Slot cars. It's 1977 all over again...

So last weekend I stopped by the local hobby store to see what I could get into, especially to get me through the cold Dayton winter. They had a flyer up saying the 1/32 slot car schedule was starting next Wednesday. Hmmm. This could be fun.

So, here I am at the starting line, of the first race of the first event. Had just opened the box & had someone show me how to move the magnets forward to race in a Spec GT class with a McLaren 12C GT3. (I'm the red dot, apparently someone else likes McLarens too.) I also was told to switch the rear tires for some Maxxtrac tires. (This is starting to sound like rallycross.)

Here's what I ended up driving. I didn't crash too much (well, not too too much), but ended up second to last out of a few people. Including an 11yr old girl. I'm thinking I beat her, and I'm sticking to that story. They also raced a No Magnet 2 class, and someone let me borrow a car so I could race.

THAT reminded me of rally/autocross right there. In fact the whole evening, making new friends, young and old, felt very familiar. And then being a corner marshal to put cars back on the tracks? Yeah, I'll take that over chasing cones in the dirt/heat all evening.

In the coming weeks, they'll race a few other classes, and I had so much fun in the no magnet class (seriously, fishtailing almost every corner was a hoot) I bought a second car for that:

They didn't have a blue one, so I went with the yellow. I actually need to remove the rubber band that makes it AWD to compete in the no magnet class, but it makes me feel like I'm running in MA without having to break a sweat.

I did this in the 70's with my dad, I had a 1/32 "womp womp" car, he had a few 1/24 cars with clear plastic wings all the way around that flew like a damn missile. This brought back some fun times......... (And there's even a new Star Wars movie coming out. Seriously, 1977 all over again.)

One of the guys at the local commercial slot track I grew up at thirty years ago wrote an article for Scale Auto Racing News about staying on track and out of the corner marshals hands. The general theory being that even if you backed off a half second a lap, you'd be faster over the long run than coming off every other lap and spending 1-2 secs. waiting for the corner marshall to put you back in your lane. Not to mention the damage that can occur with an off, or being put in the wrong lane. Wish I could find it somewhere online...

Oh yeah... 1/32 is dangerous. The cars are the perfect size for model-level detail and storage to get you into collecting them. One... two... and the next thing you know you have covered a wall with them.

Lord have mercy on your wallet.

In reply to Ian F:

Yeah, I get it. I saw the guy with a wooden cabinet full of cars and parts and thought "yup, that's me within a year I'm sure."

A new slot car place opened up nearby and I have been trying to figure out how to afford to bring the kids more than once. It's a blast. Great hobby.

About five years ago someone opened a track business here in town. Two basic road course tracks and a dragstrip. THey were for smaller scale, though. My wife and I went in one night to check it out. I thought it was massive cool, my wife said every guy in there gave her the heebie-jeebies. Other than some strange participants it really looked like a sink hole I could fall into easily.

I don't even know if they're still there. I doubt it seriously.

EDIT: OTOH, if I could find a 1/32 Pagani my wife might be hooked LOL....

I love me some slot cars, my daughter and I broke out my old slot car set that hadnt seen the light of day in 15+ years, after cleaning the rails on the track and the contacts on the cars it worked good as new. although she wasnt great at it ( trigger happy ) but she loved it

I miss having a local hobby shop that does this kind of thing.

Got into taymia 4wd, slot cars, etc in college. Still have most of the stuff, but nowhere local to play.

I need 1/32 scale GRM decals now.

Tamiya rereleased the HotShot 4wd RC. Not 1977, more like 1986. I started looking for parts to get mine running,... for the kids.

Wish I still had my old TCR slotless car track, three contacts and a switch to change lanes.

sweet. Those scalectrix kits are so sick but $$$. My cousin and uncle were way into them back in the day and had all sorts of parts and cars that they were building. I just had a basic kit like edizzle89 posted. I wonder if its still boxed up and buried in my parents basement somewhere?

Did 1/24 scale build your own car drags for two years as part of a tech school competition. You got 2 spec motors and the only rule was they required a body and chassis that could be seperated. It was a blast.

In reply to tuna55:

Do they race HO?

akylekoz wrote: Wish I still had my old TCR slotless car track, three contacts and a switch to change lanes.

And the JAM CAR!

Well... There goes my productivity for today.

Javelin wrote: In reply to tuna55: Do they race HO?

The only thing they had was 1/32 and 1/24 when I was last there, but it was a sweet setup and a really great crew. They had a dragstrip installed since I was last there.

ultraclyde wrote: I thought it was massive cool, my wife said every guy in there gave her the heebie-jeebies.

When I did high power rocketry, my wife liked to classify the participants as either "That man has never known a woman's touch" or "That man will never know a woman's touch."

Sounds like a similar participant pool!

akylekoz wrote: Wish I still had my old TCR slotless car track, three contacts and a switch to change lanes.

I still have mine (I think). I don't recall ever getting it to work all that well, but I was probably too young when my parents got it for me...

In reply to Jerry:

Yep. I have a similar set-up for HO T-Jets, using a fishing tackle box with drawers and a drop-front.

Javelin:

A lot of these shops will alternate between HO and 1/32. At least up here, more people race HO (T-Jets), but the collectors (who actually spend $$$ at the store) buy 1/32. But fewer 1/32 owners seem to race. At the store I go to in NJ, a lot of the 1/32 racers are mainly T-Jet racers just racing for fun (vs. T-Jet racing which they take quite seriously).

I just got finished buying my father some HO scale AFX Le Mans GT40s for his birthday. He's finishing up a garage and is looking to put out a couple hundred feet of track in the upstairs that hes been saving since the early 90s.

I was actually amazed at how expensive slot cars and track have become. I remember it being a couple of bucks for a bodied car when I was growing up in the 90s. Now it's 30 or 40 dollars for one. I sort of miss the smell of ozone generated by those things.

Yeah, this isn't cheap. The track is crazy $$. I bought the McLaren for about $40, the Subaru was $48 or so. They had cheaper cars I didn't like as much, and some new cool series someone pointed out was running in the mid $90's.

Also it looks like they supply the controlers so that's one less thing to buy. Time to research carrying vessels this weekend, thinking Harbor Freight is high on my list.

If you were to buy a home set up, what HO brand is the one to get that will last? Back in the day, everybody had Tyco slots, so we mixed and matched track quit a bit.

I'm thinking of buying a set for my niece and nephews.

1977...perfect

About 50 bucks for a car. Not terrible. How much do you end up spending on tires, etc? Also need to see if there's a track anywhere near me...

It is a slippery slope. I got my oldest a 1/32 Carrera set for Christmas last year that came with two cars. We now have a large bin full of Scalextric track and something like 15 cars, be careful.

Whatever you do do not click the links below. Goodwill has an auction site that is dangerous.

Scalextric Trans-Am Race Car Track

Sport Digital Race Car Set

Scalextric USA Advanced Track System

In Gaithersburg, MD - about a half hour from DC - there's a place that has an indoor off road RC car track; think of a scale, perfectly groomed 1/10th scale supercross track with a wide, blue traction groove and a mob of grim, obsessed racers.

On the other side of the building they have real slot cars, like the modern version of the 1960s deal, and a Gerding Blue King track. These are the industry standard for racing in 1/32 and 1/24 scale. The cars are so fast it's hard to keep track of more than one on a lap.

Gerding Fast Tracks