, must date to the fall of 1967. I would often salvage drop arms from older chassis to incorporate in later ones, as in the days before plate drop arms the drop arms were rather complex multi-rod affairs. And even when we started using unstamped plate arms they were still rather complex. I was not churning out chassis, so there were really not that many and each was unique. This would have come early in the days of floppy body mounts. It appears that it may have been a converted Formula One chassis, and may have been the first one I did with floppy body mounts. This would have not been unusual as I often did this. As I recall the first anglewinder that I won with at Hamilton Raceways was originally an inline that I cut down, and then later added floppies to to make a sports car chassis. I know that this one came before the one that follows because of the simpler bracing of the motor bracket.

 

 

 

The next one also appears to have been a Formula One chassis that was converted into a sports car chassis. You can clearly see the evolution of the bracing of the motor bracket, which continues in the next chassis. To the rear of the drop mount hinge is what appears to be one of the body mounts for an F1 body. Also note the complex construction on the front of the drop arm to hold the guide. I am not certain, but I believe that this is a chassis that I ran at the Arco Nationals in Atlanta. If it was I would have run it as both a coupe and Can-Am car. While it is possible that I ran the next chassis in Atlanta, I believe I ran this. I can't remember the order of the races there, so it is possible that I ran it there as an F1 and then converted it, but I don't think so. I was in three of the four finals in Atlanta, finishing as high as third (probably with this chassis) and was fourth overall. Just out of the money, sigh...

 

 

 

Next is a later more refined chassis. As I said, possibly run in Atlanta. It was over 50 years ago, so please forgive me for not remembering. PdL has pointed out that this chassis matches pictures of the one I ran and won the final East Coast Car Model race and the series championship with) at Mini Wheels Raceway the winter of 1968. It must be that one then as I never built the same chassis twice. Again note the yet more complex motor bracket bracing and the wider drop arm. This is how it appears to me that this came after the previous one, even though it is using four frame rails on each side rather than three plus the piece of flat brass. This surprises me, as normally the chassis were evolving heavier and heavier. Well, the drop arm was. Otherwise I can not explain it, unless I was trying to make it more flexible and more similar to the chassis I ran and won with at Don's in California the summer before. 

 

 

 

Next is not my build, but certainly my design. This is Steve Okeefe's gorgeous recreation of the rather unique Puzzle Pan that I built in California the summer of 1968. Needless to say, Steve did a fantastic job and I thought I should include it. This was my attempt to reduce the chatter I (and many) were encountering with the new anglewinders. It was based loosely on the 1/32 chassis that the cub racers were running in the midwest. The idea was to combine a heavy low center of gravity pan with slightly loose jiggle elements. It worked really well. I ran it at a major race at Buzz-A-Rama the fall of 1968. I did not qualify for the main, because I qualified late and the power was really down. I made it up through the consistency and semi, but the motor was overstressed and got very hot due to power issues, plus pure fatigue, and the pinion actually separated from the motor shaft, spinning freely. I loaned it to Howie who qualified really well at a major race at Nutley later that fall and I believe came in second to Mike Tango, the owner of the track. Then it was stolen.

 

 

 

And the final chassis is not one of mine, but rather a Bob Emott creation. I borrowed this from Bob and Chris Vitucci and ran it in my final Car Model race in Baltimore the fall of 1968, where I was going to school at Johns Hopkins, and won. PdL has claimed that this was not an Emott chassis but I know for sure that it was as I personally borrowed it from them. It was pretty current with what was happening and I am proud to have it as a memento of my friendship with Bob.  

 

 

 

Sandy

Anybody working on anything to pass the time in winter? Slot car related or not...

 

I just finished a track build in my basement that I started in November. Now the only project I have is run a bunch of laps!!!

 

 

Here is a 3D look at the handle instead of the graphic.

 

Since I quit punching a time clock in late 2012, I've mostly worked from home and in recent months, I realized that I was probably sitting around a bit too much for an old geezer like me. So I started looking for a part-time gig, not so much for the money, but just to get out of the house and away from the computer.
 


