Greetings fellow slot racing fanatics!
I fell upon Slot Blog merely by accident September 30, 2020, and I'm happy to say, glad I did!
Slot racing was a habit that just would not leave me alone in the mid 1960's. I was 13 years old when my Brother in Law at the time introduced me to the hobby.
First car was a K&B ford GT sidewinder that was a durable model, but nowhere's near as fast as the others. didn't matter though for I was driving, and in full control.
This was Whittier Grand Prix in Whittier, CA located on Whittier Blvd. A two story building with tracks for beginners as well as pros. As I got better, so did the machines. The infamous Cox La Cucaracha, although a pre-assembled model, was state of the art in performance, and design. Aluminum chassis, ball bearing wheels, and super lightweight! Every car I mention in this post, are still in my box (well, most of them).
I grew up in Montebello, CA, and there were many tracks close by such as Ray Crawford's Raceway in Monterey Park on Atlantic Blvd, Pico Drag Strip, Don's Raceway in Downey, Bellflower Raceway, and Valley Raceway on Valley Blvd (Temple City?). Wow! Memory is still pretty good. Valley Raceway was 1981 when slot cars made their last and final comeback. The machines were virtually to fast to see, and you played the track on the rhythm of your index finger, and sound of the motor.
It was at that time at Valley Raceway I had an idea on developing a propeller powered car constructed from bits and pieces from the junk box, and eventually put one together that was safe enough to actually race on the track. Hence the name I was given "Bladerunner" was born. A rear mounted high performance balanced, and de-wound motor, ball bearings all around, and a model airplane propeller similar to those that powered the old Cox prop rod attached right to the armature by heating the pinion gear up, and pressing the prop directly on to it. A little balancing, and it was ready to go!
No one before that day ever saw anything like it. Then one afternoon, I got a call from the owner of the raceway, and said "Jeff, there's a guy down here from Las Vegas" with a "Wind Car" bragging, and wants to race you. I about dropped to the floor. When I arrived, I saw the design, and said "pretty nice" to him. The powertrain was a series of gears and shafts that in my opinion drained a lot of power to the propeller whereas mine was straight drive. Needless to say, I smoked him!
Man-o-man, those were the days! I'm going to work on posting some photos for the future , and hope you enjoyed the story. I love vintage stuff, and even do a vintage radio show now based out of Laguna Beach, CA at KXFM 104.7. Low powered station, so if you'd like to tune in I'd say listen online at KXFMRADIO.ORG for the best vintage jazz you'll ever hear!
Until then, Follow your passions, work hard, and stay humble.
Kind regards,
Jeff
