# Why I love slot cars? (specially HO)



## bambino (Oct 8, 2011)

I love slot cars though Im aware Im a very modest user/collector/racer and Im far from expert or knowledgeable about this hobby. The point is that I love it. But Im usually asked by non-slot car oriented people why I like slot cars so much now that very few people are into this hobby. I mean few people when you compare against video games or things like that

On a time when you can get high quality rc cars (like Kyosho Mini Z and dnano) it is a bit strange that I prefer to spend money on a new/old/used slot car than in a fancy advanced rc car. 

On a time when we are submerged in a sea of iPods, iPhones, iPads, smartphones, GPS systems, expensive gadgets of all kinds, I prefer 10000's of times to spend money on a new/old/used slot car than in a fancy gadget. (by the way, I have never had an iPhone in my hands, my cell phone is 4 years old and my PC is 5 years, and have no plans to waste money replacing any of them, but I do have plans to get more HO slot cars  ) 

On a time when we are invaded by the video game era and million of kids and teenagers and adults crave for the latest video game, which are impressive, with outstandig graphics, sounds and wait for the ones coming in 3D..... I still prefer 1000000s of times a slot car. (by the way, its been about 5 years the last time I played a video game and that was because I was forced to do it)

So why I do prefer slot cars?

I don't know! Technically slot cars are simple. The only thing you can control is throttle and that's it.

After so much thinking I come to this conclusion

I like slot cars because they still leave a lot to my imagination: 

When I was little kid I loved to hear the roar of that tiny ho slot car. It resembled (using lots of imagination) the real thing, the real internal combustion motor.

I loved that you need them to warm up befor really racing. Like a real car, you needed to wait a few minutes for the car to warm up before you run it

I liked that smell of burned lub. Like in the real thing, there are smells from burned oil/gasoline, etc

I liked tire wearing. Like in the real thing, you need to replace tires!

I liked the hot motor. Like in the real thing, motor gets hot.

It has gears, like the real thing, it has gears.

There were some cars faster than others. Like the real thing!

Slot cars have evolved. Like the real thing, cars evolve!

Old slot cars become vintage expensive cars. Like the real thing, only millionaires can have old cars. 

So, for all of the above points you need to use your imagination.

Using your imagination is the best fun you can have! A little kid can easily imagine a pencil is a rocket flying to the moon. Well, I can imagine a slot car is a real racing car.

Modern gadgets (smartphones, iPads, etc) and impressive video games leave nothing to your imagination.

And slot cars are not that expensive. Slot cars are certainly not cheap hobby (at least for my limited budget I don't consider it cheap) but clearly not that expensive as to get into RC helicopters or Kyosho Mini Z racing!!

Also, slot cars keep a good deal of value. You can store them, they need little or no maintenance if you don't run them. Even if you run them, maintenance is cheap. After 40 years you can sell your slot car colletcion and get a very good investment return.

They are not bulky (well, sets are bulky yes) so even if you live in a small apartment you can still have a modest collection and have fun (that's why I love HO scale).

And when you are not running your slot cars you can display them for show inside your room, living room, anywhere and you look at them and smile! You don't need to run them to have fun with them!

I know many guys who are into video games and I ask myself how can they prefer that to slot car racing? Slot car racing follow real life, physics laws. Video games emulate or model real life. They are not real. To each their own I don't mean video games are anything wrong but just don't understand why little kids don't care about slot cars. Most don't even know this hobby exist.

But bottom line, I love slot cars because they allow me to use my imagination!!

And I must add I do not feel offensive when people consider slot cars as toys. I do consider them toys somehow. That's the best part. They can be toys and they can be hobby grade products. It is not the same as with advanced RC helicopters, cars, trucks, planes, they are all serious models, period. Slot cars can be a toy or can be hobby grade products. It all depends on the way you see it or want them to use. I would say slot cars are a hobby that I can control and not a hobby that controls me as in very advanced stuff.