The main criteria was that I didn't want to have a long commute in the miserable Atlanta traffic to wherever the job was located. When I saw that the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA, was looking to hire a ticket taker for their gatehouse, I figured it would be a perfect place for me. It's just five miles up the road and has short hours – 10 AM to 5 PM. It is also only open limited days, depending on the season. In January and February, the musem is open Thursday through Saturday. In June and July, it's open Tuesday through Saturday. Except for special events (and there are a few of those), I'll probably only be working one or two days a week.
 


SRM has been around 50 years and is officially "Georgia's Transportation Museum" by act of the state legislature. There are over 90 pieces of rolling stock on the 35-acre property, which includes a minature amusement park train ride, as well as a short full-size train ride. President Warren Harding's private Pullman railcar, Superb, (shown below) is treasured part of the collection and as with much of the rolling stock, visitors are permitted to walk through it. There's an excellent model train layout, a MARTA bus collection, and much more. The museum is alongside the Atlanta-Washington CSX mainline which sees a lot of trains every day. The museum's driveway, which is the only access, crosses the mainline and its adjacent siding, and it is not uncommon for it to be blocked for up to an hour, trapping everyone on the museum property.
 

 
The vast majority of people working at the museum are volunteers, but there's a small paid staff who are responsible for handling money and for opening and closing the museum. The latter duty is no small task, as it takes perhaps 40 mins for one person to accomplish. There are something like 70 electrical breakers in multiple locations that have to be flipped on just to power up the place!
 

 
The best part is that perhaps 25-30% of the museum's visitors are pre-teen children and their excitment is a joy to see. We also receive visitors from all over the world.
 
A couple of weeks ago, we had a young couple from Kazakhstan ("You don't have a zip code? Why not?") with their six or seven-year-old son. After a couple of hours, when this family was headed toward the parking lot, the boy was loudly wailing and throwing a fit. The two of us at the gatehouse were wondering if the child had gotten hurt. The young mother saw the concern in our eyes and smilingly told us, "He just doesn't want to leave."

Duffy's Slotcar Raceway

3808 Carson Ave, Unit D

Evans, CO 80620

(262) 844-3178

matt@duffysslotcar.com

 

Tracks:

155' Hot Tracks Hillclimb

 

70' Fastlane Tri-Oval

 

American Raceways Liberty 60 Deluxe

~Completed picture soon~

 

Owners: 

Matt Sheldon & Leslie Hernon

So I have read all the posts on this topic... I would like to clear the air.

 

Nothing has been sold as of yet except maybe some HO cars that were put on eBay. I speak to Frank Perri Jr... He has assured me that he is really not ready to sell anything in the store as of yet. There are a total of six 1/24 tracks. Four are set up and two more in the basement.

 

Anyone that would like to purchase the tracks will be able to in due time. Just not yet. The tracks that are set up... you will have to take them apart and truck them to the new location. Frank does not want to get involved with breaking down the tracks... you buy it, you take it apart. 

 

As far as the merchandise in the store, he is not ready to sell yet. 

 

Believe me, when that time does come you will know about it .

 

As far as the Emperor track... it is still in the basement along with an American King.

 

There will be at least one more Memorial Race at BAR in the near future. I will post when that date becomes available. 

 

I hope this clears the air.

My dear wife and love of my life passed away ten years ago in August. She was a wonderful woman and great partner. She was beautiful, smart, clever, strong and I was in awe of her.

 

Yesterday was her Birthday.

 

I commissioned Jairus to build a car dedicated to her about nine years ago. It is a Shinoda Mongoose. I gave it to her son Trey from a previous engagement. 

 

Rest In Peace sweetheart!

 

Last night I dreamed that God had called me to the great beyond and he said "Bring your cars we have a track!"

The new Janis Nabokins built track was finally put together today.

 

The 46 metre track has individual 12 volt power supplies on each lane.

 

All that remains to be done is the track wiring and the final track height leveling.

 

The Wellington Slot Car Club now has a track that will be the envy of many. 

 

 

My late brother Willy took me to my first sports car race when I was 7 or 8  in Wichita Kansas in 1957 - 1958. Back then they were racing on airfield tarmacs. I really enjoyed seeing the Ferrari, Maserati and Lotus racing cars to mention a few but the one thing that really stood out to me was the dual racing stripes that some of the cars were sporting. Ever since I started racing slot cars in 1964 I had always painted dual racing stripes on many of my cars. 

