![]() |
#1
|
||||
|
||||
![]()
10-30-2017 08:43 AM
The histories of the model car racing and pinball industries have had many parallels; both were wildly popular in the USA in the late-1950s to 1960s, were all but extinct in the 1970s-1980s and have had peaks and valleys in consumer interest since then. Up until the recent resurgence, both model car racing (also known as slot car racing in the USA and often as playing Scalextric in the UK) have had largely an underground and cult following, and had their share of highlights and lowlights. ![]() Where pinball games supply the player with all that they need to enjoy the game, generally slot car racing is a hobby/sport where you buy or build your own equipment to race. Some commercial raceways have racing equipment to borrow or rent and almost all commercial raceways sell ‘track time’ to any and all of those want-to-be Roger Penske or Colin Chapman. The slot car racing world championship was recently contested in Sulmona, Italy. It was held 6th-14th October, 2017 and one of the highlights was the 2-driver team race that attracted in excess of 150 drivers from 17 countries (ref: hisra2017.com/entrants/). There is a lively debate if racing at the international level is more a hobby or a sport. During the peak of interest in the model car racing hobby, major cities in the USA generally had 15-20 commercial racing centers that were operated with open practice times as well as leagues and tournaments. Slot car racing was so popular in the USA that the largest of the major commercial slot car track manufacturers (American Model Car Raceways Inc., Burbank, CA) was purchased by AMF, who also manufactured many other types of recreational equipment used in bowling, archery, bicycling, skiing, volleyball, golf, tennis, fishing, and for a while AMF owned the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company. In the present day there are two commercial raceways in Chicago (host city of the 2016 Slot Car World Championship) and two raceways in Milwaukee. Recently I visited one of the remaining commercial slot car racing centers in the Milwaukee area and was surprised to find that they also have pinball games. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Many people consider both slot car racing and pinball to be ‘throwbacks’ to another era; at Lucky Bob’s Raceway you can experience both. If you are in Milwaukee I hope that you will give Lucky Bob’s Raceway a visit. Additional resources: Slot Car History by Dennis David Slotblog is the Slot Car equivalent of Pinball News for the USA More... |
![]() |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|