Car Tunes with Pete and Joe

If you don't sleep in on Saturday mornings, I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and have a listen to Joe and Pete's semi-weekly chat stream CAR TUNES.  If you don't know, Joe created the Irreras Carrera channel on YouTube while Pete is the creator behind the Show-Me Slot Cars channel which hosts the chat. Both run Carrera digital, and they provide some entertaining banter as well as some helpful info on running digital setups.

In addition, they have also set up a Discord site that will allow the Slot Car community to host discussions ans "rooms" on a number of topics. It's a great way to gather and disseminate info as well as carry on conversations after your favorite live stream is over. Check it out HERE.

My "Buy List" for 2024

Now that most all the manufacturers' 2024 offerings have been made public, everyone is making their "buy lists" out and many are sharing them on YouTube. This can be a fun exercise...up to a point. For my own part, I try to limit this topic to a brief mention on one of my videos.

In this case, my focus is primarily on Scaleauto - who has projected a few of the new LMH and LMDH hypercars for the coming year, including the Porsche 963, the Cadillac, the Peugeot and the BMW. In addition, Slot.it will be coming out with an Acura hypercar, and the new Carrera Ferrari 296 GT3 is also on my radar. I'm sure there will be a few other new cars that will pique my interest, but my budget will have it's limits. And limiting my interest to primarily Lemans/Sebring etc.endurance racers definitely helps.

New Additions to The Paddock: Vintage, Old and Relatively New

Always more holes to fill in the Slot Car Garage, it seems, and the acquisitions continue with a variety of cars that are a few decades old, well over a decade, and relatively new. The first of these is a classic Scalextric Lamborghini Miura - a car I've always wanted but up til now has been a little hard to come by in the US. I've almost sprung for the AutoArt version a couple of times but held off.  This much older Scaley version is a little dated (no separate chassis and the "tupperware" type body) but it was in excellent condition.

The next car on the list was an earlier 2000's MG-Lola LMP. I already had the dark grey and lime green original version, but this blue and white Thetford livery was in almost-new shape and was obtained on eBay for an excellent price. My original car was a superb runner, and I expect this one will be good as well.

Lastly, my other purchase was a Carrera Corvette C8 - this one (like the other grey and red one I own) purchased from Lakota Collectables as a de-digitized analog car with no box. As I really don't need another case and I am analog after all, this offers me some considerable savings.

 

It's a good deal all around, and I'm not the only one who's taken advantage of their approach. Lakota is actually a division of Great Traditions, an online dealer that is known to offer solid deals and excellent service.

 

 

SJ EPISODE 4: Tower Times Part 3 and the Bare Truth...

In Episode #4, we continue with our Tower Project by cutting windows, adding some paint, adding some trim and planning for the interior details. Then we look at a couple of Group 5 Cars that joined the Garage. As I mentioned before, they are not my favorites in terms of beauty, but as a group they do have their charms. I suspect they will be good performers, too.

    Finally, we'll finish by highlighting a YouTuber who's clearly won the [brass] pole position by shooting his videos in a strip club! Not really...but the concept of using a fun viortual background shows some real creativity. Best of all, the slot car content is really useful. Be sure to check it out!  The Video is HERE:

Lamborghini and Audi Roll into the Slot Car Garage

 Some new cars keep trickling into the garage, as I continue to scour eBay for the occasional good deal. While prices can sometimes be crazy, I've managed to find some new old stock or nearly-new cars at decent price. One example is this Lamborghini Huracan from Carrera.

I really like the yellow and blue livery on this one, and the white wheels really make it pop (did I ever mention that I really don't like black wheels on race cars?) I already had one other Huracan in the collection, but this one was hard to resist. The other new car to be added was an Avant Slot Audi R10.

I already have two other R10s in the garage, but I have been looking for this Kolles livery for a while; every now and then one becomes available and I was able to snatch this one up. I was surprised how light and thin the body looks on this as opposed to most manufacturers' cars, although I have not taken it apart for a closer look yet.

Newest Additions to the Slot Car Garage

Things have slowed down a bit over the past few weeks and my early 2023 buying spree has come to a close, I think. I feel like I've pretty much "caught up" on filling the holes in my collection, and have settled on looking for good buys on more obscure cars or used cars that might be good candidates for projects. Other purchases might be add-ons to some models of cars I already have, from different manufacturers or other variations.

 

One example of an "extension" to what I already have was this Carrera Porsche 917K - a nice analog example of a classic Le Mans car. I already had 2 Fly Classic 917s, but I've heard some folks on Youtube singing the praises of the Carrera versions that I wanted to have one to try out. Of course, NSR makes 917s as well - but I'm not sure my track design would allow that car to demonstrate its performance advantages, so I saved a little money this time around.

