Slotspeed

Found that quite interesting too. I thought your shop was still active? Are you winding it down?

Interesting, I am most of the way through it, will watch the rest later. As an AV professional I can't help but notice the roadcases and pelican cases in the background, but then there is some kind of phase and panning issue on Sean's mic! I do find the perspective of those in the slot car retail industry quite interesting.

Hi, Some folk over on slotforum are reporting issues trying to log into and access Auslot. I had issues with Firefox on mac but just tried Safari which seems to be working fine. Feel free to delete this if it becomes irrelevant. Cheers.

I had been hoping for a little while that Sideways would do the Hawaiian Tropic BMW M1. But in the photos the livery doesn't really pop as I had hoped it would. I know that often the pre-prod photos don't do the cars justice, even so, I'm on the fence as to whether I would pre-order it. The photos of the 1:1 car look a bit different in the blue. But of course the film technology of the time can misrepresent the actual colors to quite a degree as I'm sure most of us have noticed over the years. Hmmm, may just wait until I can view it in person before I decide.

You can still visit the dunny (not recommended!) behind the pits at Amaroo, its about the only structure that is still there. but the rest of the sit is worth having a look-see, to see what you can recognise. I don't think any of the original tarmac exists, but you can make out where most of the circuit was, even though bitupave seems to be obstructed by a house. (the one with a transmission tower behind it) You can make out where some of the rocks were that were on the edge of the circuit, and the rock face that the pit entry ran past at the other end. Gazza, got anything in print or other media about the Toby Lee final at Oran Park in September 1971? My dad competed in a white Cooper S in the main event. All I have is an entrant list, program and pit passes etc, no photos unfortunately.

Anyone ordered from the UK since 1st January and is there anything to be wary of before ordering?

Are Slotworx still in production? What era cars are you after? The Scaley ones start to get expensive once they sell out at the shops, though if you are patient and look around I have seen some bargains on the 70's era. When I say bargain, I mean RRP. Some of the Supercars era cars start to climb in value but some seem to stay close to the original RRP. Just be patient and look around. Are you talking about a 2 lane track? Scalextric track is fairly cheap. The older type track (I think its often called "classic") is very cheap to buy but the slot is shallower than the newer "Sport" track. The plating on the Scalextric track isn't that durable so look out for that if buying used. Some people find ways to rejuvinate it but its probably always going to take care to keep it in good operating condition. I run Carrera plastic track but the geometry is a bit awkward and thus uses a fair amount of real estate to build a layout. It's also not cheap compared to Scalextric. Hope that helps a little bit, maybe not though! Good luck.

Took me by surprise when I heard it was going to be a slot.it release as well. Legendary car, loved it but also loved to see it beaten (eventually dropping to 18th place) in 1990 by the Grice/Percy Commodore (my favorite Bathurst 1000 to watch) What an awkward win in 1992, difficult to forget that one, but very entertaining to listen to recent interviews with Skaife and Richo about that podium presentation! Very glad to see it as a slot car... Not just because it was a great racing car but also because of the Aussie development of the car by Gibson Motorsport, I read that it raised some eyebrows at Nismo whose approach was quite different.

Hi, there are three or four ways to run analog cars on your Carrera digital track, I have done two of them successfully. 1) if you have a spare analog "connecting track" (awkward name but that is what Carrera call it) and controllers you can just swap out the CU while you are running your analog cars. 2) you can install a high quality DPDT switch and change the track between analog and digital modes using analog controllers 3) you can modify the digital set up to run an analog "lane chipping" mode, basically using the digital controllers and CU to drive car decoders that are switched or inserted between the CU rail output and the rails 4) you can buy a pre made lane chipping box which becomes REALLY expensive once you factor exchange rate and postage from the US. If you need help, I can provide links to further information. Bear in mind that Analog modes and digital modes run in the opposite track polarity to each other but it all works because of the polarity protection built in to the digital track accessories. With regards to decoders, there are now a few extra options these days... But they are still either the same price or more expensive than the factory decoders. I have kept quiet about this next part because I have taken so long to get a production version happening but I do hope to release my own decoder onto the market, in limited numbers to start with and hope to bring extra benefits at slightly lower price than the factory decoder... Don't wait for me though as I have other things going on and can't devote much time to this, but the prototypes have excellent performance.

