14 replies to this topic

[Zippity]

This was somewhere in New Zealand, many moons ago

 

I'll post where, when I find out its location.

 

[Indiana Outlaw]

Yes, actually 11 lanes. Tony's Hobby Lobby Wheeling Illinois

[Alchemist]

Hi Ron,

 

I've never seen or heard of a 10 lane track before!

 

Putting your car back on the inside lane could be a "stretch" - LOL!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Ernie

[MSwiss]

Another thread which shows the track in post #1, and this cool one, that was in Texas;

 

http://slotblog.net/...xas#entry547573

 

 

[John Streisguth]

From an old Car Model magazine. Note that the surface was formica.  Must have been a bitch to rout.

[Rob Voska]

Trivia question.  What were the lane colors in order?

[munter]

The track in Ron's post was from the 60's era and located in Dunedin, South Island, NZ

 

 

Those South Islanders????

[John Luongo]

with the whole field taking off at once, that first turn must have been an automatic track call. good parts generator for the owner.

[don.siegel]

Our local track was a formica surface also, but a regular 8 lane layout... Haven't seen many other formica surfaced tracks around. It also meant that most stock tires just wouldn't work on it. When I got a Cox lotus 40, probably in 66, first thing I had to do was get a pair of silicones so it would make it around the track, especially in the high bank... 

 

Don 

[Dave Crevie]

Formica was actually pretty common as a track surface in the late 50s-early60s. Silicones were the only real choice for tires. In the beginning, they had a nasty reputation for exploding with high RPM motors. And they would "chunk out" real easily.

[don.siegel]

Dave, any idea who would have made a formica track like that in 1966? I worked at a hobby shop in South Shore, on E. 71st street - I was only 15, so didn't pay much attention, but afterwards I always wondered where Joe had bought his track... Pretty simple design, maybe 90 or 100 feet, with high bank and a donut. I wasn't around when it was first installed. It was professionally done, but have never recognized it in any of the ads by major track manufacturers. 

 

Don 

[Joe Mig]

Back when I was just a kid in the late 60s I remember at the New York Coliseum during the car show there was a fellow who had a huge track 124th scale slot car track that he rented by the lane for a few minutes. When talking to Buzzy at buzz-a-rama about it he had told me it was a 16 Lane track. For all I remember it could have been ten Lanes but Buzzy confirms it was 16.

[Dave Crevie]

By 1966 tracks were being built on a few materials. I think the formica had been mostly abandoned by then since separation between the formica and the chipboard substrate was a problem. My local track was on plywood, the older one at Spec's was formica. Around LA I saw a couple tracks with masonite surfaces. But I think by 1964 most tracks were professionally built. Up till then, track owners mostly built their own. With the new popularity of the hobby, everyone was putting slot tracks in their stores, and not many of those people had the talent to build a track. Near my relative's home, where I stayed when visiting out there, there was a new plaza that went up with 17 storefronts. 11 of them had a slot track of some kind, including the laundermat. There was also a store that specialized in teen girls clothing. It had a little four lane track right in the front window. 

[don.siegel]

That's amazing Dave - was this all around LA? 

 

Not sure that kind of thing happened elsewhere in the country, and had never heard about unrelated stores (except bowling alleys) putting up slot tracks. 

 

Don 

[Dave Crevie]

Around Chicago they were popular in bike shops and hobby shops. Our own Mark Mattei had one in his bike shop at one time. Spec's was a bike shop, and Lombard Auto Parts had one when they were on Main Street. I think by the time it got big around here, it had already peaked on the west coast. But what I do know for sure, it was a fantastic time to be a teenager. Go-karts, mini-bikes, slot racing and hangin' out with the greasers and their hot rods.