Relay For Life demo-Hughesville, Pa.

Photos from a demo I did at the Relay For Life in my town... lots of fun and some new slot racers were born I think!

See the photos at this link.

2009 USRA Scale Nats Coverage on Facebook

Become a fan of the 2009 USRA Scale Nats action May 30 to June 7 on Facebook:

Mid-America Raceway and Hobbies on Facebook

Seat Leon-Holiday Inn newsletter

New Revell's announced

A number of slot cars shown for release this year by Revell/Monogram at this link.
Wendell Scott's stock car shown above.

Wendell Scott began racing in 1947 and in 1959 he won 22 races at the local Richmond track and was track champion, also in 1959 he won the Virginia state sportsman title. In 1961 Wendell moved up to Grand National racing and in 1964 on a one-mile track in Florida he became the first and to date only African-American driver to win a Grand National event. In the 1967 season driving a Ford he finished 10th in the point standings, one of the four times he finished in the top ten at the end of a season. Scott was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999.

SCX Gulf Aston Newsletter

Download the SCX Aston Martin Gulf Racing team newsletter at this link.

New Racer Porsche 935's

RCR50A - 935 Joest - DRM Championship 1980 - #6 R. Stommelen
RCR50B - 935 Joest - DRM Championship 1980 - #7 V. Merl

This model shares the same chassis of our 935K3 with a small
modification in the front area due to different headlights but the body is totally new
in order to match the different shape of the car developped by Joest Racing.

Cars will be ready for deliveries in about 3 weeks.

Pioneer Bullitt

Due in June...from Pioneer Slot Cars.

Latest News - BULLITT's Back!

It all begins with the click of a seat belt. What follows is the greatest car chase ever filmed - a thrill-a-second cat & mouse pursuit through the streets of San Francisco and out onto the open highway.

It's been over 40 years since STEVE MCQUEEN staked his claim as a movie icon playing the role of Lt. Frank Bullitt. At the same time the Highland Green Mustang GT390 would be forever guaranteed the title of 'The Greatest Chase Car In Cinema History.'

Now, you can recapture the thrills & spills excitement as never before with the very first slot car model of the '68 Mustang that McQueen drove in the movie. Race tuned for fun and on-track action, you can try to capture the essence of what made STEVE MCQUEEN the undisputed 'King of Cool.'

Advance Notice
The assassins car is on it’s way, complete with two ‘baddy’ figures. Available Q3 2009

New Slot It Mazda's

CW06, n.55 1st Le Mans 1991, Limited Edition
availability: September

CA15a, n.18 SWC Autopolis 1991
availability: July

Lola T70 MK II

New Revell Lola T70 MK II shown by Criccrac.com.

New Slotfire track installation

From Rolf at Slotfire:
"we build for a company from UK a track for their promotion activities. It´s a simple eight with crossings. The red „S” is the first character of the companies name „Seldon”.

The track work with a very simple electronic: Only two buttons to start a race or training. It allows only lapracing with five laps. The laptimer ist a advertising sign with the five main messages of the company. If you finish one lap, one lamp glow.

To race on it, it´s funny. It allows quick races without an computer. May be that it is also a solution for pubs.

Fantasy World Hobbies Swap Meet

Info about the 1st Annual Fantasy World Swap Meet.

New Powerslot cars

New LeMans Miniatures Rondeau

In stock now at REH Distributors, new LeMans Miniatures Rondeau.
132028 Rondeau M379B #16 Winner LM80 Retail $127.95
132027 Rondeau M379B #15 LM 1980 Retail $127.9

New Parma 3/32's gears

Tecnitoys/MotoGP slot track at children's hospital

Tecnitoys/MotoGP star opens track at children's hospital in Spain, read the article at this link.

"Tecnitoys has shown significant commitment to communities and philanthropical entities around the world over the past 5 years in the support of providing children the opportunities to play with slot cars - something we feel is a key play experience for all children as they grow."