 

Seven, eight years ago I had an idea to make literal “Racing Stripes” into a slot car. I began with the sketch you see here. Working as an engraver I had access to a computerized engraving machine and proceeded to cut a piece of brass to look like double racing stripes. Going thru many pieces, bending and shaping the brass until I finally came up with a design I liked.

 

This is the result, finished a few days ago.

I wanted to keep a kind of dual theme in mind.

 

Dual racing stripes for the “body” and frame with two main rails. There are actually four rear wheels, two per side mounted back to back. The front wheels have two “O” rings that were ground down to size. Two prong knock off’s. Double holes in the rear of the “body” to facilitate two megaphone exhaust pipes that still need to be made and mounted, still have to figure out how to make and mount them. I also made the motor bracket with two “slits” on each side.

 

Racing Stripes will probably never see track time except maybe a slow parade lap or two just to prove it can!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Marinko

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are with yet another motor issue in Retro racing. As an IRRA^® BoD member I can assure you we are working towards a solution. Some of you wanted this "fixed" yesterday but I think you already know that's not feasible. We can not make a "knee jerk" reaction to this because it is at the core of our program. Act too fast, without all the information and without studying all the possibilities, and you often compound the problem. And for the conspiracy theorists out there, well don't you think we should wait for confirmation and all the evidence before we lynch Tim and JK? There will be a solution.
 
As a track owner and a Premiere Race host it is my responsibility to make my event as fair and fun as possible. To that end I will do what I think needs to be done, up to and including hand-outs in all classes, to make things as level as possible. I firmly believe the IRRA^® will come up with a workable solution if this is indeed a major problem and not just a momentary blip. However we have no control over the Chinese manufacturers and little sway with JK. We simply don't have a big enough economic punch.
 
I personally believe there is no ulterior motive or greed agenda associated with this from JK. But we are at his mercy if any motor changes need to be made.
 
I'm posting this now so those that hate hand-outs will know that, as of now, hand-outs are a possibility at the R4/10. If that changes your mind and you won't attend then I'm sorry. I'm hoping that a solution is coming soon and this will be a non-issue.

PdL says goodbye to the Eagle he built with one last drive at the Gathering of Eagles held Elkhart Lake this past weekend.

 

In the fall of 1967 Sandy Gross travelled to the West Coast and dominated the Car Model race. The car was pictured in the race report in the Dec. '67 Car Model, there was a full page Tom Daniel drawing in the March '68 Car Model, and again appeared in the Sept. '68 Car Model in a Mike Morrissey review of all the winning '67 chasses. Something about the design of Sandy's car has just appealed to me, and in the midst of a COVID Jail Door building binge I took the leap on bullding a tribute.

 

To be clear, I was not interested in gathering the unobtanium parts to build a complete replica like some cars on Slotblog. I used a Jail Door motor bracket for a MB motor, Jail Door front and rear wheels and tires, and a slightly more modern Jet Flag, the goal being a car that could be driven and easily maintained. 

 

The chassis, however, would be otherwise constructed as close as possible without having exact measurements, meaning the rail placement, pickup, etc., would be as close to Sandy's as possible. All the pros seemed to have their own theories on which rails should attach inside or outside the axle tubes. Thanks to a response from Howie, I know that Sandy's Lola was yellow; while not completely accurate, I found a Rebel Products Lola that has the right carbs and look, though it's a little too round at he front – I haven't added a front air dam yet. 

 

So here's a tribute to Sandy Gross' domination at the Car Model race.

 

 

 

 

The Slot Shop – Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming's only slot car racing center since 2010 – closed in April of 2020, but will be re-opening approximately April 2021.

 

Our new address 3019 S. State St., SLC, UT 84115. Just across the street from our old shop. Shop needs a lot of work, but we own it!!! No more rent.

 

Temp phone is (801) 792-7973 Don's cell.

 

We love all slot racers!

I have been building this track for about two months, working 25-30 hours a week or so. I based almost everything on the fine tutorial Steve Ogilvie posted here last year. I had to change a little from his guidelines as my work is not to the level of Steve's, G. Gerding's and C. Dadds. Like everything I do, I managed to overcome my shortcomings and make things work.     

 

I replaced a four-lane Carrera track with this. I am hopeful that our small group will find this enjoyable and be more involved than they were with the local raceway.   

