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.

Sloter Lola, GB Track Chevron Enter The Garage

Two of the notable recent additions to the garage include some cars I have been trying to obtain for some time and was recently able to acquire form eBay at a reasonable price. Over time, I've discovered that the most important attribute to eBay shopping is patience; sooner or later a car you want will show up, and if you're lucky, at a price you can accept.

The first car is the Lola T280 as driven by Jo Bonnier - it features the famous Swiss Cheese livery, which was on the car he (sadly) wrecked at Le Mans in 1972. I've wanted this car because my next track (fictionally located in Switzerland) will have a "museum area" that will feature some special cars driven by well-known Swiss drivers, like some Porsches driven by Jo Siffert and a Ferrari and Alfa driven by Clay Regazzoni. Though Bonnier was Swedish, the car will make a memorable addition.

The second car is the Chevron B19 driven by Niki Lauda at Salzburgring in 1971. As Lauda is primarily known as a famous F1 driver, I thought this car was an interesting addition, and gives me a good excuse the play the Niki Lauda Song - actually called "Moma Laudaaa" - which is so fun I will probably highlight it in a future video episode. The car is boxed as a special edition of 3,000.

Looking for Value in a Great-Looking Car? These Fly Cars Have it.

In my never-ending search for new and used car values, I keep coming across some nice Fly cars that I just can't resist. These two recent additions to the garage are good examples of what I mean, and as long as I can find 'em, I'll continue to buy 'em.

The white car is the first 908/3 that I have owned; I may be tempted to add an NSR version at some point, but for now this one will fit the bill nicely in terms of the late 60's/early 70's open racers. This is in addition to the open cockpit 908 and 908 Flunder that I have recently acquired. Of course they will need some tuning, but as they will probably be run against one another, this should make for a fun time.

 

The Venturi was a (Yellow Pages) special edition that was purchased as new stock on eBay for just $25. This was from a non-slot car dealer that may have undervalued it a little...but similar deals are out there from other sellers. That price is hard to resist - and this will make my third Venturi. As I like even numbers, I will probably find another one so I have a nice little class for racing.

After 22 Years: An Inventory of The Collection

After running and collecting 1/32 scale for 22 years, I finally figured it was time to pull everything out of the storage boxes and do a proper inventory. These are mostly all endurance-type cars...early and classic Le Mans, Group C/ IMSA GTP, open 1990s - 2000s LMPs and later, modern LMPs and GTs, and a few Can Am cars and other cars as well. The process took a while, and I had one box in particular that I had a hard time locating.
 

I thought this table would be plenty big enough. I was wrong.

Looking through everything, there are some kits to convert, too. The minis I have are just fun to drive and I wanted everyone in the family to have their own.   There are a few other odds and ends...my lone American muscle car (a Pontiac LeMans with flames) and two Daytona prototypes that I never really warmed up to. They will probably go on eBay - or I might adapt the chassis to run one of my kit conversions.

Early 60s Le Mans, Classic Le Mans and some Can Am & open racers.

Now comes the job of organizing everything. There are about 180 cars (with 3 more coming in the mail soon) and I am planning on taking photos of all of them. Not a fan of spreadsheets, either - but I will have to find some software or app to keep track. I tested Greg Braun's Slotcars 2000, which seemed OK at first, but I'm not sure I like the interface, and the record page does not include the car photo. I do have Ultimate Racer, which also has an inventory system, but it's on an old PC. I think it is still freely available and can be downloaded for Win 10. I may look into the newer version.

Some Minis, odds-and-ends, and kits on the shelf below.

Regardless, the process is very time-consuming, and not one I look forward to...but it's winter, I don't have a track to run on right now, and it needs to get done.

LMP Racing Stable Continues to Grow

I've spent much of the past month or so getting caught up on cars that I may have passed on when they first came out. While I can occasionally get a good deal on some NOS (new old stock) I don't mind purchasing a gently used car if it's intact and shows little effects of track time. Sometimes these can be found at dealers, and eBay too, of course - though the prices on even some used cars can get pretty ridiculous. The price on this DHL Porsche Spyder was quite good - it was listed as used but it looks practically brand new. The Fly Racing Lola B98/10 was a great deal on an NOS car that was created as a special racing version - it has a hotter motor, lighter body, aluminum wheels and a vacu-formed driver and cockpit. We'll see how it does on the track.