Sorry for this long post and getting a bit philosophical but just wanted to share and know your opinion... Why you love slot cars??

regards!


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## TheRockinator (May 16, 2007)

Gives me something to think about when I can't sleep. Like now.

Later The not to deep into poetry this morning but I like what you said Rockinator


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## Harold Sage (Apr 6, 2008)

Hi bambino
I would have to say my reasons for loving slot cars are the same as yours. I also was into RC's but took a step back from them and found my way back into slot cars and diecast collecting. 
slot cars give you a chance to be team owner/crew chief/driver/mechanic just like the big boys just by using your imagination.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Hey Bambino, my reasons are basically the same as YOURS ! One thing tho, you didn't mention your age, and for me at age 54, thats another reason I love them, i GREW up in the 1960's with them ! They bring back all those fond memories, and some headaches, but now I have the answers to the problems with them I had back in the day. So it's much sweeter now- playing with my little electric toy cars, then it was back when I couldn't fix their problems, like i can today. And I too am a very simple person, and don't like change and/or progress that we constantly have in this day and age. Hey, I don't even own a Cell Phone ! My TV is Non digital/non flat screen and uses an Antenna on my roof ! My cars are stick shift and one even had manual roll down windows !
Anyway, my point being, newer(to me) isn't always better. Well yeah, I do like Silicone tires on my slotcars, but I don't like traction magnets, nor do i like Super Fast modern Inline cars....although I see nothing Wrong with inline slotcars, as long as they aren't any faster than a tyco U-Turn car - LOL.
Sorry for the long winded reply 
PS- I also collect *some HotWheels and other small Diecast cars too, just like I did as a kid


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## Jisp (Oct 19, 2008)

bambino said:


> I liked that smell of burned lub. Like in the real thing, there are smells from burned oil/gasoline, etc


Where nostalgia is concerned, this is my #1 most vivid and pleasant memory of tiny pancake cars. I loved the body shapes, the sounds, the competition and the intricate repairs but to me it was the best smell in the world at that time (far better than my mother's curry....... sorry mum).

How unfortunate that adults in 30-40 years time aren't likely to be writing about iPods, etc with such passionate memories as yours.

Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane,
Michael. :thumbsup:


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

cause I have a mental issue!
that simple:thumbsup::wave::tongue:


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## gomanvongo (Jun 12, 2010)

Bambino, can i just say "ditto" to your post - there is no way i could say it better!

john


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## Shadowracer (Sep 11, 2004)

For me its almost more of an "imagined" nostalgia. Never had much to do with slots when I was a kid, just had a mess of hot wheels etc. (I'm 43 and missed the boat on the slot car thing as a kid)

But I have a love for racing, particularly roundy round racing, having been around it since I was an infant. And as well I always had a fascination for miniature _anything_ (I loved the opening sequence of Mr Rogers with the miniature town.) So the two just really go hand in hand. Honestly no interest in 1/32 or 1/24 cuz they're not small enough.

And...it just sorta feels like something from a bygone era. Not much new in the way of technology, other than maybe computer scoring. It's very hands on, and I can spend hours just quietly puttering away on my track or cars. I do an event every year at a railway museum and one of the exhibits is a huge HO train layout that seems to only attract little kids and old men, and I can certainly relate to the guys in the train club. (I love trains too...but ya gotta pick one and I like racing more.)

Anyway, there's a picture up on the HOsers club site, two older guys playing slot cars on the floor. Don't ask me why, but that photo has always resonated with me in a big way. To the point I'm considering blowing it up and putting it on the wall of my race-room, even though I have no idea who those guys are. Maybe its the pipe the one guy has....maybe its the big stand up ashtray....I have no idea.

Photo below...hope the HOsers guys don't mind.

But yeah...there's just something timeless about slot cars, and at age 42, last christmas, I decided to sell all my RPG stuff and my paintball guns, on account of I'm not far from being an old guy...and its time for an "old guy" hobby.

Now I just need a pipe.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Because as much as I'd love to own all these cars in 1:1 scale, it's just not possible within one person's lifetime. 

