Ross, what happened to that slot car set?
Also, do you know what happened to Dougs photos?
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Ross, what happened to that slot car set?
Also, do you know what happened to Dougs photos?
THe track at the Auckland Car club was broken up and dumped !!! As regards Dougs photos,I saw him a year or so ago on the Goldcoast and impressed upon him the importance of them .Looked into getting them scanned etc and the 8mm [great shots of mini races at Pukekohe ] but the cost was quite high for me to get them done,there are slides and movies,also gymkhanas with John Crombie in his beat up ,well used MiniCooper.Even some up at Murray Firths orchards where we used to test our little cars before the hillclimbs,[I think of the noise we use to make !!!!!]
Ross H
PM sent Ross
The 2 x 32nd scale cars in the previous pics were complete Cox kits Steve. The black one was bought as an unopened kit, the blue one made from bits. The 24th scale one was assembled using a 60s vac formed body and Cox running gear. The Blue #3 in the following pic is a Strombecker
more
and some more
All on a very Low tech display surface Yeah Right.
Great set of cars.
that low tech display surface came courtesy of 105Angria and his wonderful furniture designs ;)
http://www.mapinternational.com.au/products/sofas/flow/
ebay Cox Cheetah
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1-24...item3cca8998a6
Thanks Bry, I just love those. Do you still get to use them much?
Thanks Ross, too bad about the track.
Yeah I've heard of a few people who have interesting collections on slides, but the cost to convert them is pretty significant unfortunately. Slides really make for amazing images, their clarity is incredible. Most of the images in the Steve Twist collection on here are from slides. I hope one Doug gets them converted.
Check this out. Its late 1964. The tv show is I've Got A Secret. Special guest is Stirling Moss. From a nation-wide slot car racing competition, contestants were whittled down to four finalists, who would compete on tv to win a new Ford Mustang, and a $2,000 scholarship. Ford are obviously sponsors, as all the slot cars are Ford's. Slot car racing was BIG in the '60s! The kid who won looks neither very excited to have scored a brand new Mustang, which had only just been released a few months earlier, nor old enough to actually drive the thing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9MZXw-xoI4
Check out Batman and Robin's impressive layout.
Attachment 19970
Slotcar racing as it started out in the 60's, scratchbuilt cars raced on routed wooden tracks is still alive and well in many countries across the world.
I started out racing when I was 5 years old, introduced to our local club in Henderson, Auckland by my brother Paul who was racing there at that time (1970). That club is the oldest in NZ (dates back to 1962) and is actually one of the oldest surviving in the world still racing today. Denny Hulme was a patron to the club, and Paul was added as a patron in the 90's.
You can find the Henerson Minature Motor Racing Club online at:
http://www.hmmrc.co.nz
and on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/HendersonMi...otorRacingClub
There is a New Zealand Slotcar Association which has run National Championship events every year for 49 years, only 1 year short of the oldest world nationals, those held in the UK. You can find it online at:
http://www.nzsca.co.nz/
and a list of currently operating clubs in NZ
http://www.nzsca.co.nz/Clubs_new.htm
There is still a very active scene here in the USA where I live these days, with around 200 commercial raceways still operating. Some resources to find raceways can be found at:
http://slotblog.net/forum/74-raceway-list/
and
http://www.oldweirdherald.com/owh-raceway-directory
The most active forums are:
http://www.slotcartalk.com/slotcartalk/forum.php
and
http://slotblog.net/
In Australia there are still a few raceways surviving. The oldest is Hornsby Slotcars in Sydney:
http://hornsbyslotcars.com.au/
and a good directory of Australian tracks is at:
http://www.slotcartracksaustralia.com/
Lots of activity throughout the UK and Europe as well with the UK Association site at:
http://www.bscra.co.uk/
There is also a world body, ISRA, which holds a yearly world championship, which for 2013 is being hosted in the Ukraine:
http://www.isra-slot.com/
There are many many different forms of slotcars, from the plastic track cars that are collected and raced all over the world, to the more specialist wing aero cars (covering more than 110 feet per second, or 75mph in real speed) to brass and piano wire scratchbuilt chassis cars. Just as in real motorsport there are many many different forms and classes, all with their own race venues, rules and groups that race them.
Here are a few videos showing a couple of the many different types of modern slotcar racing.
