Questions for slot car guys..

I really enjoyed racing the slot cars last year at the Mitty. I've been thinking about it off and on since. I love the 1/32 stuff the Race Place guys provide, and I raced 1/24 as a kid.

But while bringing my pack of BMW E36 from storage to the house, I discovered a box full of my old 1970s Aurora AFX 4-lane set, complete with a few cars (none of my G-Plus stuff, but there was an old Thunderjet in there!). I'm wondering about building an HO layout for the house, especially since I now have some antiques to work with.

So, do the track sections/cars/parts branded "AFX" at the hobby shop still mate up with my old Aurora stuff? I took an inventory, and discovered I don't have enough to create the kind of track I'd like to build (I'm thinking a 4-lane version of pre 1994 Road Atlanta, sculptured & detailed like a model railroad layout..it's why I'm thinking as small as HO instead of 1/32 in the first place).

I know that Tomy took over the AFX brand after Aurora's death, but don't know much about what's happened since.

And yes, I Googled it...but all I get is 1,234,543 results from people who want to sell me AFX stuff.

Whatever you do, you should nail it to the dining room table.

In reply to mtn:

Not big enough. I just did some math, and discovered a 1/64 scale Road Atlanta would be about 1860ft. of track. I guess I'm looking at a symbolic re-creation of the place, and not a realistic one..

Although, if I had the space...

Road atlanta? Go bigger...Road America or the Ring! That would take up, say, the whole back yard?

Sell it all on ebay part-by-part. then go buy one of those nice new sets.

I sold two junky cars for $20 on ebay. We also setup some old stuff and was fixing it the whole time. The track plastic was a little brittle.

You should try and find the episode of James May's 'Toy Stories', where he replicates the original Brooklands circuit (2.75 miles in full scale) with Scalextric track.

The A/FX and Tomy track will work together, and is an excellent choice for real track layouts as they have special pieces like hairpins and zig-zags. They also have the most 4-lane stuff.

As for the cars, the older stuff can be worth quite a bit of money. I have a pretty good size collection going and I'd love to see pics! I think the G-Plus stuff has some of the best detailing ever, and they made Can-Am, Sportscars, and F1's.

The new Tomy AFX 4-lane sets are really nice and provide a lot of racing in a decently-sized spaced. I stick with HO because of the size and quality of the layouts.

Greg, owner of The Race Place, also has HO track--plus cars, parts, etc., etc. His cell number is 386-295-1371. Tell him we say hi.

If anyone in the Detroit area is looking for mid-1960's slot car stuff, I found this on Craigslist (not mine, no affiliation, etc)

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/tag/1642940710.html

Bob

Thanks, everybody!

Man, I had a really nice 1/32nd scale Cox set back in the day, with the Bob Sharp Datsun, and the Peter Gregg Porsche. I'd love to find those, but I bet they run a pretty penny these days.

Are there any web sites with info on the value of the old cars? I still have my setup from when I was a kid. Richard Petty Superbird, Porsche 917 in th L&M livery.

Are the old cars compatible with the new tracks? My track sections are worn out.

My wall hinged AFX track is a 4 lane representation of Sebring. 4 lanes are much more fun. I have to get working on it again.

P71 wrote: As for the cars, the older stuff can be worth quite a bit of money. I have a pretty good size collection going and I'd love to see pics! I think the G-Plus stuff has some of the best detailing ever, and they made Can-Am, Sportscars, and F1's.

Well, I don't have any pics, but here's a small list. There seems to be four or five chassis (a couple of them are Magna-traction), and a collection of bodies incuding the Koveleski (Auto World) #54 McLaren, a #6 and #7 Sunoco Blue 917-10, the "blue top" #35 version of the BRE Dat 510, a Shadow Can-Am car, the Stewart L&M sponsored Lola T260..and an early Datsun Pickup truck! The Thunderjet is a 1st gen Camaro. All (execpt, weirdly enough, the T-jet) need a serious cleaning & new tires/brushes.

I really wish I knew where my G-Plus stuff was. I recall that they were comparatively expensive pieces in the day, I'll bet I put them someplace "special" so they'd be safe instead of in the box with the track when I packed it up. Don't ya hate hiding stuff from yourself?

friedgreencorrado wrote: I know that Tomy took over the AFX brand after Aurora's death, but don't know much about what's happened since. And yes, I Googled it...but all I get is 1,234,543 results from people who want to sell me AFX stuff.

