18 replies to this topic

[Mike Levy]

Thanks for the info.

Mike

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[TSR]

Mike,
Hardly vintage. Just a few years back...
The bad news: they have little or no collectible value.
The good news: you can run the crud out of them and enjoy yourself.

[Jairus]

Looks like they were taken care of and ... who's to say they won't be collectable 15 years down the road? Nice!

[TSR]

Only time will tell, but 15 years from now is a looooong time... and my gut feeling is that by that time, pretty much anything manufactured past the 1970 year will be worth as much as a rusted boat anchor.

[endbelldrive]

... my gut feeling is that by that time, pretty much anything manufactured past the 1970 year will be worth as much as a rusted boat anchor.

...with the exception of Associated and RVM wheels. Will somebody puhleeze make reproductions (1/8" and 3/32") of these wheels?

[Larry LS]

Well now, Dokk, if the rusted boat anchor came from the Titanic, it might have some value to some "nuts" in a museum some day.

[TSR]

Larry, let me re-phrase the quote:

... my gut feeling is that by that time, pretty much anything manufactured past the 1970 year will be worth as much as a rusted boat anchor unless it is signed by the Queen, Andy Warhol, or Mike Steube, not necessarily in that order.

[Keith Tanaka]

Mike, are you the Mike Levy who used to race back in the '60s with Jeff Martinelli?

Keith

[Mike Levy]

Mike, are you the Mike Levy who used to race back in the '60s with Jeff Martinelli?

Keith

Yep, thats me!

[Keith Tanaka]

Welcome to Slotblog, Mike!

I might be incorrect, but I seem to remember the last time I saw you was at the inaugural USRA charter meeting.
Didn't you and I get nominated to be the first USRA secretary? It seemed neither one of us wanted to be an officer, but I guess in those days the other racers thought we looked like we could take meeting minutes!

The Slotblog members would be interested in your slotcar racing background. Can you give us a brief history of your slotcar background?

Are you racing slotcars these days?

Keith

[Mike Levy]

I started racing back in the mid '60s at Revell Raceway in Inglewood, CA. That's where I meet Jeff and another friend, Ray. Raced at various tracks in the South Bay area.

I raced for Dynamic Models. I remember only one person from the team, Jack Garica, the first person I saw use controller with external microswitch attached. Jeff and I actually drove one time to a national event in San Antonio, TX. I do not remember what year it was.

I used to work at Matesons Pet and Hobbies in Inglewood on La Brea where they sold slot cars and accessories. When all the tracks closed up, I stopped. Then I think back in the early '90s I think I started again at MK Raceway in the Valley on Balboa near Sherman Way. That's where all the cars I have now came from, except the Champion chassis which I think was some sort of stock class?? The wedge things are Group 27? When Jeff and I raced, I built the chassis and he would rewind the motors.

When raceways phased out again in the mid '90s in the valley, that's when I put them away in my closet and the photo shows what I have today. I guess there aren't very many tracks around today?

Jeff passed away a few years back; he moved to Texas many years ago to work for IBM. Ray I still know to this day, since I met him back in the mid '60s. We are into street rods and I belong to the SOCALNBC.org with my 2003 new Beetle Convertible. I live in Thousand Oaks, CA. It was not me you saw at the USRA meeting. Your name sounds familiar, but I cannot remember when and where?

I thought maybe I had some antique cars and equipment?

Mike

[Keith Tanaka]

Mike,
I do remember you and Jeff at some of the slot car magazine races back then. Back then, my racing buddies (Roger Uusitalo, Craig Gilbert, Gary Gilmore, and Lee Hines) would race at Revell occasionally. We also raced at Arbor Vitae prior to the Car Model race. Another regular race place was American Raceways in Hawthorne. Lynn Fletcher (first USRA president) was also on the Dynamic Team. Team Rolling Hills (Roger, Gary, and myself) along with Lee Hines also went to the San Antonio race. Jack Garcia qualified 1st. Cukras won that race.

I remember you and Jeff as excellent racers. Jeff had a sano Mini Cooper (1/1). What is Ray's last name?
As far as the first USRA meeting, I now recall it was Matt Azzara.