A video taken in Helsinki at the European Wing Car Championships, and gives a look at the racing, plus a look around the pit area as competitors work on their cars. These are the fastest slotcars on the planet, covering the 155ft Blue King track (A world standard layout design and length) in under 1.5 seconds. They are very dependant on aero to keep them on the track as they weigh around 45 grams in total.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II8hXA16_ZA
Attachment 20488
A world endurance race promoted by Italy's NSR using NSR plastic molded 32nd scale cars like the ones most people are familiar with
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUX4j4w94wI
These cars are plastic chassis and injection molded bodies and run generally on plastic molded tracks like the traditional Scalextric type tracks
Attachment 20482
Attachment 20483
A different type of racing at the 2010 IMCA Model Car World Championships in Belgium, with entrants from 30 countries where we raced 24th scale screw together chassis with carbon fibre bodies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lSwk6-ev6U
These cars are pretty hi-tech with laser and edm cut chassis pieces that must be held together with small screws and nuts. The bodies are highly detailed models, but made of out carbon fibre to ensure lightweight and strength. The Europeans competing in this type of racing are real scale modelers and the body detail is incredible.
Attachment 20484
Attachment 20485
Some footage from a Retro race in Columbus Ohio I was at a while ago on an original American Blue King track that has been at this same location since the early 1970's. Retro racing using scratchbuilt cars built form brass and pianowire with lexan vacuum formed bodies is amongst the most popular racing here in the USA currently, with classes for pre 1970 Indy/F1 and Can-Am cars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1_6WP_YB2k
These are a direct attempt to re-create the cars of the 1960's and 1970's that evolved originally from the kits that were sold in the 60's and 70's by companies like Cox, Aurora, Strombecker, Monogram etc and raced by the slotcar pro's of the early 1970's.
Retro F1 Matra
Attachment 20486
Retro Can-AM TI-22
Attachment 20487
These are great Chris, must be time to have some more tracks in NZ again!
I've just discovered this site - of course I was envious of the owner of the Indy Roadster and the Bruce McLaren Group 7 car in NZ's national racing colours.
There are two tracks that I specifically recall as a young lad - one was somewhere in central Auckland and the feature of it was a loop. The other venue was in 'Old Papatoetoe', just off St George St on Shirley Road. The track seemed to take up the entire shop and I could hardly wait to one of my own.
I'm guessing that turned on Christmas Day 1966 - the cars were Lotus 16s - one emerald green and the other one yellow. Before long I had a pair of GT40s (one white with a black bonnet and other pale blue) but the best ones I had were a couple of Can-Am types - one mid blue and the other orange. And no, the orange one did bot resemble a McLaren at all!
At about age 11 or 12, Robert van Gisbergen and I spent hours racing slot cars - I guess we'd be doing that 'on line' these days.
Michael, the one you refer to in Central Auckland was in Queen St and if the memory bank is correct it was either beside or above the old Regent theatre. Seemed like hundreds of steps to get up there. Yes, the loop was awesome and there were always several casualties if the power was decreased just at the top of the loop. The other one in Old Papatoetoe was in Station Rd near the railway Station. Shirley and Station Rds merged into each other. Only went there a couple of times and memory has faded a bit as to what the tracks were like. Certainly in my era there was much wheeling and dealing with cars and high powered motors.
Also a massive complex in Rotorua. The banking was so steep if you weren't going fast enough it would jam the guide.
Another one in Customs St Auckland, near to Gore St.
What years do you reckon all this going on Frosty? I'm guessing 66/67 in which case I would have been 8 - so when I say the track in Old Papatoetoe "...seemed to take up the entire shop...", I am making that comment based on being only about track height.
I do recall considerable carnage on that 'loop' as well. Great memories..
My guess would be the commercial tracks were around in 64, based on when I went there, certainly by October 65 (when I had finished School Cert exams in Matamata I was allowed to train to Auckland and buy my Triumph Tiger Cub and I took a couple of cars in my bag) and were probably starting to fade by 68 ??
Yes Michael, it would have been around that era, possibly a little earlier 64/65 for me anyway. I would have been 14/15 then and there was a great trade in slot cars when I was at Otahuhu College. I actually purchased a partly built track from one of the teachers and lengthened it to around 5 metres x 1.5m wide. 3 lanes which tapered as it climbed a series of "hills" and down a long straight heavily banked. Great memories that's for sure. Gave that away, work and my stock car took over as well as my road car and flagging at Puke.
