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A few words before I get started:

I'm not sure how many people are aware of this toy. I've never seen it sold in India in any toy stores. Even in the US when I used to live there around 15 years ago it wasn't that popular.

So what is it exactly that I'm talking about? Welcome to: SLOT CAR RACING!

So what exactly is slot car racing? It's a toy consisting of a track with electrified rails and cars equipped with DC motors. The track has two lanes and each lane has two electric rails. When the car sits on the track it has 2 metal "shoes" that make contact with the rails. These shoes pick up the electric current and turn the motor which then turns the wheels. Each lane is connected to a wired remote that just has a simple trigger. This trigger is used to control the speed of the car. The more you press the trigger, the more current is delivered to the motor and the faster the car goes.

My racing set is made by Tyco and I picked it up in the US almost 20 years ago. I used it for a little bit as a kid and then it was packed up 12 years ago and completely forgotten. When I opened it again last week, it had 12 years worth of spider webs and dust and I had no clue if it was still going to work.

The first task was to clean it and make it nice and shiny again. I had no clue how to go about it so I decided the first step was to get rid of the dust. I needed to see if the rails were rusted which would make getting it to run a whole lot tougher. I started searching around for a can of compressed air to blow the dust away but that turned out to be a task in itself. I went to all the hardware shops in my colony and then to some industrial areas in my city but no one even seemed to know what it was. Frustrated, I turned to eBay and found one seller who had a large stock of them in India. I ordered a couple of cans (approx. Rs. 330 each including shipping) and they took a week to arrive. The somewhat slow shipping is because this item is not allowed to be transported by air for safety reasons, only surface transport is allowed.





Having finally got my hands on the compressed air, I was able to blow away all the dust and spiders and spider webs (shuddering the whole time because I'm scared of spiders). Thankfully the rails were not rusted but there was a bit of oxidation on them. So the next step was to get rid of the oxidation so the rails can deliver power to the cars. I bought 1000 grit sandpaper (a.k.a. emery paper) and very gently rubbed it over every single piece of track and they started to look shiny again.

By the way, compressed air is relatively safe when used properly but is dangerous when used improperly. It should always be held upright and must not be shaken before use. It contains some kind of propellant and the bottle becomes ice cold when in use. If shaken or slanted too much while spraying the liquid comes out and instantly freezes everything it touches for a second. It can even cause frostbite on skin! Here is a link to a video that explains how to use compressed air safely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvO0fiYxJIE

Finally, I wanted to apply some anti-rust on the rails so I started looking for a can of WD-40. Finding it was an exact repeat of the compressed air scenario. No one knew what it was and the one guy who knew didn't have stock. I again ended up ordering it on eBay and it again took a week to arrive because it is also not allowed on flights.





I read that spraying WD-40 directly on plastics is harmful in the long run so I sprayed it on a cloth instead and rubbed it over all the track pieces and they were finally ready to be assembled!

This is what the tracks look like:





They just need to be pressed together and the tabs snap into place to hold them securely:





Here are some closeups of the car and motor:






In the pic above you can see the motor armature that's connected to the gear which turns the rear wheels. You can also see the metal contacts ("shoes") on the front that pick up the DC current and transfer it to the motor. There are 2 magnets just in front of the rear wheels that stick to the metal rails on the track and keep the car from flying off. They're needed because the cars can go really fast! Finally there is a guide pin between the metal shoes that goes into a groove that runs all along the track.

Here is a pic of the car when it sits on the track:





These are all the cars in my "garage" :D





This is the remote gun with trigger that controls the speed of the car:





This is the section of track that provides power to the lanes. We have to plug in the DC adaptor and 2 remotes:





A close look at the power track:





This section of track is for switching lanes. Adds some excitement to 2-player racing!





This is the instruction manual. It includes 2 layouts for the track, one for 4 players and one for 2 players:

And here are pics of the final setup!




After attaching the guard rails:





Some pics from a side angle. It's just like a highway complete with flyovers:







I ordered a couple of tune up kits for the cars which my dad brought from the US last week. The tune up kit has replacements for spares that wear out quickly. These are not made anymore and this is new old stock. These unopened kits are over 15 years old! They contain replacement shoes, front and rear tyres, rear axle, and guide pin.





