Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge New Business

Just opened a new business here in Wilkesboro N.C. After much pondering I opened a slot car track. Loved it as a kid in the mid sixties, one of my favorite things to do.A determining factor was that about 2 years ago our bowling alley/rollerskating rink burned to the ground.Not much else to do in this town.So far it's holding it's own with business getting better all the time. A few days who walks in is none other than Desi, screen name mcfcinusa.Great to have another Triumph rider here as I believe I'm the only America rider here but some time ago there was a Rocket in town but I have'nt seen him for a while.
Check out my website here https://unclecharliesslotcarracing.com/ If you're ever around come see us!

I never understood why Slot Car Racing more or less faded from the scene in the late 60s. I was heavily invested in it and I sunk almost all my neighborhood chore service money toward upgrades to my cars. I wish I kept track of the cars and spares collection I had accumulated now. Such is life.

Pretty cool. Looks like fun. Good luck with your new venture.

yeah that looks like a cool little business! those 6" slot cars can be stupid fast, I always seem to spin out trying to take the corners too fast haha

I missed the original slot car craze of the 60s by about three years or so. I was just a wee lad when I would occasionally see the older boys at the local hobby shop. The track seemed huge to me, and I believe it had 6 lanes. I had no idea the sport still existed. Good luck at your new business!

Funny I was getting a lift to the airport two days ago with a friend and we went the long way through the city We were reminiscing about the old days and went past a place where slotcar track business was.My friend said he used to travel from the other side of the city to race his cars there as it was the best track around.I wouldn't have mentioned or thought about a slot car in 40 years.


Good luck with your business.

Thanks for all the well wishes.Speaking of stupid fast our fastest lap time for 155 feet of track is 3.9 seconds! I have a few of my cars from the sixties and they look like snails out there but back in the day they were stupid fast.

Slot cars, man that brings back some great memories. My father thought I was nuts. He said I was spending too much time on a hobby, this from a guy who spends 4.5 hours on a round of golf. My reply was always loan me the money to get a real hot rod. He laughted.

Good luck on your enterprise.

wow - that's a heck of a layout - good luck!

so about 40 ft/sec - 80 car lengths - wow! I think that would scale up to 900 mph!

I am thinking some of the new brushless motors from the drones could spin a RC car up pretty darn quick today.

I am thinking I had about 64ish a Champion model slot car and a great time running it. All my extra money went into paying for track time for a year or so. The better controllers cost a lot too. I think Cox made the best controllers.

It was a serious lot of fun. Wow! Melancholy comes to mind has my mood right now missing youth and great times and adventures like the slot track.

I too have fond memories of slot car racing. On a rainy Saturdays it was the movies,roller skating or slot car racing.Racing always won out hands down.Times sure have changed though.In'65 it track time was a dollar an hour.
Still have my Cox controller!

Slot cars are still popular in Europe, Germany, Spain and the UK make great home tracks and cars.Much better then the stuff I had in my youth, Strombecker, Eldon and such. Very few commercial tracks around now, at least here in Michigan where I live. Mostly here they have big indoor R/C tracks. I find R/C cars counter intuitive because you steer differently coming and going, I much prefer old fashion Slot cars.

Congratz and good luck.

Wow I had used to have a tackle box full of stuff years ago.

I got really good at building cars...Because I never was good at driving them.

One of my younger brothers was really into slot cars back in the 60's. He had several cars set up for different conditions. He spent every cent from his paper route and countless hours tinkering with them. Then we moved and there was nowhere to race them. I ran one of his cars off the track and onto the floor causing some damage to it and he never let me play with them again. Several years later he blew the engine up in my Chevy and when I yelled at him he reminded my of the slot car incident.

Congrats on the new business. I too, was a slot car fan back in the '60s. The neighborhood hobby shop had a huge track in the back room that was "Invitation Only". I spent countless hours there with varying cars, controllers, tires, brushes and weights. Always great lap times with my Mako Shark (with the pendulum weight set up). Good memories.

Wishing you great success in your venture!

What's next? 5 MPH bumpers? Airbags? Limp home mode? Biannual inspections?

"Build it and they will come."

Yes, Being an old guy I'm a bit put off by the new digital controls, Thank God you can still get the basic layouts. I was always more about the building of the scenic home track "landscape" and heritage cars anyway. It's all good.