 

Thanks to Steve and to Slot Car Corner for the router bit and the pre-taped braid. That made it so easy!

 

 

 

By 1969, the pro-racing chassis design had evolved to a design that it would carry until the end of 1972, when new technology was introduced that offered an instant increase in performance from higher cornering speed.

The late Bob Emott had been the design leader from the early days of the anglewinder design, and effectively became the best chassis builder in the United States and likely, the world, inspiring other builders in the USA and abroad. He would do so until 1971.

Never resting on his laurels, Emott continuously evolved his designs, and this car is typical of his progress. Built for Team Mini Wheels Chris "The Judge" Vitucci, it represents the "next step" in the evolution of the so-called "plumber" chassis (so named because described as a "plumber's nightmare" when first introduced.


The center section is now made of two rails on each side of a 1-1/4" Cobra drop arm, one being a brass rod. The "motor box" of older 1968 chassis is now gone, main rails connecting shorter "half rails" to the rear axle tube. The side pans are now hinged two ways, with the rails hinged from the front of the drop arm.




The front axle tube is now partly "vented," to allow easier lubrication and also lower the center of gravity, even if by a minuscule amount. 

The front wheels are Mini Wheels, while the rears are Cobra. The guide and the gears are Cox items.

The motor is a faithful replica of a Kean massaged Champion "535" can with a Mura endbell fitted with Champion hardware. The endbell is side vented to expel as much of the heat as possible. The armature is a dual wound Kean on Champion blanks, 27/28 wire. Magnets are Champion Arco "DZ." The lead wires are Marklin stuff, lots of strands there. Axles are 1/8" drill blanks, the rear running inside Globe-Versitec flanged ball bearings.

As found in the pile of chassis retained by Bob Emott and purchased by the LASCM a few years ago, it needed a few repairs but was in quite nice condition, so it was simply repaired and washed. The soldering mess on the drop arm was left alone as it happened during the main event in which the car was raced (Vitucci having TQ'd) but he worked to destroy the car during the race. I decided not to touch it.

The guide and lead wires were still attached to the chassis and I left them alone as they showed no damage. It was missing its Kean motor, so I assembled one from parts, exactly as Bob Kean would have done in early 1969. The drop arm is engraved, as many of the 1969 Emott chassis were:

"Super Arm Batwinder"
Built for Chris Vitucci
The COBRA killer
By
Bob Emott





The body is a Dynamic McLaren M8, painted and decorated as a replica of the original Dave Bloom artwork by the best person to do such a job today, Joe "Noose" Neumeister. He was there, and his memory cells are quite excellent at remembering what colors to apply.











This one was a tough job for me, as the motor clearance was the tightest I had to deal with on an Emott chassis so far, and I did not want to remove or grind anything off that would have compromised the originality of this great car, which set the American "Blue King" qualifying record with a then fast 4.72". We now have no less than five "Blue King" record holding cars at the LASCM, the oldest from 1967, the youngest from 1985!

This car is of course fully functional, as all restorations performed for the LASCM are. But it is now a shelf queen, a witness of a great period in the history of electric model car racing.

I am spending the next four days filling up the shelves of the display room with production and hand built slot cars, as well as built-up static kits and MIB kits.

Here are some views of the "pro racing" side of the room with original and reproduced cars, period trophies and boxes. There are "drag racing", "pro racing", "thingy" and "hand built" sections. Still tons of work to do, but getting there at last. The models and boxes are located at the back of the large room, in a section all by themselves.



One corner of that section shows part of the extensive display:



The 1967 Rod & Custom Cup is surrounded by cars that actually took part in the races, rare survivors indeed.



The sole surviving "Team Russkit" box, complete with its original contents. It lived for over 35 years in the boot of a VW Beetle...



One of the most famous slot car boxes of all time, and the most traveled in the day, was that of Bruce Paschal. The airline stickers show how simpler things were before the first oil crisis in 1973.



Possibly the only Gorski controller still in its original box... with a Parma prototype at right and a custom painted set of Champion handles by Dave Bloom:



There will be over 200 "pro racing" cars on display, covering a period from 1963 through 1973. Chassis, motors, tires, tools will also be on display. If you lived that era, or love it as a younger person, this place will make you happy, even if you cannot physically visit, as there will be videos and detailed pictures online.