42 replies to this topic

[Bill from NH]

Todd, can you show us the inside somerime? Or have you already?

[Larry Labounty]

Nick Thank you so much  for the stories.I'm sure they would make for a great book !

[nicky 65]

Story #2

So one day Im behind the counter doing a few things ..............and In walks a guy who always comes in to ask questions about cars and prices , but never buys anything. buzzy hated that.

 

About 2 weeks later he comes in with a cardboard box filled with chassis motors , bodies and various old parts. He looks at me and says .........I just bought this stuff on Ebay can you get me at least 3 cars running. Sure I say.

 

Buzzy almost had a Heart attack..............He hated guys who bought on Ebay and then wanted him to repair them. I saw this as an opportunity to make Buzzy some $$$$$$$. 

 

So I go through everything and .........I take out a pen and paper and start adding up parts that he needs to finish off these 3 cars. Then i go to work putting them together.  Buzzy is now getting so mad at me that I can feel him behind me getting ready to put his hands around my throat. Dolores comes over and says to me ..........." Buzz is getting mad " . At this point im already in too deep to back out now. Besides the guy was and still is a really nice guy. 

 

So long story short , I put 3 cars together, mount 3 bodies , and now hes done. ...........Total bill for all the parts and bodies comes to $125. The guy now rents 1 1/2 hours of track time and has a ball. 

 

As soon as Im done and the guy pays the bill. Buzzy grabs me and says "Why did you do that...........let him fix his own cars, we dont fix cars bought on Ebay" to which I reply I just made you $125 plus the track time, and the guy is now a happy customer. he didnt want to hear it.  That is the way he was .............He had his way about him and you weren't going to change him.

[Clyde Romero]

I grew up in the Bronx, would take the subway to the Church Street station and race back in the 60's

He kept me off the streets!

There's no telling how many lives he changed back then in the New York City area. 

For me he was a savior and I felt safe there. 

 

 

It was an amazing place and time in slot car history 

At one time there were 48 active tracks in the NYC area that was not including Staten Island which to my knowledge did not have any tracks.

[Vay Jonynas]

How would those steering wheels by the black track have done anything?

[tlbrace]

Todd, can you show us the inside somerime? Or have you already?

 

Sure. I believe the style was called 'Hoffman.' Covered with formica then screened with Buzzarama's logo.

 

 

 

 

[bradblohm]

How would those steering wheels by the black track have done anything?

 

I believe it was three sets of wiring underneath.  The track-lane only got power in the straight if the steering wheel was in the center position, and only got power in the turns if the wheel was turned in the appropriate direction, and the pedal was the throttle.  Key was to turn the wheel at the precise moment it transitioned from straight to turn or back to straight.  If you turn too early then the car needed momentum to carry itself to the next section; too late and the car would loose power and start to slow until the wheel was turned correctly.

[Bill from NH]

Todd, thanks for the photos. The inside looks just like the Hoffman I bought in 1970. Mine has two front panel hinges, yours has three & mine doesn't have the middle catch for a padlock. Yours has slight improvements, probably made after mine, I always thought mine was too small. but I have a couple others that are built differently.```````

[Vay Jonynas]

 

I believe it was three sets of wiring underneath.  The track-lane only got power in the straight if the steering wheel was in the center position, and only got power in the turns if the wheel was turned in the appropriate direction, and the pedal was the throttle.  Key was to turn the wheel at the precise moment it transitioned from straight to turn or back to straight.  If you turn too early then the car needed momentum to carry itself to the next section; too late and the car would loose power and start to slow until the wheel was turned correctly.

 

Clever! I like it.

 

[Joe Mig]

Although it looks like a Hoffman designed this indeed is most likely a buzzy box. The telltale formica and the buzzarama silkscreen logo is what tells you this.
Buzzy and his dad used to set up barber shops so this is where they're experience with formica comes in. And Buzzy definitely manufactured boxes and they had formica covering and the buzzarama logo.

