105 replies to this topic

[Maximo]

Dokk,

Any picture of that Revell 240' Laguna??? Do any of these tracks still exist out there?

I would love to find that Indy 300 track, a Purple Mile, and a Laguna, because the world needs a commercial slotcar "Track" museum!!!

Probably out on a lonely highway (cheap) near a truck stop on the way to neither here nor there . . . just dreamin' . . . wake up now . . .

-Maximotor

[TSR]

Pictures will be in my book.

[Ron Hershman]

The one in France

. . . was a Revell "Laguna" . . .

I raced many times on it.

I stand corrected. There was one of the American Emperors that went to Europe. I though Philippe and Swiss mentioned they had raced on it in France when we have had eariler "American Raceway" discussions.

I have photo's of all American tracks and a drawing of the Emperor. Maybe I can get them scanned and posted this weekend????

[Ron Hershman]

I remember, in Brooklyn near Buzzy's, on McDonald Avenue, there was a raceway that had an "Indy 300". It was bright yellow, and looked *exactly* like the drawing Keith posted.

I remember this because in the middle of 1968, not only was it the BIGGEST track I had ever seen, but it was where I, and the crowd I was with, first saw an anglewinder. We all headed back to the Bronx shortly thereafter, to build our own anglewinders . . .

Does anyone else out there remember that raceway?

Buzzy's Emperor was also yellow Formica sided.

[MSwiss]

The one in France

. . . was a Revell "Laguna" . . .

I raced many times on it.

I stand corrected. There was one of the American Emperors that went to Europe. I though Philippe and Swiss mentioned they had raced on it in France when we have had eariler "American Raceway" discussions.

I have photo's of all American tracks and a drawing of the Emperor. Maybe I can get them scanned and posted this weekend????

It was 20 years ago but the track that I raced on in a engineering school in Paris seemed to have an "American" feel and look to it.(maybe the crossovers reminded me of an American Hillclimb which I was racing on at the time and also ran on as a teenager)
It also seemed to be too big to be "only" 240 ft. long. If I saw a picture of the Revell
track along with the drawing of the Emperor(I've seen it before) at the same time,
I would take a stab on what I ran on. I also seem to remember that it had a huge bank
on both ends.

[S.O. Watt]

One thing that stands out in my mind about Revell tracks was they all seemed to have either a cross over or a hump. I ran at Revell raceways out in LA somewhere once, and I remember it was the place that Tore and Brian won an enduro at, and I think the race was on that damned humped track (maybe it was yellow? really a long time ago).

end with funny aside here Tore and Brian won not only due to good driving and good equipment but also being creative rule readers. It was a day and night enduro so every car had to have lights. Their car got lights when the "night" segment started. Instead of carrying them from the start mounted in the body, they taped them on the outside of the body!

[Larry LS]

Here are a couple pic I got somewhere of the American tracks . A track here in Pismo Beach Ca. had four of these tracks when they first came out.

[don.siegel]

Thanks, Larry, great pix. So the Bordeaux AMF Black is actually a 95 Royal . . .

Here's the Indy 300 preview I mentioned earlier, from the July '66 issue of Car Model.

Don

[Maximo]

Don,

Thank you . . . that is exactly what I was remembering for years but didn't have access to my storage unit in SD lately.

I wish that I could have walked into any Slot Car Center somewhere and seen this one first hand. I would have freaked . . . in a good way! This is so sexy!

-Maximo

[don.siegel]

You're welcome David. But the one I remembered was the long thin ad posted earlier, with the sketch of this track, not the photo! Anyway, we're still working at it!

I was a little surprised not to find any references to Miniature Grand Prix in my own index, but I finally realized that I had put them under J. Warren Hull, because that was the company handling the whole operation, and it started back in mid-1964. This is earlier than any ads I have for American, but I don't know exactly when AMCR started in business - any ideas? By 1965 they were claiming they were the leading manufacturers so it must have been awhile . . .

Also, seems that J Warren Hull/MGP started their own Model Car Racing Association (MCRA), very similar to American's Model Car Racing Congress, to promote a national championship: 4 body classes in 1/32 and 1/24, age groups, novice and experienced drivers . . . Good idea, too bad they tried to do it on their own!

Don

[Ron Hershman]

I was a little surprised not to find any references to Miniature Grand Prix in my own index, but I finally realized that I had put them under J. Warren Hull, because that was the company handling the whole operation, and it started back in mid-1964. This is earlier than any ads I have for American, but I don't know exactly when AMCR started in business - any ideas? By 1965 they were claiming they were the leading manufacturers so it must have been awhile . . . Don

Not sure exactly when American started business, but I have American Price sheets from 1964.

I know that Mac's Tom Thumb in Columbus, Ohio, opened for business in March of 1963 and they opened with American Yellow and Orange tracks. Usually it took American 3 to 5 months minimum to fill their orders for tracks. So maybe it was as early as 1963 when American started.

[don.siegel]

Thanks Ron, that would indeed make more sense. it seems curious that they wouldn't have run any ads in the model car mags before 1965, but I haven't checked any trade publications yet - it couldn't have been all word of mouth, could it?

Don

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

In the day and since, I ran on dozens of the "Black" tracks. Small enough that some people put them in their basement!

