Policar

Various Policar catalogue covers

Introduction

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 by parent company APS Politoys, a leading Italian manufacturer of diecast and plastic models for over three decades. Founded in Milan in 1955, Politoys soon changed their name to Polistil, a move rumoured to avoid confusion with the British brand Palitoy.

Polistil went out of business in 1993, but was relaunched as a brand under the May Cheong Group in 2014.

Fortunately, and completely separately, the Policar slot car brand was also resurrected in 2014, initially described as a German company, but now under the same roof as Slot.it in Italy.

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.