39 replies to this topic

[Alchemist]

what was the most popular slot car related brand//part name you were drawn to at that time?

 

No matter what it was, chassis, body or motor etc,.

 

I was 10 years old and I got my initial exposure to slot cars at the San Francisco Ocean Beach Model Car Raceway, my first experience at a Commercial Raceway.

 

Having gone there a few more times, I started hearing (and paying attention) conversations among the crowd, names like Cox and Russkit were common to hear.

 

But the slot car names that really stuck with me all these years are Strombecker Hemi  (specifically the Red and chrome motor) and MURA motors.

 

The Strombecker Hemi motor is still my most favorite motor - I just like the way it looks!

 

Care to share please?

 

Thank you.

 

Ernie

 

 

[Jairus]

Eldon 1/32 was mine and my brothers first experience with slots.  They were under the Christmas tree back in '68.  Mom and Dad played with it for an hour once he set it up on Christmas Eve, so the story goes.

The next time was a 1/24th scale blue king in the Bowling Alley next to Pietro's Pizza parlor in 1971.  I would stand outside and watch the pizza's being made through the glass and when the door to the Bowling Alley opened and I heard the sound of electric motors buzzing around the track.  My life was never the same after that.

[Clyde Romero]

Eldon 1/32 scale 1965? Then I saw my first commercial track at Polk's Hobbies in Manhattan. 4th floor, it was madness at that track.

The rest is history, the tracks grew up around me in the New York City area, Queens and the Bronx along with Brooklyn (Buzzy's) 

It was an insane time. 

[zipper]

French Jouef 1/43 about 1965. And we had parts for six lanes so we could drive even 1/24 cars on alternate lanes....

[Dave Crevie]

Eldon 1/32nd figure eight that came with two poorly modeled Ferrari 250 TRs. I was eight years old, and I saw one set up in the front window of a Western Auto store. I had to have it, so Ma said if I saved my 25 cent weekly allowance, she would match it. After three months I was still saving, but well short of what I needed even with the match. That was the longest time I had ever saved money, by a long shot. One day she and I went to the A&P grocery store for our weekly shopping. The Western Auto was two doors away, so I wanted to walk down and see the slot race set. We went into the store, and Ma took one of the sets off the shelf and paid for it. She handed it to me, and told me I would have to hand over the money I had saved. I gladly did. 

[tlbrace]

First exposure was a Strombecker set I got for Christmas, circa 1964. Same year also received as a Christmas gift a copy of Louis Hertz’s book The Complete Book of Model Raceways and Roadways. A first edition, it predated Cox, Monogram, Revell, Russkit, Classic, Champion, etc entering  the hobby. 
 

Born and raised on the eastern shore of Maryland, there were no commercial raceways in a hundred mile radius even at its peak. I lived the hobby vicariously by reading every word in the various monthly slot car magazines and pouring over each new Auto World.

 

My dad did build for me a four lane layout using the Masonite Kal Kar modular sections.

[Tex]

late '64, early '65.... I was 11 or 12 years old.... being from Texas, I was smitten by the Cox Chaparral, not long after got the Cox Ferrari F-1.....

[Don Weaver]

I started scratch building my chassis' in 1967 so the Russkit motor bracket was my choice.  Being from the South the Champion w/ARCO magnets (517, 617 & 707's) were the only motors I ran.

 

Don

[Bill Seitz]

My first exposure was a a large Aurora HO Model Motoring set my neighboring friend got for Christmas 1963. He had both a lot of cars and track, and we built some huge layouts. I have no recollection what cars he had, but there was nothing at all I was particularly interested in. Sometime around then, I became a huge fan of Jim Clark and Lotus and was only interested in Lotus cars. I got a Strombecker race set Christmas 1964, and the Lotus 19 was my favorite car. When i was introduced to raceway slot cars in summer 1965, the only thing that got my attention was brands that had Lotus bodies. What brand anything was made no difference as long as it was a Lotus. This lasted until 1968 when Jim Clark was killed. These days I'm not inclined to run any kind of body that represents an actual 1:1 car.