I have just been trolling the web, very cool site slotraceshop.co.nz, also has links to groups around the country, track pics, build guides etc etc. And how to build tracks!
I'm "young" compared to some on this great website :o - born in '66. My earliest memories were trying to stand on stuff to be tall enough to watch lunchtime slot car racing at my dad's work ( NZBC TV studios , Shortland street , Auckland ) in about 1970.
Being apprentice electronics technicians meant slot cars were very "hotted up " and the track was very impressive.
Roars of laughter would erupt as a car with a rewound motor would have a meltdown or billow smoke or just run backwards...
I recall the track being about 6 lanes and well built.
Competition was extreme with cars being built from brass wire or piano wire all carefully soldered.
Off the shelf parts were rare - Martins toys in Customs St had a range and there was a slot car track upstairs near there.
I well recall tyres made from old jandal rubber and other "experimental" materials !
Weight was always an issue with old slot cars.
My brother and I had scalextric slot cars as soon as we could squeeze a controller and a huge layout.
As we got older we moved to Aurora AFX cars but I didn't enjoy them as much.
Later in life I had another go with "modern" cars at Henderson Slot Car club and slot car drag racing ( very fast - and reactions need to be also )
Funnily enough there was a bloke there who had worked at NZBC and raced against dad in the old days !
Dad couldn't believe it
Good , simple fun for all ages. I wish we had the lovely Scalextric cars that are available now , back then.
My favourite old cars were the mini cooper and Porsche 917 long tail
Dad bought a "Wrenn 152" system (1/52 scale rather than Scalex 1/32).
Motors were effectively ratchet and pawl controlled by contacts and just an on/off controller. Unlike the traditional motors, firstly, these ran on either 12v DC (like most others) or 12v AC! AC was faster and also, because they were ratchet and pawl, they freewheeled, but the motors soon got a bit warm. Driving them required split second judgement as to when to release the power and then put it back on.
Dad would go into town on a Saturday morning and see if the normal 25/- cars had been reduced to 5/- as ex demo models! We ended up with 62 cars. I had seven, my brothers one each and dad had the rest.
Eventually, Wrenn produced DC only motors. Shame.
We played with them just about every night. Happy times. I brought all the cars and a fair bit of track and a pile of spares back to NZ when Dad died.
In 66 /67 I remember going to the ones in Customs St, Old Papatoetoe and bottom of Onehunga
I first raced Slot Cars at Scanlin St, Grey Lynn when Aurora AFX were sponsoring the NZGP. That's where it all started for me, first racer was a short wheelbase 911. We even did a 24hr race for Telethon one year. Think I must have been about 10 when I started. "Santa" brought a Scaletrix set for my daughter 2 years ago and the car collection has slowly grown, much to her delight.
Funny what they say about boys & their toys though, all true for me…...
So that's where the #19 came from Kerry. Your toys have definitely got bigger! How's your new gearbox?
Cheers, John
Hey John,
Yes, Ferry Porsche's birthday, 19 September.
Coincidentally the COD for the 911 below is #1909
Still, you know how much of a Porsche nut I am, especially for the 911 variants.
Don't even ask about the gearbox, been in and out 3-4 times and still not sorted.
Recently came across this interesting little article about Martins Toys slot car track in Auckland city
Attachment 24784
Thanks for that Jeff, I spent a lot of pocket money there, even made the trip from Matamata just to be there as a 14 year old. Railcar was the mode of transport :)
"Martins - the mecca for modelers"
I didn't know they had a slot car track - I was a frequent lurker in their store in Customs street though, and think I bought a Cox Cheetah there.
Used to race in the big track up on K Road - along towards where Red Baron is now on the other side of the road - only stopped because I was doing my PPL, and I needed all the cash I could get - well - a Piper Cub, solo at Dairy Flat was $3.50/hr! - expensive!
Oh dear...still have a soft spot for the Cub...side slipping over the fence and stopping in about 300 ft at the Barrier, then watching the Auckland Aero Club planes try and stop before they ran off the end of the strip - it was an advantage learning on a decent plane on a grass strip (as Dairy Flat was at the time)....Quote:
although a Cub is out of the question these days