Wow

I noticed a price hike well before Covid but wouldn't surprise me if they hiked it up again. Just a few years ago it was quite reasonable.

Placed my first overseas slot car order since Covid less than 7 days ago. Found a couple of cars I had been looking for and they were at the right price and in stock, seemed too good to be true. Had been looking for one of them for nearly two years, hadn't been in stock in any of the local stores. They arrived this morning from Electric Dreams in EL Segundo, California, to Sydney NSW. Everything was packed really nicely, by someone who cares by the looks of it. Jewel cases in good condition, cars look good (haven't opened the cases yet) Just adding... shipping was a bit pricey at about US $43 but its comparatively not bad at all compared to typical shipping prices from the US these days and was offset slightly by the price of the cars. If I had only ordered one car the shipping would have been US$25.

Thanks Gazza, preserving the history of the mountain for our viewing pleasure. Interesting that David Parsons takes the opening shot, probably the most underrated endurance race co-driver we have seen!

Johnno, would that be Carreraslots.com, the retailer in the US (Minnesota, I think?)

I have thought about this thread in terms of the motor racing angle for a day or two before posting my own thoughts, so here goes. Can't promise they will make much sense to anyone else though! I think the problem that Supercars are struggling with is the ability for your average punter to relate to it. I notice that some seasoned motor racing fans talk about the early days of Supercars as being the golden days or the best era of supercars. Well remember it was really the continuation of the ATCC without the diversity of 4cyl, 6cyl, other makes and unfortunately, anything but a V8. At first, when the Supercar formula was in its early development (1992, 1993) which seemed pretty exciting and I seem to recall argy bargy brewing between various business interests and a bit too much influence from the promoters, but perhaps that was a little bit later. The racing was good I thought while the BMW M3's were still a threat on the smaller, tighter tracks, but I do remember going to the NSW rounds of the ATCC thinking it was a bit boring watching only three makes plus Colin Bond's toyotas which unfortunately didn't have much of a chance. So the Supercar formula we know about but I think all it had going for it was the personality dramas which bored the crap out of me and I had to stop watching it. The endurance races were OK I guess because you had some part time drivers and some different strategies which when added to the mix makes it very interesting. (Unfortunately though, the efforts by some of the "professional" drivers to thin the fields out and relegate some of the lesser prepared teams to a second tier category also helped make it more of a race by numbers and make it even more boring. At least some of those drivers got a chance to have a go at the enduros) Well it seemed to be popular still (though I couldn't understand why) and I gave up on watching it for maybe 10 years because it was as interesting as watching Taxis on George St in Sydney. Some business risk taking by Kelly Brothers and GRM and whoever else was involved that meant new makes were included made it interesting and I watched it on TV again but my local tracks were gone so I never got to see it in the flesh again. TCR I find I can't watch, too many hatch backs and FWD, they don't seem like racing cars to me, I know I should be open minded and give it a go but I tried and I tuned out really quickly. Back to the hey day of sedan racing... Big crowds, lots of sedan based categories, the big guns of the time (Gheogans, Moffats, the Holden contingent etc) all ran in several categories, Sports sedans, Improved Production, Series Production and the ATCC, they were running in several categories, my old man had kept race programmes from 1971, it seems racing was in its heyday, even Sports Cars had a large following. What do we have now? Larger population and less people interested (it seems) so what is wrong? Is it because people can no longer relate? GT3 and GT4 I reckon has something for car enthusiasts but maybe its harder for average people to relate since they are cars that a lot of people would likely not ever buy. What about sports sedans? Could supercars base their competition on a sports sedan like model, allowing more diversity of chassis and engine configuration rather than all the control engines and chassis that just makes all the cars too much like each other. I don't know, maybe it would just be a money wins races problem.

Just received a parcel from California that was sent USPS about 7 weeks ago. According to the tracking, it was stuck in LA for about 6 of those weeks. Guess I am lucky it came at all considering the challenges at the moment.