[Paul Menkens]

When I was around 11 or 12yo, 1965 or so, the CBS news w/Walter C. ended with a short piece on the new slot racing centers.

I was hooked then and there!

The next time I went to Burlington (the closest thing to a city in Vermont) I saw a new store called "Burlington Speedway" which billed itself as "New England's Largest Model Raceway".

The track in the front window, I now know, was an American yellow and it seemed huge to me but when I went inside and upstairs I saw some real huge tracks, the largest of which was an Engleman that they claimed was 240', all their tracks were claimed to be longer then they were, the yellow was claimed to be 100'.

That place didn't last long but there was another one down the street that did, "Burlington Gran Prix Miniature Raceway" which had a more realistic two tracks a black Royal and a red Imperial (claimed to be 175'). Several of the guys that had worked at the Speedway worked at the Gran Prix and one told me that the Speedway had gone bankrupt and the owner was in federal prison for tax evasion!

My parents said I couldn't get a car till I had a track at home to run it on so I convinced them to trade in a few books of S&H Green Stamps for an Aurora figure 8 set which I still have. At the same time my cousin got an Aurora HO set with the steering wheel controllers and we spent many hours racing at each others houses until we bought guitars and decided to be rock stars, which didn't work out either, although I have played in bands all my adult life.

[mickey thumbs]

Fall of 1964 I visited an older cousin who had a Strombecker track and was racing Pittman powered scratch built 1/32 cars at a local hobby shop. I was hooked at age 11. I got my own Strombecker track for Christmas and soon was the proud owner of a Monogram Cooper Ford kit. Candy Apple red over a gold base. First scratchbuild was a 1/24 Gurney Eagle with a Russkit 22 using their brackets and 1/16 brass tubing. Swapped the transformer for a car battery and bought a Cox controller and I was on my way! 

[Bill from NH]

Old enough to know better, but I didn't. 

[Kim Lander]

Well I was about 9yo......it was an ho set by MARX,,,then a couple years later a local toy store owner opened slotcar heaven...I was 11 by then and hooked like a catfish on a Trot-line.....the place had four American tracks...a Red   an Orange...a Yellow ...and a black.......as I said ...it was slotcar heaven for an 11yo....and have been hooked since that first day I walked through the doors. I now have to drive 2 hours and some change to get to a track...but its worth every minute of the drive.I am 70 now and dont plan to ever quit....... if it has a motor and wheels I will be there.   THUMBS DOWN racers.

[Wizard Of Iz]

I got an Eldon 1/32 set for Christmas in 1964 when I was 5 years old.  And Southside Dodge threw in one of their Eldon 1/32 Dodge 3-in-1 slot car sets in late 1967(?) when my Dad bought a new Dodge Coronet.

 

I still have both and used the 6V power supply to break in 1/24 scale motors until the early '90s.

 

The first commercial raceway I saw was a multi-track Tom Thumb Raceway in the long-gone Philips Plaza in Jacksonville, FL in the late-'60s.  That where I got a MPC Dyn-O-Charger 400 Grand Prix Ferrari 1/24 slot car that I proudly transported in my nifty Slot Car Racing black, vinyl brief case any time I could get anyone to drive me to a track.  

[mickey thumbs]

I had forgotten about the black vinyl briefcase. Classic!

[Roy Lievanos]

I was about 9-10. My older brother would take me to a raceway in Tustin that had a high banked figure 8.

In Jr. High I met a classmate who’s parents owned Santa Ana Raceways that was conveniently located across the street.  
He invited me after school and I was hooked. My mom even set up a credit limit of $10.00. I still remember when owner had to call my mom for approval to purchase a new Mura motor I wanted that just came out ($12.00). 

