hi don & phillipe,this all such early history,its difficut to determine sometimes what really happened.if the lionel cars were raced for gambling then the driver probably didnt pay an entry fee.the profit came from gambling or betting just like today.where as the kennedy cars were paid by the actual customers who raced them just like the public tracks in the 1960s or today.but who knows,phillipe could be right,we may never know until actual documents are found.don ,tonight when i get home from work(im a finance manager @ a harley-davidson store)i will post a picture of one of the 1930 bugattis & you can see the differences.so we are waiting for your book phillipe to come out so we can solve the mystery of who made the first production electric race car sets.cant wait !oh,i also have the wooden box the cars were carried in.thanks,bernard
the first paytrack cars in the world
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hi,here we have 1 of several kennedy bugattis i own.the first cars were made in 1930 & raced in mr kennedys home on a 6 lane rail track.around 1932 he modified the cars added a wall,& a paybox.he then moved his track to the leicester square amusement park & created the very first commercial electric race car track.the people put their money in the paybox & then operated their push button controllers as they raced each other.it was used for several years.the guides had little clips sodered to them so they could drift in the corners but not come off the rails.the cars are around 1/32 scale.the bodies were handmade metal.i have 1 1930 buggati which is a little different from the commercial ones.the one here is the 1932 commercial car used on the pay track.you can see the rest of the cars & the magazine articles,& some patent information on my website, thanks.(bernardsslotcarmuseum)]
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hi,john,yours is much better looking than mine,which has the green paint flaking off.mine has back metal wheels ,plastic front.mine has what looks like a supercharger mounted to the front bottom grill,& a tiny light bulb which is the drivers head soldered on a wire.the bulb would have been painted.you can see how & why the cars had to be modified for a commercial track.the earlier cars would not have fit the bill.the last photos are of the box which held 6 cars,the patent drawing of the track layout with its paybox,& patent pictures of the cars.your photos are very nice john.thanks,bernard
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