Nissan GT-R's at home on the 'Ring

TOKYO (May 14, 2009) - The NISSAN GT-R, winner of the 2009 World Performance Car of the Year, has improved its lap time at the renowned Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany to 7min 26 seconds 70 on April 23.

This new time underlines Nissan engineering team's commitment to constantly challenge the GT-R's performance. Previous recorded lap times at the 'Ring' were:

• 7 minutes 27 seconds 56 on April 15, 2009
• 7 minutes 29 in April 2008
• 7 minutes 38 in September 2007

"This record demonstrates our commitment to the continuous evolution of the Nissan GT-R," says Kazutoshi Mizuno, Chief Vehicle Engineer and Chief Vehicle Specialist. "We would like to continue delivering the passion and pride of ownership to our customers by improving its performance every year."

The Nissan GT-R has won more than a dozen awards globally including Car of the Year from CAR Magazine in the UK, and Car of the Year by both Motor Trend and Autombile Magazine in the US.

While the Nissan GT-R benefits from a strong image and heritage amongst performance car aficionados, its updated 2010 version will be the first to be sold globally. It was launched:

• in Japan in December 2008,
• in the US in March 2009
• in Europe, GCC, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan in April 2009

Europe is currently in the process of delivering the first GT-Rs to more than 2,200 pre-order customers.

The model R35 GT-R was first launched in Japan in December 2007, selling 5,900 units until March 2009. It went on sale in the US in July 2008, where 2,100 have been sold so far.

News and photo used with permission of Nissan.

New H&R silicone 1/24 tires

New tires for the H&R 1/24 chassis they are the HRW2718S 27 x 18 Silicone tire (25 Shore) with Wheel for 1/8 axle. They can be found at Slot Car Place.com for sale.

BMW Zentrum, Spartansburg South Carolina

On the way back from a trip down to see some slotters in Atlanta, I saw a sign along the highway... "BMW Visitors Center" and an exit sign, I figured why not stop. I didn't know what to expect, the most I was expecting to see was a few new BMW's sitting inside a glass lined room and maybe an overpriced t-shirt to buy. Well was I in for a treat.

The hall was filled with motorcycles, race cars, and BMW oddities of all types.

Seeing the Z1 BMW was sure strange, BMW is not know for awkward looking cars, but WOW is this car really terrible looking.


Sadly there was no 2002 in the haus but at least the motor was there to eye up.

The next aisle has some really cool old BMW motorcycles in it. This old design BMW badge was really cool.


Next a real treat. I don't know what it is but I just love little cars... and they don't come much "littler" than the BMW Isetta's. A trio of the little, odd, very cool cars have a very modern look to them. They make the modern attempt at hybrid/smartcars/Sparrows look silly and half-hearted. Yeah, I know, I know... these cars aren't exactly what most folks would describe as "cool" but what can I say, I love them.




Now if we could just convince BMW to bring back this model and update it...

Another treat around the bend in the museum is the M1 on display and the 3.0CSL. Both very cool, very 70's cars.

This is the first road going M1 I'd seen and it was impressive to see one in perfect shape. It would seem that BMW maybe missed the boat by not continuing the supercar as a model in the line.



I was only at the Zentrum for a little while, just long enough to walk about a bit, buy some hats, and talk myself out of buying every diecast in the gift shop. If you're driving by on Route 85 and you need a break stop by, it's worth it. Next time I'm going to call ahead to see if I can hitch a ride with a factory tour... they're by appointment only.

DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News

From the Spartansburg Tourist Bureau site:

BMW Manufacturing Plant

I-85 at Hwy. 101 (Exit 60)
(864) 989.5297 or 1.888.868.7269

The BMW Zentrum is a state-of-the-art visitor’s center that highlights the company’s commitment to engineering and its neighboring communities. In addition to historic cars and motorcycles, visitors are able to watch a short film on the construction of the vehicles and witness the “Art Car” display. Visitors can even “ride the line” via the Virtual Factory Tour. Actual tours of the factory itself are available, although it is suggested that reservations are made far in advance due to the overwhelming popularity of the tour.

New SCX BMW "Celly"