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I just stumbled, literally, onto this via a Craigslist search for ‘slot car’, and am extremely excited to find y’all!
I used to race ‘wing cars’ in Houston years ago (in Group 15 class), and moved here very shortly after Z Racing on Parmer Lane closed down, much to my chagrin. I’d like to get back into slot car racing, but never really tried the true-scale version of the sport. My experience has all been in the Lexan-bodied, music-wire and brass-plate chassis variety.
So, any information any of you can give me on what I’d need to start racing in this group would be very welcome. BTW, I still have a lot of my old stuff, including a 1/24 car that won a Grp 15 series championship in Houston back in the 80’s…that’s how long ago I raced.
Holler at me, please!
Dave Hughes -
Dave,
I also used to race 1/24 slots; pretty much until Zraceway closed. You will be able to use most of your knowledge towards the new 1/32 scale slots, but there is a lot of stuff to learn.
Chassis are made of plastic; tires are hard rubber, silicone or urethane. Motors are much harder to work on and semi-disposable — you will not find parts for motors. The driving style is totally different and the use of “grub” is completely forbidden … and the list goes on and on.
I’m still learning how to tweak these little animals but I can tell you that I’m enjoying it a lot. The best cars are made by Slot.it, an Italian manufacturer, and they are the base for our championship next year. 2012 Slot.it Challenge
You should come by this next Thursday and check the track and what we race. I think you will enjoy it; all the club members are very nice, the track is awesome and the club environment is very relaxed.
Hope to see you there.
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Autorama wrote:
Dave,
I also used to race 1/24 slots; pretty much until Zraceway closed. You will be able to use most of your knowledge towards the new 1/32 scale slots, but there is a lot of stuff to learn.
Chassis are made of plastic; tires are hard rubber, silicone or urethane. Motors are much harder to work on and semi-disposable — you will not find parts for motors. The driving style is totally different and the use of “grub” is completely forbidden … and the list goes on and on.
I’m still learning how to tweak these little animals but I can tell you that I’m enjoying it a lot. The best cars are made by Slot.it, an Italian manufacturer, and they are the base for our championship next year. 2011 Slot.it Challenge
You should come by this next Thursday and check the track and what we race. I think you will enjoy it; all the club members are very nice, the track is awesome and the club environment is very relaxed.
Hope to see you there.
Hmmm….maybe if I join up, between you and me, we could talk the club into at least racing some Womp-Womps or Int’l 32’s? ;^)
Marty was telling me about you; that you had raced wing-cars as well. My wing-car experience was many years ago in Group 15 (remember those days?). I still have my ol’ Gp15 car, in fact!
Did you ever race at Pasadena/Houston? Know P.A. Watson? That’s where I raced, back when the track was actually IN Pasadena. P.A. & Kathleen are still around, though the track in Houston now.I do look forward to coming down there and seeing what’s up. I’ve never raced the hardbody scale cars before, and I expect they’re WAY slower than what I’d been used to. But at my age (57), that ain’t such a bad thing, I guess.
What I like is Indy cars, mostly, or ALMS P1/P2 cars. I’ve looked around on the Web and only found some Carrera Indy Dallaras, but it looks like those are either discomtinued or just really hard to come by. Any tips on where I can get an entry-level Indycar?
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Dave,
Our track is not banked and I’m pretty confident that womps would perform horrible in it. There is also the issue that the store does not sell non-scale models. I have one 1/32 scale Porsche fitted with a falcon VII motor and foam tires, the driving style is very similar to womps but it does not turn the fastest laps.
I really don’t know anything about indy cars, I have a few F1’s. If you come by Thursday try to talk to Robin, he has a few indys and I’m sure he would point you in the right direction.
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Dave,
Welcome! Yes, I do have few (actually a bunch) of Indy cars made by Scalextric.
A few of them are still available at on-line retailers plus it is fairly easy to
strip the paint and custom paint what you want. The decals are readily available and reasonably priced. You can also usually find a number of these cars on ebay. They run well right out of the box too. All it takes is a little sanding/trueing on the tires and you are ready to go. I hope to see you at the track.Robin
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All,
Dave passed away on 4/26/2012. He was such a great guy, and passed unexpectedly. I’ve set up a memorial fund for his family. Please consider donating. Every small donation adds up.
A little more about him: Dave was a tinkerer at heart, and a very gifted musician. He guided me through a bass guitar fret removal. We created the site below, and simply give the instructions away. He wrote articles and reviews for a couple other sites, too. Always interested in helping others. Together, we can help his family through this really tough time!
I apologize if this is out of context. I’m just hoping to show Dave’s wife and daughter how many lives he blessed.
Peace,
Scott Worthington
Austin, TX
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