But I never saw any with banking like the photo. All were flat as could be.

What did I miss?

The Track in Columbus, the "yellow", is like the orange but with a longer straight and a longer bit into the donut. One section each. It still remains the only one I have ever seen of that configuration.

Fate

[TSR]

Miniature Grand Prix also began in 1963, but AMCR had an advantage of several months over MGP. AMCR was in the market place first, by late 1963.
However, little is written about MGP until Nov 1964 in Model Car & Track, where a 2-page story describes the company and its subsequent raceways. Their first raceway opened in April 1964 in Orange, CA, on Chapman Ave. This is the one Tom Hansen recalls. They quickly expanded and had franchised raceways in Hollywood, Costa Mesa, Chatsworth, Reseda, and by mid-1965 there were several dozen statewide.
J.Warren Hull and Associates were simply the PR agency for MGP and had no ownership in the company. Richard Owen and J.J. Belvedere were the actual manufacturers.
Between them and J. Warren Hull, they created something called Model Car Racing Association International, directly in competition with AMCR and AMF.
They collapsed at about the same time as AMCR.

"No tracks were secretly exported to Yurrup during the writing of this post."

[S.O. Watt]

The MGP I raced at opened in like summer of '64, maybe even spring. One of its two tracks was kinda similar to the yellow Windsor but with three very distinct differences. The esses were at the far end by the 180, the donut was on the opposite side so it ran like this- left kink-uphill-right 180- across the bridge-downhill left donut-straight-esses, right 180- straight and back to the kink, and the donut was much much much bigger. Oh yeah, and the Slushes next door at Foster Freeze were great!

Prior to MGP I ran in the basement on the modified figure-8 of the Orange Bicycle Shop. :shock:

[don.siegel]

The first reference I have to MGP is June '64 Model Car Science, with a full-page ad for the Model Car Racing Association and Miniature Grand Prix Racing tracks, including a franchise offer - arrangements begin at $3,000 down with low monthly lease terms . . . They followed that with a big MCRA ad in the August '64 issue, then the Nov. '64 issue of MC&T.

And here's the original page that Ron mentioned from R&C in January '66. Looks like pretty sophisticated tracks actually - anybody remember if they were smoother and/or more rugged than the American models?

Don

[S.O. Watt]

Ah ha!

These are the two tracks that were in Orange, but these pix were not taken at the Orange facility. The upper left track and the bottom center were the two installed. I do remember a few joint bumps on the upper left track that were from mis-alignment during assembly.

aside time again- I teamed with a local to win my first enduro on the upper left track, hardbody stockers with a '66 Toronado body with Saran Wrap windows . . . 8)

Plus that was the track I notched my first-ever win on. 8)

[Larry LS]

OK, Don and Rocky, there was another American black track besides the 95 ft. Royal Black. There was also the smaller 90 ft. Regal Black track.



Then how about having to try and drive on this thing. Just a drawing that I know of, but it would have been a bit confusing possibly, if ever it had been built.

[Russkid]

We need pics of the various tracks in use at Parma Raceway , 1) figure-8 high banked, 2) roadcourse, 3) upstairs track, 4) track which replaced the figure-8, more like a modern Engleman.

[Ron Hershman]

Thanks Ron, that would indeed make more sense. it seems curious that they wouldn't have run any ads in the model car mags before 1965, but I haven't checked any trade publications yet - it couldn't have been all word of mouth, could it?

Don, yes, they advertised in trade magazines. I have a few American ads from "Playthings" magazine from '65-66. Not sure exactly where American advertised in the early beginnings.

[Ron Hershman]

In the day and since, I ran on dozens of the "Black" tracks. Small enough that some people put them in their basement!

But I never saw any with banking like the photo. All were flat as could be.

What did I miss?

The Track in Columbus, the "yellow", is like the orange but with a longer straight and a longer bit into the donut. One section each. It still remains the only one I have ever seen of that configuration.

I have raced on both the flat 90' Black Regal and the banked 95' Royal. On the flat Regal, you ran from the right to the left and down the dount, while on the banked Royal you ran in the direction of a normal King track.

The track in Columbus (which was the track when you first entered the store ) was a 100' Orange with off-color orange formica . . . a real early one . . . maybe one of the first made in '62-63. This track was sold in the mid '90s and stayed in Ohio. Mac's at some point removed their 80' yellow and replaced it with a American King which is still there today.

[Ron Hershman]

Larry, there were three of the Emperor tracks made like the drawing shows. One was at Buzzy's in NY, the second in the Denver, CO, area, and the third was shipped to Europe.

It had a carousel in the one bank to retrieve your car if it fell off in the bank. Buzzy told me that when he got his Emperor, the bank would not fit on the end of the track so he called his American "rep" and three guys showed up with tools and equipment and fitted the bank to the track on location.

What a monster!!!

[Rusty Pinion]

I raced on the big oval in the upper right of the picture and the flat road course in the lower picture and they were smooth as silk. I loved those tracks.

[Ron Hershman]

This is a link to OWH that had quite a discussion regarding American tracks.

AMR tracks discussion

Wade through it . . . some cool info there and some vintage pro pics, too.

There was at one time on the OWH some pics of the Buzzy Emperor track.