Here, this might help a little:

http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/

He does sell stuff, but his site is very helpful (at least it was for me when I was trying to get the lay of the land).

friedgreencorrado wrote: In reply to mtn: Not big enough. I just did some math, and discovered a 1/64 scale Road Atlanta would be about 1860ft. of track. I guess I'm looking at a symbolic re-creation of the place, and not a realistic one.. Although, if I had the space...

I find the easiest way to model a track is to characterize turns as tight to open on a 1 to 5 scale (1 to 4 for a four-lane layout), and then I use 6-18" radius turns accordingly. The concept can be extended for increasing/decreasing radii, etc.

For straights, I figure out what fraction of a car's top speed I would expect in real life and scale the straights accordingly (adjusted as necessary to fit the surface). Frequently the straights end up being proportionally less of the track than in real life, but that makes sense given the unreal scale speed/acceleration of (especially HO scale) cars.

It isn't true scale but captures the essence of a track fairly well.

Thx for the info, billy3. I was delighted to see that the guy at hoslotcarracing.com has resurrected Oscar's old Auto World brand! It looks like Tomy is also copying the 1/32 and 1/24 companies, and offering more realistic looking cars as well. Those GT40s look fantastic. Ironic that I want more realism in the smaller scale, since I'm actually going to larger scales in my plastic display modeling (old eyes/hands).

Do you know of any software out there for designing tracks out of plastic sections? It sure would be a lot easier (& cheaper) than buying several dozen sections and fitting them together. The guy at hoslotcarracing mentions one, but I discovered it's no longer available.

racerfink wrote: Man, I had a really nice 1/32nd scale Cox set back in the day, with the Bob Sharp Datsun, and the Peter Gregg Porsche. I'd love to find those, but I bet they run a pretty penny these days.

The pharmacist at the local Rexall Drug was a slot guy back in the early 70s, and he had a big Cox 1/24 set in the storage area in back of the store. A bunch of us went out and bought a 1/24 car, and just hung around the back of the store racing them. I had a Chaparral 2E that was my prized posession. I wonder what that car would be worth now..

I just use Microsoft Visio for track layout. It happened to be what I had available at the time. Any number of scale drawing programs would work, though. All you need to do is create standard blocks of all the track shapes/sizes.

porksboy wrote: Are there any web sites with info on the value of the old cars? I still have my setup from when I was a kid. Richard Petty Superbird, Porsche 917 in th L&M livery. Are the old cars compatible with the new tracks? My track sections are worn out.

Not really, but post pics. I have the printed price guides.

And yes, all HO cars are compatible with all HO tracks. Ever raced a new Super G+ against a Thunderjet?

Spitsix wrote: My wall hinged AFX track is a 4 lane representation of Sebring. 4 lanes are much more fun. I have to get working on it again.

I love that setup (and the room)! I never would have thought of a wall mount, I must try that. Nice track layout, too.

In reply to P71:

I was about to say all spitsix needs is some landscaping, but then realized that it might not be such a good thing for a wall mount...

And x2 on the layout, spitsix!

oh wow i gotta tell my dad about that website. hes got boxes of those old aurora cars and who knows how much track... most of the stuff still works great, too.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

racerfink wrote: Man, I had a really nice 1/32nd scale Cox set back in the day, with the Bob Sharp Datsun, and the Peter Gregg Porsche. I'd love to find those, but I bet they run a pretty penny these days.

The pharmacist at the local Rexall Drug was a slot guy back in the early 70s, and he had a big Cox 1/24 set in the storage area in back of the store. A bunch of us went out and bought a 1/24 car, and just hung around the back of the store racing them. I had a Chaparral 2E that was my prized posession. I wonder what that car would be worth now..

In the box, on a good day about 1200-1500. No box on a good day 500-1000. At least that's what a buddy of mine sold his for on evilbay.

Thanks for the props. I think I have the landscaping height problem figured out. I am going to add additional spacers between the hinge and the wall to give me an additional space so that I can mount things 3" tall. By the way I use magnets mounted on the wall and the steel plates in the corners to keep it attached while not in use.