The Spirit Courage C65 was also an NOS buy - I probably paid about what it cost when new, which is not bad since I've seen it listed on eBay for $15-$20 more than I paid. Though they are not known to be awesome runners, the Spirit card look great and I really like the red and black livery.

Since it will be a while before I have a track to test anything on, any kind of reviews will have to wait. Nevertheless, I'm feeling pretty good about filling up some of the open spots in my collection, and the class of 1999-2010 LMPs I've been able to acquire is getting pretty extensive, as is my collection of Group 6/IMSA-GTP cars.

Avant Slot Looking to Build on Growing List of New LMH / LMDh Cars

I sometimes laugh and tell people I am "All Endurance Racing - All The Time" - which is kinda true - from the early 60's to the present day, I love my Le Mans and IMSA cars. Even with a relatively tight collectors focus like that, there are still so many cars out there...and the growth of 3D printing has put even more of them in reach.

That said, it is good to see that at least one slot car manufacturer has put a flag in the ground and has plans to produce some more of this growing list of WEC / IMSA Endurance Racing cars. I saw this announcement from Avant just recently, and it is an ambitious release list, to be sure. In real life, endurance racing is seeing a huge influx of new (and old) LMH/LMDh participants, including Porsche, BMW, Peugeot, Ferrari, Cadillac, Acura, Glickenhaus and even Vanwall and Isotta Fraschini!

I'm sure some of these cars will be (or already have been) modeled by some of our 3D printing superstars, but it will be nice to see some new products from our slot car manufacturers, too. SRC will be producing a Porsche 919 soon and Slot.it will add an LMH Oreca car as well. That will no doubt be used by many privateer teams, thus allowing a wide array of liveries. Acura is using that chassis, so maybe that will be a car we can look forward to. Let's hope!    

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.

Dazzling Thoughts on Modern Race Car Liveries

In real world sports car racing, there's a lot of excitement about the changes taking place in WEC, IMSA/GTP and the higher-level classses like Hypercar (LMH) and Hybrid (LMPh). With a growing number of manufacturers getting in on the action, many endurance fans are feeling like "the good old days" are again on the horizon.

Over the past few years, as some of these newer cars have shown up as RTR slot cars, opinions have varied in terms of how the cars look. While the modern full-bodied racers may not have the inherent beauty of a Ferrari 330p or the balanced look of a Porsche 962, they still have the curves and overall appearance that endurance fans expect. I still like them, although I an still not a big fan of the dorsal fins! Over the past couple of years I've added cars like the Lola B12s, Ginettas, Audi R18s and Toyota Hybrid, and am looking forward to adding more. The real world cars and manufacturers currently coming on board do vary in looks to a greater extent than they have over recent years. In fact, the new Peugeot 9X8 has a semi-fin and no wing at all!

That said, I do want to point out one factor that really makes a difference in how these cars look - and one which may influence slot car manufacturers as they make future decisions on which liveries to choose for production. Since the many "lumps, bumps and bulges" inherent in modern LMPs often result in a less coherent whole (compared to many older examples) I would posit that liveries which clarify the form and shape of the car make them not only more attractive, but also easier to identify. Take for example, the Porsche 963 below.

I find the result here to be very clean and good-looking; the paint work accentuates the body lines of the car and the overall look is very appealing. In contrast, I present the livery of the BMW M Hybrid shown below. The effect here is very much similar to the old "dazzle" paint that was used to hide the true form of military (and civilian) ships during the  World Wars. The thought was that painting anything like this made it not only harder to clearly identify a ship, but also for an enemy to target it. As you can see, the approach works. The BMW may be an attractive car, but it's really hard to tell with that livery, though it is colorful.

Note how the effect is similar to the old wartime "dazzle" pain [below]

That's just my .02--I'm sure our slot car manufacturers will turn out some beauties either way, but I think that maybe a slightly more traditional approach to race car liveries helps make them easier to ID and a bit more attractive. What do you think?