 

Another addition was made to my Early 60s Le Mans group - the Corvette Stingray No. 8 (from Carrera again) - an attractive white, blue and red livery that I preferred over some of the other ones available. In reality, I had wanted one of the Revell-Monogram Corvette Grand Sports that were produced some years ago, but they run almost $100 now if you can find NOS. For now, the Carrera - at $40 - is an acceptable compromise, and I look forward to running it with my Ferrari GTOs, XKE Jags, Cobra Daytona, Cheetah and Porsche 904.

Catching Up on The Collection

Every time I get away from the hobby, a lot of new slot cars come out that I will inevitably miss - and I will have to go back and "fill in the holes" in my collection. If I'm lucky, I won't have waited too long and the cars will still be available on eBay or at online shops for a manageable price. I don't try to collect everything; my main areas of interest include early 60's LeMans, Classic LeMans, Group C and IMSA GTP cars, Modern LMP and GT cars and the newest Hypercars - as they become available, I hope.

While I appreciate Formula 1, there are just too many cars to add and too little money. NASCAR and Rally are not my thing, nor are DTM or Trans Am. Group 5 cars have never appealed to me either, as I don't like the look of the "tacked on" aero-effects of the period, which feel like they were fabricated from sheet metal and attached to stock body panels with rivets...

I was really happy to get this Slot.it Audi for a nice price.

The simple truth here is--like Clint Eastwood once said--"A Man Needs to Know His Limitations." That goes for the wallet as well. For me, it's best to focus on the kind of cars I like and try to get a fairly wide (if not too deep) range of cars. That means a couple of liveries for most types, from each manufacturer, or slightly different versions of cars, if they exist. I find just keeping up there can be a challenge.

 

 

For example, I bought a Slot.it 2011 Audi R18 a few years ago, and was able to add a companion 2012 e-Tron recently in a nice complimentary paint scheme. My Group C/IMSA cars saw the addition of another Toyota 86C and a companion March 83 G to match my other March.

 

Likewise, I was able to keep up my GT collection by adding a Carrera Corvette C8, a very sharp McLaren 720S GTE and a new Slot.it Maserati MC Gt4. I've added some other as well, but I'll save those for another post. My goal is to get "caught up" enough so I can just focus on adding new cars as they come out--which might mean adding one each month or every-other month. We'll see.

A Busy Month for Slot Car Buying

Having not added any cars to the collection for a couple of years, it seems I've been doing a lot of catch-up lately. Since there are so many choices in both makes and liveries these days, I've probably focused more on those; honestly, modern GT class cars are growing increasingly attractive and varied, while their LMP counterparts seem to look more and more similar.

 

A couple of Carrera offerings lead the pack, with the #27592 Audi R8 "Valvoline" and the #27624 McLaren 720S GT3 "Blau." Both look great. Like all my cars, they are analog. I followed this up with a Scalextric #C3941 Mercedes AMG GT3 "Sun Energy" - which has a really fantastic multi-colored livery and bright orange wheels.

So far, I only have one Scaleauto car, a Radical. I've had my eye on the #SC6053 Spyker C8 Spyder GT2-R cars for a long time, and was finally able to obtain one at a reasonable price--from a shop in Spain! Even with the shipping, it was still $10 less than anything I could find on this side of the Atlantic, so I bit. With its silver and orange livery, it's a real looker. Can't wait to see how it will do on the track.

For whatever reason, I missed out on the original offering of MB Slot Pagani Zonda RTR cars. But I was able to pick up this #A0701 white kit on eBay at a very good price. I'm tempted to keep it mostly white, doing some minimal trim painting and adding some race numbers and a few decals only. We'll see.

 

Get Your Weekly Fix with Dave Kennedy's Slot Car News

 As I recently got back into the hobby, Dave Kennedy was a familiar name to me and I was happy to see that he had transitioned much of his presence from his Slot Car News blog to a really amazing YouTube Channel. Dave's original blog has transitioned to more of a commercial racing news source, and the content there is now handled by others (though he retains ownership of the site). Dave now primarily focuses on the 1:32 model slot car industry and provides weekly updates on new models coming out, new products, and other content that will be of great interest to most hobbyists.

If you want to know what's going on in the slot car industry, Dave Kennedy is your man.

With his extensive experience working for SCX, Scalextric and Carrera, Dave knows the ins-and-outs of the industry and best of all, isn't afraid to tell it like it is. He's done awesome videos featuring straight talk on subjects such as brand licensing, model production numbers, the basic differences in chassis and motors, and other topics that people often ask about. He explains why companies like Scalextric and Carrera think like "toy manufacturers" and not "slot car enthusiasts" - and how these factors shape the way the industry creates and sells products. It's fascinating stuff, and it's one reason why I look forward to his Friday uploads.

Besides the latest hobby news, Dave also provides a lot of useful and educational content that will be of use to slot car hobbyists--especially those just starting out. He offers helpful tips on the different brands of track, what different manufacturers have to offer, basic car maintenance and much, much more. While his expertise makes him compelling to experienced slot car folks, he doesn't assume you already know everything--and that's refreshing.

