This is a 1:24 scale Carrera Digital slot car track that has been built by a specialist from Belgium into a diorama of a 1960s-era forest circuit near San Francisco.
Carrera is slot car company and a rival of other makes including Scalextric, SCX, and Ninco. Carrera Digital is the firm’s high-end line of products, targeted at serious enthusiasts and collectors.
The fine details that have gone into this slot car track are incredible, right down to mechanics working under cars, spare tires, even little oil drums.
A Brief History Of Slot Car Racing
The roots of slot cars can be traced back surprisingly far, all the way back to 1912 when the Lionel Corporation introduced a product called the “Automobile and Speedway Outfit.”
It consisted of electrically-powered cars that ran on a groove, or slot, in a track. While these early models lacked the sophistication of modern slot cars, they laid the foundation for what was to come.
The true evolution of slot cars began in the 1950s with the introduction of Scalextric by Minimodels Ltd, still the most iconic name in the slot car industry by a significant margin.
Scalextric kits included plastic sections of race track, typically with parallel slots for racing two cars. These race track sections could be assembled in an almost infinite variety of ways, allowing broad customization.
The circuit comes with two controllers and four cars, a Ferrari 250 GTO, a Porsche 906 Carrera 6, and two Lola T70 MkIIIBs.
As the 20th century rolled on the popularity of remote controlled R/C cars surged, as a result the interest in slot cars waned. More recently slot cars having been finding their feet again and enjoying a renaissance, with some building large-scale tracks with intricate modeling.
The San Francisco Forest Circuit
The slot car circuit you see here measures in at a hefty 3.9 meters (12.8 ft) in length by 1.8 meters (5.9 ft) in width. It can be dismantled into four separate parts, and when fully assembled it sits on lockable wheels, so it can be moved easily when required.
The track comes with two controllers and four race cars, including a Ferrari 250 GTO, a Porsche 906 Carrera 6, and two Lola T70 MkIIIBs. More cars can be supplied to suit if requested, and all of the cars have been carefully painted and given patina to suit the circuit.
The circuit itself has been carefully designed to match the era it represents, with sponsor displays including Valvoline, Champion, Mobiloil, and Lucas.
When it needs to be moved, the table can be separated into four individual pieces, then reassembled when it gets to its destination.
The track diorama has racers and pit crew, local Californian terrain, a water tower, a Pirelli tent, straw bales, loud speakers, and more, helping to set the scene.
It’s now being offered for sale on Collecting Cars out of Kortrijk, Belgium and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
