I just started building a race track. I'm using the old Aurora track and Thunder Jet cars from the sixties.. I don't like the new cars because they handle to well and are boring. I like the old cars, there like the real cars were back in the day with Bias Ply tires.. lol.. Anybody into road racing..
I have hundreds of HO cars. A lot of them are T Jets. I still have my original T Jets from when I was about 8 years old. I use to have a 2 scale mile track setup, but haven't had a track setup for years. Still have miles of the old pin and clip track.
Loved my Aurora glow in the dark double loop set...and was into slot cars as a young teen too....there used to Slot Car tracks all over the Detroit area in the 60’s...we were fortunate enough to have somebody open one near us in the early 80’s...was a blast
I am a big fan of these and have a story. About 18 years ago through my brother in law I met a guy who had been collecting these. Cars, track, guard rails, everything you could think of for these cars since he was 12. I met him when he was 45 or so and all of this stuff was brand new in the original boxes and had never been used. Boxes and boxes of the stuff. One of those things where he was going to build it all up one day but that day never came. He sold thousands of dollars worth of the stuff to me cheaply. I had it for about 5 years and still hadn't done anything with it myself and someone made a decent offer and I let it all go. Hopefully he put it to good use and didn't part it all out to make money on it.
When I was a kid I used to spend hours running slot cars. I had (still do) a bunch of Aurora HO and Strombecker tracks. Good stuff.
I have the set my grandfather had. A gto and mustang and those controllers get warm when you've been racing for awhile. Looks like this one:
Had the early steering wheel controllers........and my first modifies.....took the roof off an early type III VW and a Tornado....buddies thought I'd lost it....but it freaked them enough to win some too....think they're still in the H/O tool box....
If you guys want to get rid of anything PM me... I'm using all old T-jet parts.. I scored this old Vette on e-Bay yesterday.. It has the solid rivets..
This place sells chrome reverse and Crager SS wheels for these cars.. I'm going to cut vents into the chrome reverse... https://www.slotsnstuff.com/vincent-wheels-sale.html
I had a cheapo Japanese made battery operated track when I was a kid. I remember it had two cars and four bodies you could swap out. Real cheap made, just like some of the China stuff today. I always wanted a good AC set, but never got it. It was fun the few months it lasted. That was before all those Energizer batteries, I remember I had those old blue and yellow Ray O Vac carbon batteries that would last a few hours at most.
I believe so or close? (Gauge 1). Mine has different controllers then the pictures (off of Google). The tires are hard and not pliable now, so it's easy to get sideways on the turns.
I have a bunch I will sell. Not giving them away but would sell as a group for less than what they could be bought individually. I haven't even begun to determine a price yet. Track and cars.
Happened to trip over this FB ad with a large track for sale and thought I would share the link in case anyone here was interested. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/452766152325335/
I have a Buddy that has purchased all of our Buddy’s old cars and track . Last time I saw his collection and track , I ask him how many cars , he said over 250 at last counting . Elcohaulic thanks for the link . I’ll pass it on .
Not really a collector but I had a bunch when I was a kid. My son got into it and we picked up quite a few at swaps and garage sales before they got ridiculous in price.
The prices have gone up from the 60s lol, that's the last time I played with them. Wow what a nice collection...
For Christmas in the early 60's I got a four lane slot car set similar to the one shown, I had a ball with it until my dad,granddad and both uncles took it over shortly after Christmas dinner, when I left home in the early 70's I don't know what happened to the set. I know my friends and I had a good time racing each other. HRP
Cool thread. I loved the old rental tracks also. Plus my friends had the HO layouts at their homes, and we raced each other. I've always liked the 1/24 scale hard bodies. I have a Carrera layout, and the grandkids love it. They like building, and racing them. Here's a photo of couple of their cars, and an old Dodge I raced on the rental tracks. I still have all my HO cars but don't race them anymore. Ron........
Oh yeh, we have them. Once the man-cave is done in the new shop I will have a permanent layout. My brother has collected them for years as well. These two ‘birds my brother bought new and have been run against each other since then, first by him and I then next by my oldest son and I. They are setup nearly identical (with bias plys so the races are really close. While we have many mint cars and even trucks these are always the first ones out and last ones put away...lol. God bless the HAMB this holiday season. Regards, Randy Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Merri-Five Hobbies, Livonia, The Pit Stop and Grand Prix in Farmington, Jerry's Hobbies, Plymouth. There was one on Seven Mile near Beech Daly in Redford. Somewhere on the west side suburbs there is an active track for drag racing, one of my friends still participates.
I still have my first T Jets and A/FX cars. Had my track that was mounted on a 4x4 piece of ply wood that I could hang on the wall when not in use. Lost the track along time ago but that’s another story. It was a New Years Eve ritual with a friend of mine to race into the new year only stopping long enough to let the transformer cool off a little and have a glass of Kool Aid. Picked up both an Aurora and Tyco track set a couple of years ago and found a large sandwich bag with a mix of T Jets and AFX cars at a second hand store last year.
I got it running now, no dead spots.... I have both kinds of cars and prefer the old Tjet with the fishtailing bias plys lol...
I joked with my older brother just the other day that I almost bought him a old Aurora slot car set for Christmas. Has you seen the E Bay shipping on those sets? We had so much fun back in the day with them. Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
@Elcohaulic That's a great little setup. I really need to clean out the basement and set mine up. When I was a kid, we had the Matchbox slot car track. As I got older and worked at a hobby shop, I bought all the returns and used Tyco/Tommy/Aurora sets off of customers. Unfortunately, I sold it all to a group of guys that had an 8 lane setup in their garage. I did inherit a buddy's 1/24 and 1/32 scale track. I've also picked up some Tyco HO stuff over the years at flea markets. I need to get it all out as my oldest is 15 and I'm not sure I've set it up that she would even remember it...….dang, where does time go!?
One of the coolest parts of growing up in the 60's was racing those little thunderjets. I still have my original cars and track ....and then some. It has been set up and running for the last 25 years. Sent from my SM-A505U1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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