Where did modern slot car racing come from?

There is plenty of talk at present about the possible future of the sport, but what about the past? To a newcomer some of our ways must seem just a little strange. Let’s face it, some of our ways are a little strange I’m afraid that many of us who go back a few years - OK, decades - tend to take a lot of background knowledge of slot racing for granted. There are many people racing today who do not have this knowledge.

Hence I have decided to have a go at outlining ‘how we got where we are today’. In the process I have learned a lot more myself, so I hope this article will be of interest to most racers. I do not claim too much originality here, but I have tried to include information from a range of sources; preferably printed, since memories play tricks!

For example, I did not personally remember that transistorised controllers existed before I even got out of Junior School, but an ad appeared in the US mag ‘Model Car Science’ in June 1965 which looks remarkably ‘modern’ today.

So. What are the facts then? How did things get started and develop to the present day?

There is no single start point at which our sport suddenly sprang into existence. It developed out of existing activities – most notably aeromodelling and ‘round the pole’ flying. Let’s face it: in the early days of full-size car racing there was always a strong link with flying. Many of the early racing was done at airfields such as Brooklands and many of the drivers were also flyers. Even today, you can hardly visit Silverstone without noticing signs of its previous use.

One of the better historical resources I have found is an excellent book ‘Model Car Rail Racing’ (D J Laidlaw-Dickson, Model Aeronautical Press Ltd, 1957). D J L-D actually states, in reference to the Sale Model Aeroplane Club, “Aeromodellers generally take very kindly to electric rail racing”. We may take some time to get as far as rail racing, but SMAC eventually gave birth to the Sale Model Car Club which was in fact my own first slot club, back in the late ‘60s.

Naturally, almost as soon as cars were invented there were people who started racing them. Equally, as soon as car racing existed, modellers began to think of ways to race model cars. The twin problems of powering and controlling the models dictated the development route from there on.

So how were the first model cars powered? I don’t know about you, but my first assumptions involved batteries or internal combustion. Wrong!

There is evidence that a Chinese Emperor owned a steam-jet powered model carriage in the 17^th Century and that one William Murdoch of Cornwall built a steam tricycle model in the 1780s. Replicas were built later and according to Geoffrey Deason (‘Model Cars’, ed Vic Smeed, Hamlyn, 1980), one of these was to be seen in Truro City Museum. I am assured that no such museum actually exists, but the Royal Cornwall Museum - curator Roger Penhallurick (01872 272205) - might be worth a try for anyone keen to find this model. 

By 1900, large numbers of clockwork model cars were being produced; mainly in Germany, a country which had a long tradition of making both clocks and mechanical toys. The Marklin Company, still well-known among railway modellers, was active in car modelling at this early time.

After WW1 the French joined in with car companies such as Citroen and Renault producing  models for advertising purposes.

According to Deason, racing on an organised basis dates back to 1928 when MotorSport and others reported the formation of the Cambridge Clockwork Car Club. This group organised racing, divided cars into classes and established records.

The Model Car Racing Association (MCRA) was formed in 1936 and met regularly in London. Scratch-built cars appeared, using Meccano gears and rubber-band power. A 4-wheel-drive Mercedes by L G Tucker was reckoned to develop 1.5hp from rubber!

It is important to note that these cars raced in a straight line. Although Ackerman-type steering was used on models before this date, it was not possible to control a moving model during a race.

Interestingly, ‘production’ racing - to encourage newcomers into the hobby - was introduced at this stage. And it was a problem then too! The club cars were already well-designed, with micrometer adjustments for straight running and they were fast; one covered the 100-foot straight from a standing start in just over 3 seconds. When a production race was organised, ten newcomers brought ‘out of the box’ cars to try and only one reached the finish. According to Deason (again!) one made a U-turn and headed back to the start. This sort of ‘entry-level’ difficulty is far from new!

One minute wind-ups (literally; not the way we do it to each other today) were allowed and count-down starts were introduced. It really is surprising how little of our current practice is truly modern.

In the 1930s, America made the next big step forward for us. Small petrol engines were developed for aeromodellers and rapidly began to find uses in cars. The UK was one of the later European countries to receive these engines, but tracks were eventually built for them. Most petrol cars at this time were raced ‘round the pole’ on a tether – aeromodelling methods again – since the control problem remained.

In 1942, during WW2 of course, the flying of petrol powered model ‘planes was banned, and car racing got a boost.

I’ll pick up the story from there when I have time.

Colin J