Now I need approval from my wife Alice. lol

[Mr. M]

Aurora HO with plunger controllers at 10 about 1966. A year later Lee Jax Hobbies LaPorte IN on a American Blue King knock off minus the Finger turn, copper tape, and train transformers for power. Time was sold 15 min for a quarter with a washing machine timer. The bank had a nasty dip that you had to blip for. Silicone coated sponge tires ruled, no glue. Weekly races were 24 15 lap crash and burn heats and there was always 10-16 cars for the $3 entry fee with the winner take all $6 in merchandise. I managed once for a perfect night taking all 24. Only rule was your car could not drag and 3 1/4 width max.

[Aeropro]

In junior high school, somewhere around 1966, a friend of mine brought his Batmobile slot car to school and showed it to me. That was it! I found out where the track was and went there as soon as I could get my parents to take me there. The rest is history.....

[don.siegel]

I was about 10 too, 62 or 63, at the Auto Show in Chicago I saw a huge AMT Turnpike demo layout and spent most of my time fascinated by the cars - the public couldn't race them of course. That hooked me! 

 

At the end of the year I got an Eldon Gold Cup set, probably the same one mentioned above with two vaguely Ferrarish sports cars, one of which broke within a couple weeks. But I liked tinkering wit the cars. The following year I got an Aurora Tjet set and that was mostly what I did for the next couple years, including building a landscaped track in the basement. Ran a bit with my brother and neighbors, but mostly by myself. In the meantime I discovered the local hobby shop about a mile from our house and they had a big 4-lane Strombecker track and a dragstrip. I did build a Revell Cobra from components, including an RP66 motor I had bought at Polk's in NY - but by the time I had the money for the other components and was finally able to assemble the car, I went on a Saturday afternoon for the weekly race and the car wouldn't work! 

 

After that, it was the usual progression to better and better kits, then mostly 1/24 and finally scratchbuilding, rewinding, etc. 

 

Stopped in 68 when I got sick then went away to college, but as soon as I graduated started haunting hobby shops again, winding up in 1974 in Seattle, where there were still 3 raceways and a pretty active scene. Stopped again when I traveled to Europe and moved to SF, thinking the whole thing had disappeared. 

 

Then after living in Paris for 10 years, in 1992 I went to the Paris Hobby Show, where the French Slot Racing Federation had a demo track... been racing since then! 

 

Don 

[Alchemist]

Great stories everyone!

 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experiences.

 

Reading these stories regurgitates vivid memories of the fun times I had at the SF Model Car Raceway - such reverie - aaaahhhhhhh!

 

Thanks for the memories guys!

 

Ernie

[Alchemist]

By the way!

 

For those of you who still have their first slot car/track/controller etc,, I'd really enjoy and appreciate it if you would share pictures if them please, I'm sure other members would enjoy them too!

 

That would be awesome.

 

Thank you.

 

Ernie

[don.siegel]

Well, this isn't the actual set, but it is the exact same one: the Eldon Gold Cup set. I actually have the motor from one of the cars somewhere at home, since I later used it, along with the worm gears, for a mobile, and I kept the motor and drive train. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Those are the cars I got with my set. There was a radio shop in our downtown area that sold small motors. They had some with the same size can but different endbell. The package was marked 6v. I epoxied one into the red car. It kept popping the circuit breaker in the power pack, but was a good bit faster than the Eldon motor. The truth is, we couldn't keep the cars on the track with the stock motor. Lesson learned. 

[don.siegel]

I seem to remember my parents got my set at a place called Bargaintown USA on the south side of Chicago, sort of a predecessor to Toys R Us. I wanted a Scalextric set, since I had seem some photos, but since those began at something like $50 without the transformer, I got an Eldon! 

 

I don't remember any particular problem with keeping the cars on the track, just that they weren't very well made in general! 

 

Don 

[Paul Menkens]

I still have the original Aurora cars that came with my set, and also the K & B Ferrari that was the 1st 1/24th car, $2.25 at Discount Hobby Distributors, I'll see about getting pics.

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post was that when the local raceway in my home town opened, St.Albans Model Car Raceway, I met a guy who is one of my best friends to this day! We played in a band together since the mid 70s! Who woulda thunk it?