Dave also recently started doing some live-stream chat events, where he will happily talk about new developments and answer your questions. Check him out on YouTube at Slot Car News Official.

Stealth Mode: The Quiet Simplicity of The Idler Wheel Drive

I was watching a recorded episode of the Worldwide Slot Car Chat earlier this week and listened to an extended conversation regarding the ubiquitous Fly Vipers that not only changed the nature of modern slot cars some 20+ years ago but which seem to reside in almost everyone's slot car garage. Many people have multiple models of this car, since they were very popular and continue to be widely available at very, very affordable prices.

At first glance, this Viper looks like a lot of others.

Strangely enough, I don't own one. But I do own a Viper--a Carrera model that was among some of the first cars I ever purchased. Listening to the owners go on about the shortcomings of the Fly version--with its front-motor position, "drive shaft" and inevitable handling and tuning issues, I decided to dive into my storage box of cars and retrieve my old Viper and check it out again, as I knew it had very little in common with the Fly cars.

Aesthetically, it is wholly comparable to the Fly cars, with nice detail, sparse but decent-looking decals, and overall--leaving an excellent impression. Flipping it over and looking at the chassis reveals something different, however; when I showed it to the other people in our chat, they were surprised to see what appeared to be a sidewinder setup. They were even more surprised when I showed them a photo of the body removed--revealing an extremely simple idler drive (also known as a "friction" drive) with a rubber contact wheel in place of a pinion gear, contacting directly with the right rear tire to drive the car. You'll also note the two spring mechanisms in front of the motor that helps adjust tension so the drive maintains good contact with the rear tire.

Have you ever seen an idler-drive slot car? Here you go...

With so much discussion of pinions and crown gears, tooth-counts and related tech talk, it was fun to see the reaction to this ultra-simple setup. In truth, this car was always a pleasure to drive...comparatively quick on my old track and best of all--superbly silent. It was almost like racing in stealth mode, with no gear grinding or whining at all. In addition to this one, I also have two other Carrera models with the same setup, a green Jever Porsche 911 GT1 EVO 98 and the 1999 Audi R8R LMP. As I seem to recall, the Porsche was the fastest of the three, with the Audi a close second, probably due to the fact that it may have been a bit heavier.

Both of these cars are nice runners, too. The Porsche is the quickest.

Not really sure why Carrera decided to use this drive in its cars, or why it stopped. It may have provided some relief to mothers, who only had to listen to their children's shrieks of joy while playing--without the added gear noise. Obviously performance would be an issue, but on my old 50 foot track, with a generous amount of curves, these cars were still competitive...and a pleasure to drive.

 

TV News: Childhood Classics Making a Comeback

It's always good to see the slot car hobby get some recognition, and this has certainly been the case during the Pandemic, where so many people have been forced to stay home and indulge in activities by themselves or with other family members. As a result, many have discovered the fun of slot cars for their kids, or rediscovered the fun they have to offer as adults looking for a great way to pass the time.

Like many manufacturers, Carrera has seen a recent boom in sales.

WPRI-TV in Providence, RI recently featured a segment that included an interview with Carrera of America president Frank Tiessen, where he discusses the importance of family time, screen-free play, and the resurgence of nostalgic games and toys. Carerra has been celebrating their 55th year of manufacturing, and has seen a solid resurgence in sales over the past year. Check out this interview from WPRI's The Rhode Show.

Two Lovely Lamborghinis

 Up till now, the only Lamborghinis I have in my collection were an old Scalextric red Diablo with a partially-broken wing and a yellow Ninco Diablo in a very cool Corona livery. Unfortunately, the latter arrived as "used" - and while the seller insisted that the rear wing was in the package, it was missing when it arrived. At some point I will restore both and get them running decently, but in the meantime, I found a couple garage-mates for them.

Looking forward to seeing these two Lamborghinis square off on the track.

The Ninco Gallardo is a sharp model with a livery that I've always admired. The Carrera Huracan GT3 Italia is every bit as attractive, with a livery in colors that my best friend (who is of Italian ancestry) will be sure to like. It will be a while before I get them on the track, but it will be interesting to compare the two.

Slot Cars Carry On During COVID

While the COVID-19 crisis has been a challenge for many businesses, some shops are thriving like never before. With so many folks now spending more time at home, traditional hobbies such as slot car modelling and racing are making a comeback, according to Carrera of America. Familiar to slot car enthusiasts everywhere, Carrera of America has been around for over 55 years and is based in East Brunswick, NJ.

Carrera makes a wide range of cars in several scales.

The distributor started seeing an increase in activity last March, as people began to be home-bound. After blowing through their inventory in a month, they were finally able to get re-stocked by the factory in May. August was their biggest sales month of all.

More on the story can be found HERE. It's good to know that our hobby manages to survive and even thrive a little. The article also includes a nice introduction to slot cars in general.