Waiting for the Scalextric Lola Aston Martin

As modern Le Mans prototypes are among my primary collecting and racing interests, I have been anticipating getting my hands on the new Lola Aston Martin LMP1 from Scalextric. This is the car that ran at La Sarthe in 2010, and it was initially announced that it would first be only available in a special 2-car collectors set, along with the DBR9 GT1. While I wouldn't mind having another Aston Martin DBR9 (especially since the Ninco one I recently bought is such a dog) I was glad to hear that the LMP will eventually be available by itself later this year.

PHOTO CREDITS: Scalextric

It's a great looking car - especially in the Gulf livery, and if it runs anything like the other Scalextric cars I've purchased over the years, it's bound to be a favorite.

Audi Debuts New R18 Race Car

If it's not obvious yet, my favorite types of cars are Endurance Racers and GTs...so I was happy to see Audi unveil their newest Le Mans prototype, the R18 LMP1. The new Le Mans coupe will be the German manufacturer’s weapon as it seeks to claim its 10th win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans next June. Audi says the R18, which replaces the open-cockpit R15 TDI, is a completely new racer.

PHOTO CREDITS: Auto Week.

The car will make its racing debut at the six-hour endurance race held at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit on May 8. According to Audi officials, the decision to go with a closed coupe is purely a performance decision, since their testing has made it clear that closed cars now have a clear advantage.

Of course, any new slot cars of this type are always welcome! The comments regarding the design (at least on some of the slot car discussion boards) have been somewhat mixed; the design is clearly aggressive, but many observers aren't quite sold on the dorsal fin. At least--on a slot car--it would offer a handy spot to grab when you picked it up off the track!

Read more about the R18 HERE.

Beautiful New Peugeot from Avant Slot

Just came across this for sale on the Spanish site Todoslot - via a post on Twitter - the 2010 Oreca Matmut Peugeot. Definitely a sharp, colorful livery that I know a lot of sloters would like to put on the track.

PHOTO CREDIT: Todoslot.es.

Now if Carrera Would Only Make THIS Ferrari...

I just came across this on Jalopnik - it's the racing version of Jim Glickenhaus's wicked Ferrari P4/5 - which is currently under construction. Set to compete in next year's 24-hours of the Nürburgring, the car--dubbed the Competizione--will incorporate the suspension and V-8 drivetrain of an F430 GT2 ALMS racing car under bodywork like that of his one-off, Pininfarina-built Ferrari Enzo.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jalopnik.com.

I think this would make an incredible slot car - hopefully Carrera (who owns the current rights to Ferrari) will agree, assuming the car does run at The Ring and hopefully at some other races (LeMans would be nice) as well. While many of the current available modern Ferraris are nice - this would be a real step up, in my opinion.

Scalextric Super Racing System (SRS) Cars

They are not easy to find now, but the lexan-bodied Scalextric SRS cars were not only good performers, but for many years, they were the only game in town in terms of more exotic endurance racing cars like the Lancia LC2, Nissan R89C and the Peugeot 905. Now that some of these cars are (or will be) available in high-quality hard body shells from manufacturers like Slot.It, LeMans Miniatures and others, we have options that look a little better and offer more durability. Nevertheless, these cars from the mid-80's/early-90's still look quite good, perform well, and still have significant value for collectors. The chassis are super lightweight, and the strong motors and lexan bodies deliver excellent racing performance. These examples are in very good shape, sans the obvious yellowing of the Lancia Body, which was originally pure white. I've seen some that are still nice and white - so I don't know if this one was exposed to too much sunlight or perhaps had been clear-coated...with something.

VIDEO: The Porsche 917 Was Scary Fast

Forty years on, many still marvel at the legend of the Porsche 917. I came across this great video courtesy of Jalopnik, which notes: "The Porsche 917 is what happens when Ze Germans focus all their energy on global domination... in a good way."

Porsche 917 from Mee on Vimeo.

I have a couple of Fly classics in my collection, but watching this really makes me want to get a few more. Still looking for a good deal on a 917 long-tail...