AutoWorld X-Traction Ultra-G Series 6 Release By
Paul Shoemaker Being a big fan of the pancake motor HO slot cars, I’m always excited to see what AutoWorld is releasing next in their X-traction or Thunderjet series. As a kid, my parents would take me down to the hobby shop and I could stare for days at what was new in the display case. I do believe my nose print was permanently etched to the front of that glass after my first year in the hobby! Now our kids (and us too!) can stare at these new wonders, from home, thanks to the Internet and great sites like SCI and others (but we may still get nose prints on the monitor!). AutoWorld’s X-traction Ultra G Series 6 is no exception. AutoWorld has gotten the reputation of having very detailed, collector worthy cars for some time now. Tom Lowe and his team always seem to find the coolest subjects to create, whether it’s a historic race car, some new “tuner” that we see rippin’ up the pavement or a classic hot rod ready to cruise our little HO world. The new set of cars are mounted on the newer X-traction Ultra G chassis. For those who are new to this, AutoWorld took the classic pancake design and added a new twist by placing a neo-dot traction magnet to assist in the handling. When I first saw this, I was a concerned. After all, there was nothing wrong with original chassis, don’t be messin’ with that! But like a kid whose parents are attempting to get them to try some new food, AutoWorld has gotten me to try this. And I have to admit I like it! Just like the old Life cereal commercial, “Pauly likes it, He Likes it!” (Sorry Mikey). The added traction has made driving the road courses much easier, especially for beginners and they are not saddled with having to deal with the blinding speed the inline motor cars all have. This concept also works for us older guys whose reflexes aren’t as fast as they used to be! And if you want the classic performance of the original design, simply pop the magnet out and you get your slide/drift back. Truly the best of both worlds. There are three new body designs and three previous designs with new paint. As with previous offerings we get two paint schemes with each body design. So without further blabbing from me, here are the new AutoWorld Cars! This is AutoWorld No. 31 Dodge Viper Competition Coupe. These two offerings come in Blue and in Red with Silver Strips. These are totally new molds. The Viper sets level, low and looks much better than the previous version. The last shots show the older version decked out in Black and Silver for comparison. No. 32 is a 2004 Chevy Corvette C5R and comes in a Dark Silver or Yellow. After all, that Viper needed something to race, right? I’ve been waiting for this one since AutoWorld showed it on their web-cam. The detail is crisp and clean. The radiator inlet is hollow and the quarter panel venting is incredibly detailed. All the latches and window straps are in the right place and are scaled nicely to the body. No. 33 2007 Dodge Charger SRT8 is the last of the new body designs, but is far from the least. The detail work in the sculpture and the paint are superb! They detail is so fine as to include the SRT logo in the grill and the Hemi logo on the quarter panel. This car is so spot on. The rooflline and stance is all Charger and that SRT hood scoop, you’d almost swear you heard the Hemi growl! We started seeing Chargers decked out as police cars in my area. Might have to do a little conversion work on one of these. No. 34 The Jeep CJ-5 is a carry over from the Dukes of Hazzard series. This release comes in Black and Tan with a very good Golden Eagle logo across the hood. The second offering is a Dark Green and Flat Black. Once again, excellent detail. I wasn’t a big fan of the windshield hinges, but they have grown on me. I like the option of being able to lay the windshield across the hood. I still wish they had put Daisy Duke in the driver’s seat! No. 35 is the 1977 Pontiac Firebird. This is also a re-release with new paint. This series comes in Dark Red and in White and Blue. The Dark Red Firebird is a “Plain Jane” version with no flaming chicken on the hood. The White and Blue Firebird is decked out in the traditional Trans Am scheme, complete with the bird, B-Pillar logos and even the T/A 6.6 markings on the hood scoop. No. 36 is the 1957 Chevy Nomad. These have been done up to match the wild candy cane striped Nomads that Aurora did in their last efforts before closing down in 1982. I have the originals and these new models are a bit different. The front bumper and grill are mesh filled and the top chrome fitting for the hood is now molded into the front bumper assembly. It’s good that there are differences, but I like these a bit more. Since the body as a whole is painted, the blends of stripes are consistent and everything shines! Plus, if I wreck one of these, I can get another! They are very visible anywhere on my layout, even on the far side of my 20 foot table. This is a great nostalgic replica of the original with just enough originality to make it AutoWorld’s own. I have tried to give you the reader, a better view of the new cars. It seems, no matter who the vendor is, the catalog shots are often too small to see. I hope to bring you closer to the products and get that “eye-full” of what they have to offer. Let me know if you like the format or would like to see any particular details. Well that’s all for now. I have more items heading this way for review, so keep watching SCI for more.
And if you are a manufacturer, large or small, and would like to see your products reviewed here, contact me at Paul_S@Slotcarillustrated.com | 
