Lost & Found

Published by JasonB on Jul 20, 2022 in Features, Slot Cars, Updates

Slot car racing has a fairly long history now, having been around for over 60 years. During that time many manufacturers have come and gone, and many products have been presented, only to disappear.

Of course, some of those manufacturers and products fully deserved to fall by the wayside. But then there were the others that perhaps deserved more, the ones that are fondly remembered, sorely missed, and still collected to this day.

Lost & Found is the story of the enterprises that, with a little good fortune, a fair wind, and following seas, might just have had greater, or more prolonged success. We’ve even included one famous manufacturer from the past, that has bucked the general trend and been successfully relaunched.

Exin STS

STS – Super Track System was an exciting and possibly unique slot car and track system, based on the Paris-Dakar rally, with rough, sand coloured track, and an impressive range of inclines, obstacles, and hazards.

Manufactured by the Spanish Scalextric company Exin from 1985-89, the combination of the smaller scale track and 4×4 cars was unlike any other slot car system before, posing a huge range of unusual challenges, making it great fun to play with.

Victory Industries

Victory Industries, or VIP, may not have been quite the household name that Scalextric became, but the company was at the vanguard of commercial slot car production, beating it’s more famous rival to the basic idea, and going on to make products that many considered to be superior.

It was 1956 when Victory presented their first prototype of a commercially viable slot car set, and it is the journey from those early days, through to being one of the best slot car manufacturers around, which we will be detailing here, with Malcolm Parker’s definitive history.

Maxi Models

The fine detail, finish and exclusivity of a hand built model, plus all the fun of a slot car

If you should Google Maxi-Models today then an awful lot of sites promoting the modelling services of fuller figure ladies will predominate, but delve a little deeper and you should come across some references to a range of slot cars. This is their story…

Vanquish MG

Vanquish surpassed even Fly with the interior detailing and the cars were about as close to a static diecast display piece as a slot car could get. This level of interior detail certainly made them stand out from the competition and that wasn’t all as each car had a fully functional rear differential!

Despite their deficiencies they were a star in the firmament which burned brightly for far too short a time. We take a look at the short lived Spanish manufacturer who produced some very innovative slot cars in their brief period of existence.

Wrenn

G. & R. Wrenn Limited were already well established as a model railway specialist when they turned their attentions to slot cars in 1959.

Their were several totally unique features of the Formula 152 system which they presented to great acclaim at the Brighton Toy Fair in 1960. First, it was produced in the unusually small scale of 1/52, hence the name. Secondly it allowed three cars to be independently controlled on each lane. And finally it allowed cars to actually change lanes.

We’ll point you in the direction of several sources where you can read more.

Policar

In Italy, Policar was the brand which defined slot cars in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, much like Scalextric in the UK. To the general Italian public, a slot car is simply a Policar, and a slot track is still often referred to as a pista Policar.

Policar was the brand name for a range of slot cars and track produced from 1963 to 1993, which has now been resurrected by Slot.it.

So Policar are one brand here that are no longer lost. With Maurizio Ferrari leading the way, and a range of fantastic products on offer, it’s difficult to imagine the company being in safer hands. Just for once in this section, we can say that the future looks bright for this famous old brand.

Lost & Found