that picture looks for all the world like nasa . i believe a slotcar manufacturer looks more like a young lady at a desk , usin` a solderin` iron to melt small pieces together . my take . . . . . .
My guess is that most of the components used in a slot-it car are contract manufactured and the only thing done at the slot-it factory is to assembly the components and then put them in a plastic display case. Probably not a typical factory type setting with a lot of presses and other heavy machinery. Maybe a few work stations for employees to assemble the components and then some low tech method of moving completed slot cars from one area to another area (finished goods).
I don't think the intent is to trash Slot.it. We're saying Slot.it makes great cars, please make more. If you like American muscle but favor Slot.it quality, well there isn't much of a choice.
I would love to see a Tom Daniel series based on the legendary Monogram kits. The Badman, Badnews, Garbage Truck, etc. Probably up Carrera's alley. But then re-couping the tooling would be a crap shoot.
I waited for some of these to come out but no..so I made a few from 1/24 models with scratch frames , BeatNik Bandit , Ice "T" , and a couple Snap Tite 32's & 34's , I would love to see some more come out . I may just take a stab at "the Munster's car and Dragula .
I'd also love to see the early Can Am cars!! That would be great in Slot it style.
T
I concur. An orange Can Am car driven by certain Kiwis would be perfect tracks mate to the Chaparrals. And of course, there are many others - Lola, Shadow, BRM, Ferrari, Porsche... some of which also competed in the European Interseries during the early '70s. I understand that manufacturers must produce cars with broad appeal. And I suppose that Can Am appeals primarily to the US/Canadian/New Zealand markets. But doesn't early Can Am have any appeal to the European market?
When I visited Slotit in 2010 with Alan Wakefield (aka Swiss Racer on another forum) Slotit occupies 1/2 a floor in a modest small-medium office building. The cars are made assembled and packaged in China. Parts come enmasse in plastic bags are separated and packaged there. Much of of the site is devoted to logistics the rest to research an design and testing. I saw the GT40 prototype when I was there. The two Maurizios took a bunch time from their busy schedule to show us around.
Greenman62
Last edited by greenman62; 06-12-2012 at 06:58 PM.
But doesn't early Can Am have any appeal to the European market?
Vanquish MG made CanAm cars, and they were mainly for the european market, so it was somewhat known in Europe, but presumably nowhere as broad as a championship, sponsors or drivers who were European.
Among the Fly range, they made for instance Porsche 917, and when we strted the NZPR (New Zealand Proxy Race) series, I had to go fishing through all the Fly 917 liveries to sort out which were cars raced in CanAm and which were raced in Interserie in Germany.
Fortunately, one of our ozzie slotters who races NZPR each year, is a German race mechanic and current day track marshal and a "starter" for one of the ozzie circuits. Now residing in Australia, and very knowledgable - and with a bottomless pit of wonderful pictures of historic cars racing modern circuits.
SO he had introduced me to Interserie, and so many cars which raced CanAm, also raced Interserie.
That enlarges the potential interest base for sports cars in that period.
This is a great site for researching. http://www.racingsportscars.com/
These are just a personal favourite of mine, so I'd love to see more! Plus of course it's the era of Bruce McLaren, & Denny Hulme, Chris Amon, Graham McRae, Howden Ganley, Graeme Lawrence, the golden era of motor racing Kiwis.
Mike Thackwell cam later during the 80s' F1 and Group C.... we just don't have that many kiwis punching in the top tier of motor racing now sadly - Scott Dixon would be the only one well known to you guys in the States.
why hasen`t a moderator moved this to the appropriate thread ? seems to me should be at slot.it !
I thought about that, and then the Thread seemed to be getting somewhat generic so left it here (Maurizio found it anyway) in 1/32 Forum.
Apart from anything else, all the diehard Slot.it fans check in on that Forum anyway, but here in the general area it will maybe give the folks who race all sorts of 1/32 cars some ideas, maybe; such as that HRS2 conversion pictured earlier under a Fly body.
So I have a 1/32 Slot-It #40 McLaren F1 GTR LeMans '98 (Evo 6 Chassis, it is my fastest car. But speed has taken it's toll, and I'd like to re-body it. Are you talking of a Snaptite 1/32 body, or 1/25? It seems like 1/32 but I need to know.
Thanks
I am happy to see Slot.it stick with what they do well: Modern(ish) LM, Group C, and top drawer wheels, gears, guides, and axles. I don't think the Chappy did very well for them. Carrera most likely made their Ferraris (312 and F40) go away. There are more than enough manufacturers of T/A cars. Can/Am may be a money maker for Carrera and Revell/Monogram. Aside from boutique manufacturers, nobody else is making Group C cars. The plethora of parts that Slot.it have brought to market make souping up any car fairly straightforward. The HRS and HRSII chassis let anybody bring Slot.it tech and performance to virtually any body.
Is Craig Baird still around? Wasn't there a pretty good Kiwi in the BTCC a few years back?
Yep Craig Baird is still racing, V8 Spuercars when they need an extra driver for endurance events, Porsche 997s here in NZ, our V8 Supertourers, and just about anything he can find on a track with an empty driver seat. He was nigh on impossible to beat in the 996s and 997s in NZ and Australia a few years back - until the Oz series folded. [once he overcame ex pat kiwi "gentleman" Jim Richards who dominated oz for the first 3 or so years.
and Yes, Paul Radisich was the other one you had in mind, he won the BTCC and won the WTCC [World Touring Car Championship] twice.
He returned to NZ, and raced several seasons of the V8 Supercars series in Australia for Dick Johnson Racing and Team Kiwi, with modest results. He is now front man for our new "Super Tourers" series here, which are very similar to the V8 Supercars in Australia, but run on more modest budgets, and still smaller horsepower - about 575 BHP - the motors are actually built in USA for the series. http://www.v8st.co.nz/
His brother Chris Radisich who resides in USA can be found here http://www.imca-slotracing.com/PG_01.htm on the third row of the list of 300 best slot racers of all time.
Henderson was also the home club of Dave Glick who won a few IMCA world titles, as well as Tim Tyler who raced in teams with Chris R. and now races for Australia having resided there some years.
Denny Hulme was their club patron till his death at Bathurst (heart attack on Conrod straight), and since then Paul Radisich has fulfilled the post of club patron.
And just to round off the Henderson club history.
For the first time in it's 50 year history it will host an international event of RTR slot racing on 30th of June when they host the 6th round of the 4th annual New Zealand Proxy Racing Series for CanAm cars . . . and see, I managed to tie it back to CanAm as well
So there ya go. Slotbutton has given me the opportunity to be a "mine full of useless information" one more time
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