22 replies to this topic

[ian senior]

Anyone able to shed any light on this game (or slot car system?) shown further down the page on the Oulton feature:

www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/oulton_park.htm

[oldclassiccar]

Ian

That came off e*ay a little while back, another mention of it also here:

http://www.oldclassi...toringgames.htm

cheers
Rick.

[ian senior]

Originally posted by oldclassiccar
Ian

That came off e*ay a little while back, another mention of it also here:

http://www.oldclassi...toringgames.htm

cheers
Rick.

Fantastic Rick, must have missed that!

I remember the "Remote Control Driving Test" very well - it was my pride and joy when I received it as a birthday present.

[Mallory Dan]

Slightly O/T, but games related, anyone remember "Dealers Choice"? A board game from the mid-70s about buying and selling used cars, and quite entertaining. I wonder if Mr Sytner or Mr Haywood-Halfpenny etc. ever played it?

[ian senior]

Originally posted by Mallory Dan
Slightly O/T, but games related, anyone remember "Dealers Choice"? A board game from the mid-70s about buying and selling used cars, and quite entertaining. I wonder if Mr Sytner or Mr Haywood-Halfpenny etc. ever played it?

Hmm. Having recently attempted to extract a simple item such as a touch-up paint from one of Mr Sytner's emporiums, I doubt I would ever buy a used car from that man.

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by ian senior


Hmm. Having recently attempted to extract a simple item such as a touch-up paint from one of Mr Sytner's emporiums, I doubt I would ever buy a used car from that man.

Sold the business a while back IIRC, just his name over the door now. Anyone know how hes recovering from his bypass surgery, was he at Goodwood? In a race car he was the archetypal "hard bastard".

[Graham Clayton]

A mid 1950's British stock car game by Marchant Games Ltd:

[cpbell]

Having been to Reymerston Hall, home of ex-Bomber Command pilot and autogyro impresario Wing Cmdr Ken Wallis, I can confirm that he is credited with inventing electrically-propelled slot cars. From memory, he produced the first cars and track, from scratch, immediately post-WWII. He used motors from Wellington bombers and had fully-steerable front wheels. I've have personally seen the track laid-out in a barn at his home, though he wasn't actually demonstrating it at the time.

[Leigh Trevail]

I was lucky enough to have a go with Wing Commander Ken Wallis's slot car set when I had to visit him some time ago. I seem to remember that the electric motors were either from bomb aiming equipment or recognisance cameras. The cars; an E.R.A and a Mercedes went well and looked the part.. Many of Ken's autogyros are now displayed at Flixton Aviation Museum near Bungay. Suffolk, I would not be surprised if the slot car set was there as well.

[cpbell]

I was lucky enough to have a go with Wing Commander Ken Wallis's slot car set when I had to visit him some time ago. I seem to remember that the electric motors were either from bomb aiming equipment or recognisance cameras. The cars; an E.R.A and a Mercedes went well and looked the part.. Many of Ken's autogyros are now displayed at Flixton Aviation Museum near Bungay. Suffolk, I would not be surprised if the slot car set was there as well.

I went to Flixton last year, and the set wasn't there at that point. You're right with regards to the motors - Wellington bomb-aiming stuff I think.

[nicanary]

Hmm. Having recently attempted to extract a simple item such as a touch-up paint from one of Mr Sytner's emporiums, I doubt I would ever buy a used car from that man.

Just reading through this old thread, I wondered whether TNF had ever discussed members of the motor sport fraternity from whom they would NOT buy a used car? I can think of one straight away - He's Irish and bearded. Go on then, sue me!

[D-Type]

Just reading through this old thread, I wondered whether TNF had ever discussed members of the motor sport fraternity from whom they would NOT buy a used car? I can think of one straight away - He's Irish and bearded. Go on then, sue me!

To keep the thread length down would it be better to substitute "WOULD" for "WOULD NOT". The only one I can think of is, surprisingly, B.C.Ecclestone - his deal would be absolutely honest, but only as far as answering any questions you asked.

