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The Internet Guide To 1/32 Scale Slot Cars

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Club Racing at Charley’s Bay Shore

By Pete Shreeves

It was awkward squeezing around the track, much like having to shove past the casket when entering a funeral you really didn’t want to attend. We were aware that slot car racing was declining at the time. It was the end of an era of exuberance, the baby boom, the muscle cars and the Can Am / Trans Am series. The big splash of the mid sixties, which saw big slot car tracks on every mall, were long gone.  

“Has it come to this?” I had to ask myself looking at the stained walls and bleak little plastic track. “Is this the future of slot car racing?” The feeling of doom passed as I noticed how neatly the track was built and how much the kids were enjoying themselves.

Read it All Here

The Hobby of
1/32 Scale Slot Cars

The slot car hobby is alive and well all over the world.

Thanks to the manufactures of 1/32 scale slot cars, never has there been so many choices of models to choose from. Detail is at an all time high in the 1/32 scale slot car universe, where it is common to see the brake rotors and even brake calipers, behind finely detailed wheels.

Though slot racing is not as popular now as it was in the 1960's, club tracks and commercial tracks are once again popping up in all corners of the globe. Will the hobby ever get back to the point of televised races, probably not, but that doesn't mean that it's not a great hobby.

Click here to read about the history of slot cars

There are so many aspects to slot car racing. Some people like collecting, others thrive on the competition, yet all enjoy the camaraderie that comes naturally when you put a group of people around a slotted track to do battle with little plastic cars.

A slot car (sometimes, slotcar) is a powered miniature auto or other vehicle which is guided by a groove or slot in the track on which it runs. A pin or blade extends from the bottom of the car into the slot. Though some slot cars are used to model highway traffic on scenic layouts, the great majority are used in the competitive hobby of slot car racing or slot racing.

Slot cars are usually models of actual automobiles, though some have bodies purpose-designed for miniature racing. Most enthusiasts use commercially-available slot cars (often modified for better performance), others motorize static models, and some "scratch-build," creating their own mechanisms and bodies from basic parts and materials.

Drivers generally use a hand-held controller to regulate a low-voltage electric motor hidden within the car. Traditionally, each car runs on a separate lane with its own guide-slot (though recently-developed digital technology can allow cars to share a lane). The challenge in racing slot cars comes in taking curves and other obstacles at the highest speed that will not cause the car to lose its grip and spin sideways, or to 'deslot,' leaving the track altogether.

Some enthusiasts, much as in model railroading, build elaborate tracks, sculpted to have the appearance of a real-life racecourse, including miniature buildings, trees and people. Hobbyists whose main goal is competition often prefer a track unobstructed by scenery.

Model motorcycles, trucks and other vehicles which use the guide-slot system are also generally included under the loose classification of "slot car."

The diagram above shows the wiring of a typical 1:24 or 1:32 slot car setup. Power for the car's motor is carried by metal strips next to the slot, and is picked up by contacts alongside the guide flag (a swiveling blade) under the front of the slot car. The voltage is varied by a resistor in the hand controller. This is a basic circuit, and optional features such as braking elements or electronic control devices are not shown. Likewise, the car's frame or chassis has been omitted for clarity.

HO slot cars work on a similar principle, but the current is carried by thin metal rails which project barely above the track surface and are set farther out from the slot. The car's electrical contacts, called "pickup shoes," are generally fixed directly to the chassis, and a round guide pin is often used instead of a swiveling flag. 

Today, in all scales, traction magnets are often used to provide down-force to help hold the car to the track at higher speeds, though some enthusiasts believe magnet-free racing provides greater challenge and enjoyment and allows the back of the car to slide or "drift" outward for visual realism.

Scales of Slot Cars

There are three common slot car scales (sizes): 1:24 scale, 1:32 scale, and so-called HO size (1:87 to 1:64 scale). These are also commonly written as 1/24, 1/32, 1/87 and 1/64. Usual pronunciation is "one twenty-fourth," "one thirty-second," and so on, but sometimes "one to twenty-four," "one to thirty-two," etc.

1:24 scale cars are built so that 1 unit of length (such as an inch or millimeter) on the model equals 24 units on the actual car. Thus, a model of a Jaguar XK-E (185" or 4.7 m overall length) would be 7.7" long (19.6 cm) in 1:24 scale. 1:24 cars require a course so large as to be impractical for many home enthusiasts, so most serious 1:24 racing is done at commercial or club tracks. 

1:32 scale cars are smaller and more suited to home-sized race courses but they are also widely raced on commercial tracks, in hobby shops or in clubs. This scale is the most popular in Europe, and is equivalent to the old #1 Gauge (or "standard size") of toy trains. Our Jaguar XK-E would be about 5.8" (14.7 cm) in 1:32 scale. 

HO scale cars vary in scale. Because they were marketed as model railroad accessories, the original small slot cars of the early 1960s roughly approximated either American/European HO scale (1:87) or British OO scale (1:76). As racing in this size evolved, the cars were enlarged to take more powerful motors, and today they are closer to 1:64 in scale; but they still run on track of approximately the same width, and are generically referred to as HO slot cars. They are not always accurate scale models, since the proportions of the tiny bodies must often be stretched to accommodate a standard motor and mechanism. The E-Jaguar scales out to 2.1" (5.3 cm) in 1:87 and 2.9" (7.3 cm) in 1:64). Though there is HO racing on commercial and shop-tracks, probably most HO racing occurs on home racetracks.

In addition to the major scales, slot cars have been commercially produced in 1:48 and 1:43 scale, corresponding to O scale model trains. 1:48 cars were promoted briefly in the 1960s, and 1:43 slot car sets are generally marketed today (2007) as children's toys. So far, there is little organized competition in 1:43, but the scale is gaining some acceptance among adult hobbyists for its affordability and moderate space requirements. The E-Jag would be 4.3" (10.9 cm) in 1:43.

So take a look around the site; you are bound to leave with something of value as pertaining to this great hobby. Let's get started!

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