I know that I can get racing cars, but what I want is a source of HO scale old style slot cars and trucks.
Other than E-Bay ! Bob Hahn
The original HO scale Aurora Model Motoring sets had regular cars and trucks but they weren’t all that good as far as porportion was concerned. Also they are long gone from the market. You might try some of the European manufacturers one of whom has recently developed a slotless system of moving cars though it’s probably big bucks. J.R.
The Faller Car System is the most impressive one I’ve seen. (Not in person, only in web video.) It’s got HO scale cars and trucks, mostly European. The cars are battery-powered, and they follow a guide wire buried in the road. That’s a big advantage, because you don’t have to buy their “road,” but you can instead make your own roads and simply bury the wire and the cars will follow it. They have the automotive equivalent of turnouts, too, and I think some sort of traffic light systems that actually control the cars.
Yeah, it’s priced accordingly, too.
Short video I found:
I saw that Tyco was making AFX cars on my last trip to the big city…you might look for those in a toys R us in your location…
JR, are you want to race the cars or use them with your trains? If you are wanting to bulid a slot car track for racing I have 300 feet of track that the trains displaced.
Most slot cars that are called HO scale is 1/78 scale not 1/87 scale. There is a line called T-Jets that are throw backs to 1/87 scale. They are the ones most of us grew up with. Do a keyword search on the net or E-Bay. They where still being made 3 years ago when I made the jump to trains.
Cuda Ken
Remembering the Aurora HO scale slot vehicles - they might have been HO scale, but their starting speed would have been illegal in beautiful downtown anywhere and their cruising speed was measured in Mach numbers. I never heard of anyone having any great sucess re-gearing the little bandits - too little room, and too high motor RPM.
Of course, modern controller technology might have curbed the performance problem. The slot car controllers of the day were pretty crude.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - without slot cars)
I have an Aurora Good Humor ice cream truck from the '60’s. There’s a shop near me that specializes in road racing (old stuff) and Lionel. I was amazed to see the price on that $1 or $2 truck I bought all that many years ago!! That truck seemed close to scale size, and even had a uniformed driver (remember those days!). You are pretty much going to have to go to flea markets/train shows/estate sales/or E thing, and be ready to shell out some bucks on E thing!! [:O]
I’m a huge Slot Car fan and race every Tuesday night. I’ve been into slot cars for over 20 years and have never seen any true HO scale slot cars. All my Tyco and AFX cars are probably 1/64, basically the size of a Hot Wheels car. I don’t race them much though, I’m more into 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars now and thats what my league races. Todays slot cars are a far cry from what they were 20 years or even 10 years ago. I run Digital cars with a wireless throttle.