295 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

Here's some more Playland paper I picked up a couple years ago on eBay. This is actually three separate items, with a piece of stationery from the Modelcar Raceway, but also the "one price ticket" wheel and a discount book - I just put them all together to make it easier to scan!

Don

[John Stezelecki]

Don., That's really cool, Thanks,

Stez

[Bill from NH]

Stez, is the Ashland Sovereign coming from Odessa, TX?

[John Stezelecki]

Bill,

What a guess!

[Bob Chaney]

Thanks to Ron Hershman for posting these photos to Slotblog and for allowing us to create this reference.

Is there any chance that we will ever get some nice flat scans of these photos? Just askin'...

[flem1959]

We ran on an American Figure 8 and an Orange at Hobby Unfair in Indianapolis in the '60s and '70s.
We used run three laps in a row qualifying on the figure 8.
Tennessee would time us with a stopwatch.
Races were 25 lap heats, Crash and Burn.
The cars used to launch in the bank on the orange, fly all the way across the Figure 8, and hit the wall on the other side of the building.

I went to a race on an Orange in Evanston, IL, in 77.
Everybody was launching real bad, so I made a super-long diaplane for my car and I wound up TQ and winning the 27 race.
I think they called it 27 then, might have been Group 20.
My friend Richard took the diaplane off my car after the race and ran it on his car in the Pro race.

[DOCinCanton]

Is there a pic of an American 220' C type track as I call it. It's shaped like the Englman at the Viper Pit, but was 220' in length and it may have been painted purple. I think that the track in North Royalton, OH, had this track back in the '60s. This was my favorite track of all I ever raced on.

[ForestRaceway]

Speaking of postcards. Here is one of a place called Motor City Raceways, of St Clair Shores, Michigan. Does anyone know the history of this place? Very impressive setup from the photos. I got the postcard in a lot I purchased on eBay nine years ago. I'm from Australia and was probably born after it folded, so I obviously never went there.

Wade

[Mr. Frank]

Cool-looking postcard...

Thanks for sharing.

Mr. Frank

[Dominator]

The red track is an American Red-B. The difference between the American Red A & B was the B had a short straight (about 18") in the middle of the donut.

[Daytonaman]

The large red track from C&M has been found. It is currently in storage in GA. Several straight sections have been taken out over the years reducing the length to 230 ft. The track is in good condition and I plan on restoring to original sometime in the future. Pictures can be found in the topic "large '60s track with ramps" in this forum.

[Vay Jonynas]

Speaking of postcards. Here is one of a place called Motor City Raceways, of St Clair Shores, Michigan. Does anyone know the history of this place? Very impressive setup from the photos.

A very impressive set-up to be sure! I'm surprised that nobody from the Detroit area remembers this place.

[Vay Jonynas]

Hope this picture of my American red Imperial comes up. I modified it to fit in my basement and it's a blast to drive. Also note the Strombecker raceway lap counter works, but we use the Trackmate for racing.

Have you made any modifications to the paradise in your basement? Do you host club racing nights? Any pics?

[Vay Jonynas]

Was the King track the most popular of these tracks by total installations? It seems to be the most widely mentioned these days.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

I don't have numbers. My personal anecdotal observation with my '60s road trips is that overwhelmingly the "black" was the most common track with the orange right up there. I have seen more "modern" Kings than originals. And about an even split with the red and orange. The 220, I have personally only seen two.

Slot car racing is a three-legged stool, there is motor, chassis, and driver. Black and orange tracks favor handling and feed into driving. Kings are "perfect", in that you need all three legs to be front rank to win in a big field. But then as now, the cost of floor space is an issue and as all of them have eight lanes, the smaller tracks are more cost effective.

Fate

[Rotorranch]

In the past 40 odd years, I have run on far more American red tracks than anything else, in various parts of the country.

Rotor

[Vay Jonynas]

Is that the one called the Imperial 150? The colour reproduction of the pics isn't that good.

[Ron Hershman]

Yes, the "red" was the Imperial 150.

[stevphens]

Hi Ron!

I've noticed the American Raceways tracks have nicknames like "Blue King" or "Purple Mile". Or simply the "Orange" or the "Yellow".

My question is, did the American Aristocrat 135 (Hillclimb with red sides) have a nickname? Actually, it would be interesting to learn all the American track nicknames, at least the ones that had them? Nicknames, not names like "Regal" or "Monarch".

Thanks!

[Ron Hershman]

The Hillclimb was known as the Aristocrat. No color was ever referred to it. I have only seen one Formica-covered Hillclimb and it has black Formica on it... NOT red like the promo pics. All the other Hillclimbs I have seen had the econo paneling sides.

The Figure 8 was green Formica and was known as the Queen. Never referred to as a "color". I am sure some called them "greens" but I have only seen one of those.

The 220' Emperior was yellow Formica... only three or five were made (reports conflict on this number) and they were never referred to as yellows.

The 80' Windsor track was referred to as the "yellow".

Queen green Figure 8 known as the Figure 8.

Monarch orange 100' known as the Orange.

Regal black 90' known as the "flat" Black.

Royal black 95' known as the "banked" Black.

Aristocrat red (according to the American promo pics) 135' known as the Hillclimb.

Imperial red 150' known as the Red.

King blue 155' known as the Blue.

Soverign purple 220' known as the Purple Mile.

Emperior yellow 220' known by few as the Yellow Mile.

The nicknames only refer to the color of the Formica on the tracks.

My guess if the tracks had the econo paneling sides... they would have referred to them as their "royalty" name.

I have only seen Windsors, Hillclimbs, and one King, and one Purple Mile with econo paneling sides.

I have never seen a Royal, Regal, Queen, Monarch, Red, Yellow Mile with econo paneling sides.

[stevphens]

Thanks for taking time to provide the info, Ron! Always enjoy hearing about the old American tracks. Reminds me of a special place in time...

I guess we've all seen the "Yellow", "Orange", "Black", "Red 150" and "Blue King".
I saw one green figure 8 in 1969. Cannot remember seeing a banked "Black" or " Hillclimb".
Fairly certain I never saw a "Purple Mile" or "Yellow 220", since there were so few. Understand there's a "Purple Mile" in Connecticut.
Seems like I read on Slotblog that at least one "Yellow 220" survived, but I can't remember where. (I'm at that age.)

Was the econo paneling the same color on all the tracks it was used on?

[Ron Hershman]

Rick,

The Purple Mile is in MA currently... here is a LINK to that thread... a very good read.

There is a Purple Mile pic with the econo sides on it in that thread.

The one 220' Yellow is in Brooklyn, NY, in storage. Buzzy owns it.

The econo paneling was the same on most I saw. I am sure it was a "stock" color or shade that was used in many a homes in that time period.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

Speaking of... I have meant to ask Greg what happened to the Purple Mile in Atlanta where I think we met and played in '91 or '92. That facility was very nice, nice people, clean, well lit, and lots of parts on the wall.

Fate

[Rotorranch]

Rocky, that Purple got sold when Tim closed the shop. It went to Dalton, GA, I think, for a while, then vanished.

I tried to track it down several years ago when I was opening my shop. The closest I could get was it was either in North Georgia under a carport, and was firewood, or it was somewhere in storage in the Carolinas. The contact info I got at that time was inop (no longer in service).

Rotor

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

Sigh. I think that at this point I know more stories of neat tracks that got trashed than saved.

Thanks, Jeff.

We were in Atlanta where my wife was giving a paper, and I found a sleezy all night diner with the best chicken fried steak ever... and near Atlanta this track. An expensive cab ride from where we were. But I have fond memories of the place.

Fate