Sure. I believe the style was called 'Hoffman.' Covered with formica then screened with Buzzarama's logo.
 
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[Vay Jonynas]

 

I believe it was three sets of wiring underneath.  The track-lane only got power in the straight if the steering wheel was in the center position, and only got power in the turns if the wheel was turned in the appropriate direction, and the pedal was the throttle.  Key was to turn the wheel at the precise moment it transitioned from straight to turn or back to straight.  If you turn too early then the car needed momentum to carry itself to the next section; too late and the car would loose power and start to slow until the wheel was turned correctly.

 

The more I think about it, the more I like the concept. First of all, it's much more similar to real life racing with both a steering wheel and a gas peddle. Secondly it shifts the competitive balance on the track away from the quality of the slot car itself and more toward driving skill. This I think would have helped to extend the life of the slot car racing boom in the 1960's because it would have served to partially alleviate the frustration of learning that one's newly purchased slot car was already obsolete compared to what the top racers were running.

 

I wonder why the steering wheel/gas peddle concept didn't catch on? Was it because it was less like the home racing sets which were most kids' introduction to slot car racing? (Although the Authentic Model Turnpike sets by AMT featured steering wheels.) Or was it the extra cost of the additional wiring to slot car raceways?

[Tomark]

I believe it was three sets of wiring underneath.  The track-lane only got power in the straight if the steering wheel was in the center position, and only got power in the turns if the wheel was turned in the appropriate direction, and the pedal was the throttle.  Key was to turn the wheel at the precise moment it transitioned from straight to turn or back to straight.  If you turn too early then the car needed momentum to carry itself to the next section; too late and the car would loose power and start to slow until the wheel was turned correctly.

 

There was a small track like this on the boardwalk in Daytona Beach with steering wheels. I must have put 100 quarters in that thing!

[bradblohm]

http://slotblog.net/...teering-wheels/

[Paul Menkens]

 

There was a small track like this on the boardwalk in Daytona Beach with steering wheels. I must have put 100 quarters in that thing!

 

There was an American Black at Old Orchard Beach set up with wheels, I also saw a huge (12 or 16 lane) figure 8 at a car show in Montreal once, It seems to me that in one of the videos about BAR on You Tube that he said he disconnected the wheels because they didn't work very well.

 

The Black at Mikes Hobbies in Rutland, Vt. started life as a T-Slot but had had it's wheels removed.

[MSwiss]

 

The more I think about it, the more I like the concept. First of all, it's much more similar to real life racing with both a steering wheel and a gas pedal. Secondly it shifts the competitive balance on the track away from the quality of the slot car itself and more toward driving skill. This I think would have helped to extend the life of the slot car racing boom in the 1960's because it would have served to partially alleviate the frustration of learning that one's newly purchased slot car was already obsolete compared to what the top racers were running.

 

I wonder why the steering wheel/gas peddle concept didn't catch on? Was it because it was less like the home racing sets which were most kids' introduction to slot car racing? (Although the Authentic Model Turnpike sets by AMT featured steering wheels.) Or was it the extra cost of the additional wiring to slot car raceways?

 

Interesting opinion, but you are assuming that the serious slot racer would stick with the obsolete car and just worry about his steering wheel driving acumen.
 

[MattD]

That whole idea was a failure and not much good for racing.

[Vay Jonynas]

 

There was an American Black at Old Orchard Beach set up with wheels....

 

 

Hey! I'll bet most readers have never heard of Old Orchard Beach. But I visited Old Orchard Beach in very early October of 1988 when the amusement park was closed down for the season:

 

 

I attended a boarding school run by Lithuanian Francisvcan Fathers in Kennebunkport, Maine for ninth grade in 1965-66. Maine would be near the very top of my list in places I might be willing to live in the States.

 

[Bill from NH]

I grew up in southern Maine, moved out-of-state for a job change in '69. I'd be very selective before I ever moved back.