Good friend and consummate modeler, Al Weiss has constructed/refurbished a wide selection of vintage and modern slot cars. I have known Al for nearly 20 years. We met when he was working part time at a hobby shop in Prescott, Arizona. Al and I were the prime movers in the establishment of PASA (Prescott Area Slot car Association). I built the club track along with a little help from the schools technology teacher and set up the club for high school students and adults alike. Al and I were stalwart promoters of the club which enjoyed a modicum of success for several years.
As I told our group, Al is considering a move from Prescott to Roseburg, Oregon. Any relocation is a huge commitment of time and effort. I wish Al the best of luck in selecting a location that suits his needs. I just hope it is Roseburg.
I looked back at my archive of digital images and some are shown below. Most were taken at the slot car convention held in 2005 at Cruzin Hobbies Plus in Chandler Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix to see a story on this great event with many awesome images, see the link http://slotblog.net/...onvention-2005/ ). Als collection includes so many more pristine models than the samples shown below. His vintage collection is impressive, but unfortunately I dont have any of those images to post. If and when he makes the move, I will be sure to share more images.
One of the images posted below is of a fantasy livery #3 Camaro. I believe that the chassis was a modified brass ProTrack with custom side pans that were designed to rattle from side to side. I believe that the power plant was a Deathstar. Anyway, the image brought back a memory of the following funny story.
For those of you who were not fortunate enough to attend one of the slot car conventions held at either Rad Trax in Las Vegas or Cruzin Hobbies Plus in Chandler a bit a background is in order. The conventions were held on an annual basis, lasted two or three days and attracted slot car nuts from all over the U.S. The late Larry Shephard was the prime mover in organizing and publishing a schedule of races and special events at the conventions. Each year a different class of cars would be selected. There were also many informal races. Both 1/24 and 1/32 cars were well represented. Most hard core participants stayed for the entire weekend and each displayed their collections in their own pit space. Both Al and I brought several cars to display but also to race. The #3 Camaro in question was one of the cars in Al's display. A drop-in (a teenager) who was a huge Dale Earnhardt fan passed by Al's display noticed the Camaro and wanted to buy the car. Al said it was not for sale. The drop-in perused other pits but returned to Al's time after time asking if the Camaro could be purchased. The teenager offered $175 and Al said again it was not for sale.
Again the teen returned and said his dad told him everything is for sale at the right price. AI told him $300.00 figuring that would put an end to it. A few minutes later the teenager (maybe 15) handed Al three $100.00 bills and the Camaro was on it’s way to a new home as a shelf queen.
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