Occasionally I get lane changing issues running smaller bladed cars on Carrera digital. People have shimmed them up or glued extra bits of plastic on, I know people add aftermarket guide blades, but I've never done this. For analog I have never had a problem, in fact my fastest car is a Scalextric mini which uses standard guide on Carrera track.

Hi, For those on facebook, one of my favorite groups is "Old Motor Racing Photos - Australia" (which also features some NZ photos on occasion) There are 20,000 members in that group and it is becoming quite a large archive of interesting photos from last century (up to 1978 as the group specifies) Next week on Wednesday, it is slot car photos day... This is quite unusual, Bob Williamson, who runs the group (an ex Bathurst driver on a few occasions) has decided that is what it will be next week. There are quite a few ex drivers in that group, such as KB, AJ, John Bowe, many many others as well as period photographers, historians, and journalists. And even a racer David King, whose mini was sposored by Scalextric in the 70's, you may have even seen an official Scalextric release of his 1:1 car which he still owns. So if you have created something special, here is the chance to put it under their noses. If anyone has some photos of interesting slot cars of Aussie race cars built before 1978 then find the group and post it. (it won't be approved until next Wednesday) Bob is quite specific that only Aussie (or NZ I would expect would be OK too) race car liveries prior to 1978 will be accepted for this one. If anyone is shy and don't want to post it themeselves, then I would be happy to send it in for you and make sure you are credited for your photo. I also see this as an opportunity for some exposure for our hobby to an audience of historic motor racing fans. Cheers, Steve.

Wow, my brothers and I had a set with "Brock and Johnson " cars, I think they were supposed to be Sierras, but actually looking nothing like Sierras, looked a bit like the form pictured here, though the "Brock" car was a Mobil-like livery, so must have been a later release, late 80's I guess. I seem to recall them being quite disappointing, I remember someone pulled the Brock car apart "to see what is wrong with it" but I don't think it ever went back together again. We still have it somewhere. That SD1 #17 liveried car is just wrong!!! Will have trouble getting that out of my immediate memory! A bit of a laugh though.

What track system or will it be routed? As this gives me an idea of the smallest radius that will be used. Overall layout is a tad smaller than mine actually. 12 reminds me a bit of the straight and turns 1,2,3 of SMSP (Eastern Creek). I kind of like 11 and 12 and also 9 if it was simplified a bit by removing one of the esses to create one larger loop at one of the ends.

Interesting thread. I am running Carrera and do both digital and analog home racing with my kids. My current layout has a section that has been teased a bit to make it meet up and so has a number of sections with a gap of about 1.5mm between track pieces on the inner lane. I could add a 1/4 straight in between the curves and make it meet up nicely but that would break up my nice big 180 degree curve. So the gaps remain and I truly don't notice them when running the cars. I have to adjust them a bit before each session but once I cut out some borders/shoulders from a bulk lot of second hand foam board I am hoping that it will hold everything in place a bit better and I may not even need to tweak it between sessions. Might tack a few sections with a tab of hot glue, will see how it goes. Here in a Sydney garage so it gets hot here in summer. Identify with the parenting issues and time constraints but yes, its important to spend time with kids while they still want to as well! Chas I like your ideas for portable and easily put away tracks. Damn that is so annoying that you cannot obtain something like a hinge at this time. Maybe some "essential worker" could drop a few off in your letterbox on their way to work or something. Here in Aus I've seen all sorts of contempt for the shut down guidelines so a little sad that you are stuck for something as simple as a few hardware items.

Hi Chris, What hockey team do you follow? Steve.

I'm amazed at how funny it is to me still having seen so many of those episodes several times over. Will miss Tim Brooke-Taylor, what a legend.

Anybody in Sydney got a couple of Carrera R3 30 degree curves they would be willing to trade? I only need two. Unfortunately money is tight but I have a couple of Carrera digital decoders that I have available for a swap if that is of any use to anyone. Many thanks, Steve.

Happy belated birthday Munter, sorry I had locked myself out (forgot my password) and thanks to some help I'm back.