Hi Everyone,
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I've just made the move back into slot-racing after a lapse of over 30 years - I ran my first slot car back in 1963 and stopped in 1970. My first car was a Cooper Climax VIP Special which served as a very reliable and fast (by the then standards) introduction into slots for me. Also scratch-built my own cars using a variety of materials, like brass tubing, brass plates and whatever suitable materials I could get my hands on. In motors at that time were the Ks Mk.I, MRRC 3 and 5 poles, Pittman's DC196. Bodyshells came from Supershells, MRRC and Airfix - can still remember the Supershells shark-nose Ferrari F1 and their BRM F1 and Lotus 25, also the Airfix Porsche and Lotus 24 F1s. I then progressed to the then new Revell Ford Cobra 427 with the stamped adjustable aluminium chassis powered by the Mabuchi FT16. Had loads of fun in those clubby days when everyone was just racing for pure enjoyment of the hobby. Then with the advent of 1/24 scale and the commercial race tracks, the cost of equipment sort of went off the scale and it was no surprise that the end eventually came with the closure of the last tracks in the country in 1970. Subsequently there have been some half-hearted attempts at reviving slots with badly managed and promoted pay tracks by operators who didn't really have a clue as to what slot-racing was about. All these ended in failure and everything has been very quiet on the slot scene here for a number of years.
It was only just a couple of months ago that I stumbled onto a hobby shop in a shopping mall which was selling and promoting Scalextric sets and cars and which had a decent 60-foot track set up inside the shop for customers to try their cars and also to hold races. A look around the place revealed quite a well-stocked premises with just about all the latest Scalextric cars on the shelves and a manager who was quite clued in to the requirements of his customers. I went home and after humming and hoing for 2 - 3 weeks, finally decided to take the plunge back into the hobby (I never really left it as I went into RC cars in 1972 and am still in it, now with 1/5 cars). So last week, it was back to the shop and got myself the Scalextric Le Mans set (track #4) with the 2 MG Lola cars. The track is now set up (sort of semi-permanently - my wife hasn't threatened to divorce me yet!) in my living room and has since been enlarged and extended to a 60-foot high-speed 2 laner. My collection of cars has rapidly increased from the 2 base cars in the set to a total of 26 cars over the past week! Haven't got the courage to tell the missus yet -
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! Will be entering my first competition in a long while this Sunday (June 13) and will be keeping my fingers crossed I don't mess up at the track.
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It was only just a couple of months ago that I stumbled onto a hobby shop in a shopping mall which was selling and promoting Scalextric sets and cars and which had a decent 60-foot track set up inside the shop for customers to try their cars and also to hold races. A look around the place revealed quite a well-stocked premises with just about all the latest Scalextric cars on the shelves and a manager who was quite clued in to the requirements of his customers. I went home and after humming and hoing for 2 - 3 weeks, finally decided to take the plunge back into the hobby (I never really left it as I went into RC cars in 1972 and am still in it, now with 1/5 cars). So last week, it was back to the shop and got myself the Scalextric Le Mans set (track #4) with the 2 MG Lola cars. The track is now set up (sort of semi-permanently - my wife hasn't threatened to divorce me yet!) in my living room and has since been enlarged and extended to a 60-foot high-speed 2 laner. My collection of cars has rapidly increased from the 2 base cars in the set to a total of 26 cars over the past week! Haven't got the courage to tell the missus yet -
