Well, time to toot my own horn!
I was manager and part owner of J's Junction Hobby Shop on Woodman just north of Oxnard and across the street from Marshall's Hardware. We had the first slot car track in the valley circa 1960. Our original track dubbed "Oxwood Raceway" was a twisty four lane road course complete with a 180 degree banked turn. The next year we built a 6 lane figure 8 and the crossover was plexiglass. It was cool!
Back then if you wanted to buy a car you had two choices, Strombecker or Scalectric. If you wanted something different you had to make your own chassis or come see us and buy one of our ready to run chassis or if you wanted something different, you buy the parts and we'll build a custom chassis, for free. Customer service.
The next track that opened in the valley was Bob Coogan's Grand Prix Hobbies on Lankershim just north of Magnolia in North Hollywood. I had known Bob for several years stemming from our shared interest in Formula 1 Grand Prix racing.
Two other names I recognize from the above posts. Hank DiNapoli and Jay Trictor.
Hank and I go back to the late 50s Hollywood Slot Car Association.
Jay Trictor leased space from us at J's Junction for his bicycle shop. When Jay left J's, we opened a bike shop!