Closer pics of the front and back:






I will upload a video of it in action later. I'm still working out a few kinks. A couple of sections of track are not getting enough power which is making the car stop. Also, both cars aren't getting enough power to run together.

In the meantime, you can search for "slot car racing" on Youtube. There are a lot of enthusiasts with some truly massive track setups at home. I think there is even a tuning/modding community for these cars and there are even some world championships!

Hope you enjoyed reading!

I have a very similar functional set too. It's almost 20 years old.

Awesome share!

I have quite a bit of experience in this (playing+ buying!). Commercially it is called Scalextric (manufacturer) slot cars.

In India it is being retailed and distributed by Funskool and is available in all major toy stores. There are cheaper manufacturers of the slot cars at half the rate but questionable quality) like Carerra etc.

I used to be playing quite a lot with this kit while in the UK. However, there aren't many here who know about this kit in India.

There are a lot of tracks that you can buy (even the segments/ sectors), sceneries, cars, joysticks, humans (toys ofcourse), grandstands, trees etc etc., Basically anything that you might come across any traditional race track. You can also buy F1 racing tracks if you are up for it. You can opt for a 2 car or 4 car racing track; I think you can upgrade the cars as well.

Basically its brilliant time pass but expensive. One thing that annoys me is that the guide blade (wires at the bottom of the car) get ruined on prolonged usage; so its better if you can get some spares (not that expensive). One thing you need to keep in mind is that the cars actually travel fast and unless you regulate the speed its gonna fly off at junctions/ corners. Hence, you need to provide some kind of a barricade around the corners and junctions; and it is better to play with the kit on the floor (not on table).

Thanks for reading and have fun with the kit!

S

Me too, had it when I was a kid and used to play it almost all the time. Don't know where or in what state the set would be now.:D
I'm surprised that most people don't know about this.

Wow. The track looks cool! I have never played this ever, but the set up looks very interesting. Are you in Hyd? If you need a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) player, please let me know. I'll be happy to play! :)

I had one of this when I was young. But the track setup was way smaller. Just a rectangle with rounded edges.
As far as I remember, I had a Lambhorgini Diablo and a Porsche 911. It was a lot of fun to play with.

You are welcome to post pics if you have them!

Glad you enjoyed it :) Please post pics of your set too if you have them.

There are other race sets that have vertical sections of track in the shape of an upside down 'U', sections with vertical loops like roller coasters, and curves that bank at an angle like a corkscrew. Unfortunately my set doesn't have any of those :P

There is even an accessory that counts the number of laps your car does!

I checked the prices on eBay and other sites and cost of spares has become really expensive these days. It's cheaper to just buy the entire chassis instead of individual parts.

Yes I am in hyd. However, the track needs some more work and only one lane is working at a time. It will take some time to fix it.

Yes, I remember my friend had a track in the shape of a figure eight. The rectangle ones were the most popular though.


My set is a scale 1:64 size. There are other sets with bigger cars and tracks at 1:32 scale.

WOW Tyco! Brings back childhood memories :) My cousin used to have a set and we used to spend so much time with it :)

OT perhaps but have you checked out Anki Drive?

refreshing memories after 12 years.. Waww.. Exciting!!!

Is this available in India also ? Any one knows reliable place, I would love to buy it for kid.

Hi Bowser ,

I envy you man. Yes , It was sold in India and was quite popular. I had one nice set around 25 years back. It was lovely and i still cherish it as my best childhood toy. I had a smaller track with two cars which had working headlights & breaklights. It stopped working after 2 years of enjoyment , nobody could repair it here then and finally my mother got rid of it by giving it away. Better and more expensive ones are now available on a portal www.cart2india.com

regards
Amol

I haven't heard of it till now. I will check it out. Thanks for the tip!


Do you remember what brand your set was?

Please let me know where can I buy at a shop in Trivandrum? Is it available online?

It's mentioned in one of the posts above that you can buy online at www.cart2india.com

You can also buy on eBay.com in US and get it shipped but you may face issues at customs. You also have to worry about voltage conversion problems. Also note that these are not made anymore since a long time so you have to buy used or new old stock.