Slot Cars are Serious Business

The figure eight track visible in the upper right was the configuration that came with the Scalextric slot car set we ordered from England after seeing their ad in Autosport, to which I subscribed at age 11. All of our friends who normally went with us to the road races and drove MGs chipped in to pay the approx. $50, and we wore that first set of cars out. In my view they were superior to the replacements, as the first set, which were Ferrari 500s, had metal pickups that revolved a half-turn, unlike the simple posts with braided wire on the newer Lotus models that replaced them. Those earlier cars could be controlled better in slides–you could hang the tail out and keep the car on the track, while the newer ones just spun when you started to lose traction. I believe my cousins still have the set packed away somewhere.