We only have one race track left in the LA area, Buena Park Raceway. Fortunately for us racers, this is the premiere slot car raceway in the U.S. The D3 races we have at BPR are reminiscent of the inline racing in the '60's. We have quite a few of the old pros racing D3 (Steube, Cukras, Warmack, Anderson, Hines, Zimmerman as well as several others who raced back in the day).

If you get a chance, stop by at BPR to see our D3 racing and say hello to your fellow old pro racers! The D3 races are held on the seond and fourth Saturdays each month at BPR (check the D3 racing info on this website). Tomorrow we have D3 races for TSRF GT, NASCAR sidewinders, and finally Anglewinder Pro. In two weeks, it will be TSRF Nascar, F1, and Can-Am.

Keith

[Mike Levy]

Keith,
Ray's last name Blomster. I now remember some of the names and places you mentioned. Yes, Jeff had a 1968 Mini, one of the last brought into the US due to new federal crash laws at that time.

I will bring my box of cars and see if they still work one of these Saturdays.

Mike

[Mike Levy]

PS: I also take photos for hotrodhotline.com and my albums are HERE.

[Tex]

The World's Fair in '68 was in San Antonio... Hemisfair '68. That was the race you guys are referring to. I was completely unaware of such things as "pro" slot racers until the Fall of '68 or early '69 when I began racing at a track whose owners had attended the '68 Hemisfair race and told me about it. As this was the first I'd ever heard of such things, this race became legend in my mind.

[Mark Wampler]

If you get a chance, stop by at BPR to see our D3 racing and say hello to your fellow old pro racers! The D3 races are held on the seond and fourth Saturdays each month at BPR (check the D3 racing info on this website). Tomorrow we have D3 races for TSRF GT, NASCAR sidewinders, and finally Anglewinder Pro. In two weeks, it will be TSRF Nascar, F1, and Can-Am.

Hello Keith,

Great camera work covering D3 event racing! I've dropped a hint that it would be nice if somehow both the inline Can-Am and coupe racing could be held the same weekend, so some of us out of town guys could hang out longer. I haven't heard any feedback about it.

[artbycheri]

Mike,
I do remember you and Jeff at some of the slot car magazine races back then. Back then, my racing buddies (Roger Uusitalo, Craig Gilbert, Gary Gilmore, and Lee Hines) would race at Revell occasionally. We also raced at Arbor Vitae prior to the Car Model race. Another regular race place was American Raceways in Hawthorne. Lynn Fletcher (first USRA president) was also on the Dynamic Team. Team Rolling Hills (Roger, Gary, and myself) along with Lee Hines also went to the San Antonio race. Jack Garcia qualified 1st. Cukras won that race.

I remember you and Jeff as excellent racers. Jeff had a sano Mini Cooper (1/1). What is Ray's last name?
As far as the first USRA meeting, I now recall it was Matt Azzara.

We only have one race track left in the LA area, Buena Park Raceway. Fortunately for us racers, this is the premiere slot car raceway in the U.S. The D3 races we have at BPR are reminiscent of the inline racing in the '60's. We have quite a few of the old pros racing D3 (Steube, Cukras, Warmack, Anderson, Hines, Zimmerman as well as several others who raced back in the day).

If you get a chance, stop by at BPR to see our D3 racing and say hello to your fellow old pro racers! The D3 races are held on the seond and fourth Saturdays each month at BPR (check the D3 racing info on this website). Tomorrow we have D3 races for TSRF GT, NASCAR sidewinders, and finally Anglewinder Pro. In two weeks, it will be TSRF Nascar, F1, and Can-Am.

Keith

keith, did my brother race yesterday sat. aug 11th? I just found this web sight this is cheri steube his sister.

[Keith Tanaka]

keith, did my brother race yesterday sat. aug 11th? I just found this web sight this is cheri steube his sister.

Cheri,
Mike raced yesterday. He won the F1 race and was 2nd in the Can Am. Go to this link for race photos:

http://slotblog.net/...?showtopic=3940

Keith

[Keith Tanaka]

Cheri,
your brother Mike is winning just like the old days. Except this time around he's enjoying the ride.
Mike has been a major influence and leader in our current D3 retro racing program. He has been sharing his knowledge (past and present) with fellow racers and encourages others to participate in D3 racing. Mike's Scratchbuilding DVD will be available soon. He shares with his fellow scratchbuilders the expert skill and techniques he uses to build his winning cars.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Mike for his ongoing generous support of our fun D3 racing program.

Keith