# aurora slotless? never heard of it



## gomanvongo (Jun 12, 2010)

Hi all,

a buddy of mine knew i was a slot car nut, and mentioned he might know where there was a set. The other day he showed up with an aurora slotless xcellerators set. Complete with box & all the paperworks. I don't have a pic yet, but I'll get the Lovely Lady's camera tomorrow and see what i can do.

anyway, the point is, i'd never heard of such a thing - I've got a couple of tyco TCRs, and i know that there were other brands of slotless, but this is a 74 "big loop" aurora set, complete with pancake motors and green armatures.

a couple of questions if you will:

are there parts out there for these? (especially pickups and tires - the cars have skinny tires on really narrow aurora standard-style looking rims) 

are they worth restoring, or can i feel great about converting them to slotted to run on my track :devil:

did they work well, or is the reason i've never seen them before because they didn't last long on the market? (or is it just my lack of slot-knowledge?)

they are really cool looking! - i'd like to see them go around that big solid steel loop!

thanks!

john


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

john, need pictures of the cars. yes, there are New Old Stock replacement parts available on the eBay occasionally, especially pickup shoes. the chassis parts are used by some folks who want to make hotter t-jets. the armatures are quad lams and a little hotter wind than most of the other pancake arms.


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## gomanvongo (Jun 12, 2010)

good to know Alpink - i'll get those pics. I really like the t-jet stuff, but due to circumstances, my collection mostly consists of lifelike and tycos. My t-jet experience is narrow to say the least!


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

let me know what you have if you decide to get the set. I have some parts I can probably help you with. if you get ANY Willys bodies with those chassis under them, they are worth some good cash. and, yeah, they weren't really good race sets. none of the slotless race sets have ever worked particularly well. and rather than trying to convert the chassis to slotted, taking the armature and the special gear plate that goes with it and installing them in a t-jet chassis is easier and more cost effective.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

Here's a link to Aurora reference pages including Xlerators and the Xlerators 1974 catalog.

-Paul

http://sites.google.com/site/speedincaurorareference/


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

The only slotless system that really worked was the TYCO TCR.

Neal:dude:


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

1scalevolvo said:


> The only slotless system that really worked was the TYCO TCR.
> 
> Neal:dude:


 
Which is almost 100% copy of the Aurora Speedsteer chassis.......most parts are even interchangeable!

-------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

SCJ said:


> Which is almost 100% copy of the Aurora Speedsteer chassis.......most parts are even interchangeable!
> 
> -------------------------
> www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


That is actually true & you can actually modify the cars by making the front chassis bumper on the Speedsteer as wide with plastruct as the TCR.Jam cars acan also be modified to work on TCR. TCR is still better.Why ? because it was too easy to damage the from steering on the Speedsteer cars ( It was a thin wire ) if you turned the front wheels by hand & thus bent the wire.THis did not happen with the TCR.There was an IDEAL TCR in then late '70's-early '80's but like the other systems they were pure crap & I only use he bodies on slotted chassis.

Neal:dude:


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

1scalevolvo said:


> That is actually true & you can actually modify the cars by making the front chassis bumper on the Speedsteer as wide with plastruct as the TCR.Jam cars acan also be modified to work on TCR. TCR is still better.Why ? because it was too easy to damage the from steering on the Speedsteer cars ( It was a thin wire ) if you turned the front wheels by hand & thus bent the wire.THis did not happen with the TCR.There was an IDEAL TCR in then late '70's-early '80's but like the other systems they were pure crap & I only use he bodies on slotted chassis.
> 
> Neal:dude:



Check out these pics !


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## foxkilo (Mar 27, 2008)

If copying is one the highest forms of respect and admiration then Tyco respected and admired Aurora a lot.

Mario


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