[nicanary]

To keep the thread length down would it be better to substitute "WOULD" for "WOULD NOT". The only one I can think of is, surprisingly, B.C.Ecclestone - his deal would be absolutely honest, but only as far as answering any questions you asked.

Point taken, ours is the sport of rogues (?). First one to come into my mind was the Cooper-Alta that Black Jack bought, and quickly jettisoned.

[Leigh Trevail]

Why highjack this thread, just start a new one on the subject!

[bill p]

Why highjack this thread, just start a new one on the subject!

Indeed, what have these posts to do with the original subject??

[nicanary]

Apologies. My lack of etiquette was the result of some fella called Glenlivet.

[D-Type]

To get back on thread. The link in Post 2 refers to a game "Touring England". I was given its counterpart "Touring Scotland" by my Scottish aunt one Christmas (this was back in the days when Bernie was still selling motor bikes). We did actually play it and as board games go it wasn't bad. The playing board was a map of Scotland with various large towns marked on it. You chose your staring point and selected eight cards at random with town names on them which you had to visit in your dice-powered XK120. A subtlety was that these cards were colour coded so you had two from the north, two from the south etc. Various points en route had pictures of crashes on and if you landed on one you had to return to the last large town. This could work in your favour as you had to get the exact number to land in a town and if you could go through one of your towns and land on a 'crash' point you got sent back to where you wanted to go. It took a six to cross a ferry so we dreaded drawing Stromeferry which was way up north and both roads to it had ferries on them (a misprint I think)

Edit: Glenlivet wasn't one of the towns named (But Perth was)

Edited by D-Type, 03 September 2012 - 22:12.

[Sterzo]

Having been to Reymerston Hall, home of ex-Bomber Command pilot and autogyro impresario Wing Cmdr Ken Wallis, I can confirm that he is credited with inventing electrically-propelled slot cars. From memory, he produced the first cars and track, from scratch, immediately post-WWII. He used motors from Wellington bombers and had fully-steerable front wheels. I've have personally seen the track laid-out in a barn at his home, though he wasn't actually demonstrating it at the time.

Fascinating! Are you able to remember the year?

For a long time I accepted the history in the 1957 book Model Car Rail Racing, by Dickie Laidlaw-Dickson, editor of Model Maker and later of Model Cars. He described various pioneers working in the forties, culminating in the rail guided system which was still prevalent in clubs in 1957. However, years ago I found a picture and short story in a nineteen thirties copy of The Autocar, showing some of the Bentley Boys with a rail or slot track built by one of them. Unfortunately I don't remember anything else about it, and the magazine was in the British Museum Newspaper Library, so I couldn't take it home.

There were also fairground games between the wars, which were essentially a rail or slot track, where the car couldn't spin off, and the contestants wound a handle to generate the electricity. Again, I can't remember the source, making me a useless historian. I do think the system should be used in F1 instead of KERS.

No doubt many people were working in parallel, not necessarily aware of each other. Hence the reinvention in the late forties / early fifties, which led to the creation of rail car clubs and so on to slot racing.

[Leigh Trevail]

"The Lives of Ken Wallis" by Ian Hancock is available from The Flixton Aviation Museum. This has details of these and his earlier model racing cars, also it's a bloody good read.

[D-Type]

Leigh,
With respect, Ken Wallis and his inventions is not the subject of this thread either!

[Leigh Trevail]

This is true. However it was not me who first mentioned Ken, it was not me who asked for details on his slot car set and it is not that far off the original topic.

[cpbell]

This is true. However it was not me who first mentioned Ken, it was not me who asked for details on his slot car set and it is not that far off the original topic.

That would be me, I'm afraid. I'm usually an habitué of a non-motorsport forum where most threads end-up off-topic, often aided by the moderators. I therefore tend to get into the habit of derailing things even where it isn't welcome. Perhaps the moderating team might consider helping us to move the OT posts to a new thread specifically on the origin of slot-car racing and its pioneers?

[Tim Murray]

For me one of the good things about TNF is the way threads can go off in all sorts of odd and interesting directions, although I accept this can be frustrating for thread starters seeking info about particular topics.