Meaning slots are a great way to "drive" all these cars without reality getting in the way :thumbsup:


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## bambino (Oct 8, 2011)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> Hey Bambino, my reasons are basically the same as YOURS ! One thing tho, you didn't mention your age, and for me at age 54, thats another reason I love them, i GREW up in the 1960's with them ! They bring back all those fond memories, and some headaches, but now I have the answers to the problems with them I had back in the day. So it's much sweeter now- playing with my little electric toy cars, then it was back when I couldn't fix their problems, like i can today. And I too am a very simple person, and don't like change and/or progress that we constantly have in this day and age. Hey, I don't even own a Cell Phone ! My TV is Non digital/non flat screen and uses an Antenna on my roof ! My cars are stick shift and one even had manual roll down windows !
> Anyway, my point being, newer(to me) isn't always better. Well yeah, I do like Silicone tires on my slotcars, but I don't like traction magnets, nor do i like Super Fast modern Inline cars....although I see nothing Wrong with inline slotcars, as long as they aren't any faster than a tyco U-Turn car - LOL.
> Sorry for the long winded reply
> PS- I also collect *some HotWheels and other small Diecast cars too, just like I did as a kid


Hello Ralph and all of you, nice to read you all!!

Im 38 y.o. As you can see, when I was 5 y.o it was 1980 so slot car madness was well over but somehow I could still live the traces of that madness. I do remember 1980 racing in an old AFX race set. God, it seems to me like yesterday!!

And, yes, I agree with you Im a simple person, I lack cable TV and things like that. My 1:1 car is 12 years old and I keep it running ok and that's part of the fun, to keep a car in working conditions is somehow fun. 

Well, another thing I collect are COX engines. It is a very small, tiny collection (if you can even call it a collection) but it suffices to me. I also remember flying an old COX plane (it was kind of a Cessna, all red and some white over therem, it said Yukon Patrol on the back...) Again, the smell of burned nitro and the powerful roar of COX engines sounded like music to me!

Modern RC stuff are impressive and if I were a rich guy probably I would get into that. But I try to keep things simple. Slot cars gives me that, simplicity, yet great fun!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Well said bambino.


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## EliteThink (Oct 19, 2012)

I carried my slot cars with me for 30 years. When my children were old enough i happened to come across a cliff hangers set for $10 on Craigslist. I grabbed it, found a local hobby shop which had the parts i needed and now we race all the time. I slowly buy cars here and there, as well as track. 

Kinda feels guilty having this much fun.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Shadowracer said:


> (snip)
> 
> Anyway, there's a picture up on the HOsers club site, two older guys playing slot cars on the floor. Don't ask me why, but that photo has always resonated with me in a big way. To the point I'm considering blowing it up and putting it on the wall of my race-room, even though I have no idea who those guys are. Maybe its the pipe the one guy has....maybe its the big stand up ashtray....I have no idea.
> 
> ...


LOVE this pic. Just saved it to my hard drive. And I sold off my R/C stuff and am considering thinning out the 1/25 kits too...

--rick


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I have a huge stable and can store it in my backseat. LOL


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## SouthLyonBen (Mar 14, 2012)

I got a set with Tyco 440s for christmas one year in the early 80s and just loved 'em ever since. I think as an Adult I like them because you can built customs and different cars and not be too deep $$ wise like you would be with RC and I can do it on a rainy day in my PJs in the basements  

I like how serious those guys look in the picture. Reminds me of a time I was freehanding A track with Tomy and things weren't going so well and I came upstairs all unhappy and when my wife asked what was obviously troubling me I explained the problems I was having with my little cars, she could not keep a straight face


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## pool207 (May 24, 2009)

Not always as much fun as the back seat of a real car was...but I love the way slot car competition 'levels the playing field.' I'm not particularly tall and not particularly strong, yet when I hook up my controller these things just don't matter as they do in other sportings. I also tried RC but the cost drove me away in a hurry.


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