Today's StreetSafari car was prepared for our US event, BABE Rally (Big Apple 2 Big Easy).
Instead of the European limit of £150-£250, the US event has a limit of $500. In 2009 when these pictures were taken the price had been increased from $250 to $500 in fact. Apparently $250 were getting hard to come by what with scrap prices getting higher.
With a doubling of the allowable car price, something quite impressive happened - the car actually got worse. You see, people were now unleashed and could buy whatever car they had dreamed of. And yes, people do dream of buying some of the mankiest car's imaginable.
For whatever reason, this team bought this wreck, and then had the bright idea to give a Mad Max theme to the car. From a distance this car looks brilliant, from close up, not quite so brilliant. The team were even busted by the neighborhood agency for spraying this car in their front yard.
After driving the car across the 1,500 of some great US roads the event ended in a Louisiana drag strip. Here, deep in the south where the mosquitos are big enough to drag you away, we set about "racing" the $500 against each other.
You've heard of the story about the hare and the tortoise? This was more like two tortoises. So imagine the commentator with a deep southern drawl explaining to the crowds why on earth these crap heaps were on his track, and you will have captured a very special moment.
While I was in Germany for Toyfair I had the great fortune to be able to visit a slot club. I had no idea what was waiting for me at this club. The video start with me eating dinner at the cafe in the club. What the heck? A cafe in a slot club, this completely blew my mind! What a wonderful idea... and the food was amazing. Anyplace you can get a cool Weiss Bier and race slots is the place for me!
The club was huge. The have a small store there for members to buy new parts/cars which was full of their preferred scale of cars, 1/24. They race tons of 1/24 Plafit chassis cars. Of course they also race Carrera too, being a club in German you'd expect that. Though what was unexpected was that the club races Carrera cars with the stock tires, something that is quite unusual especially for non-magnetic racing. They use oil they call, "cheater oil" to soften the tires and make them stick, and BOY do they stick! The track was VERY rubbered in and the cars stuck like crazy. I mention this in the video, maybe a bit too much but I was completely stunned. The running gear of the cars was stock with the magnets removed, weight added (which increased the weight of the cars to about 100 grams) and a light weight interior tray was added. The cars were hand-out cars owned by the club and the drivers all used Parma controllers to keep the field a bit more equal.
That night was a DTM series race. They had a tremendous field of 30 racers. The field was, as you might imagine mostly adult males, but there was also something different as I looked around the room... kids... women! They were racing all together. Now I know that sounds really odd for me to say but in all the visits I've done to clubs in the US I can could on one hand the number of times I've seen kids (I mean children under the age of about 14 or so) racing on the track during what is considered a "serious" race. Further, again counting on one hand, I don't ever remember seeing a woman race aside from "Mopar Jenny" who was a part of the team I raced with during the Chicago 24. When I asked if this was normal to have such a diverse field of drivers, I got a smile and "of course"... yeah, of course. Why not. Slots have been around in Germany as a mainstream hobby, really a main stream toy I should say, forever. Carrera have been around since the 60's and are a leading toy company in Germany/Austria. Now I know that those previous statements might be interpreted as maybe a bit odd to note, but I was really excited to see that the club was full of activity and full of future racers and families enjoying the evening together. This is what we need in the US... this is the future and the way forward for slots here!
I got to take some laps with a borrowed 1/24 car, Plafit chassis with BRM body on the wood track they have which is about 100' or so lap length. Using a borrowed Slot It SCP1 controller I did a little more than 100 laps and was within about 4/10's of what they consider fast... obviously a very easy car to drive! HA!
One thing that is always exciting to feel is the similarity between how people enjoy slot racing. I've had the good fortune to work for 2 slot companies now and I've been tremendously lucky to be able to visit not only Germany but Spain as well. What I've enjoyed most is not seeing the tracks and seeing some "unobtanium" that we cannot get here in the US, but talking with the slotbrothers (and sisters) and finding out that we all have a common language. It's amazing to see that smile of recognition on someone's face while you're talking about tires or chassis set up (in broken English or in my case very broken German) when they realize that you both love the hobby and you really understand the hobby in the same way. You feel at home and welcome, this is how I felt at Slot Connection.
They're having a 24-hour race in March.... hmmmmm.... how much are tickets to Nuremburg again?
Thanks to Christian who was my host for the evening, without whom the visit would not have been possible.
Sloting Plus are three mono-coloured Reynard cars ( blue, orange and yellow ) with ultra light body, sport guide, lexan cockpit, racing tyres and 11/28 ratio.
Interview with a car and motorcycle thief -- "Joseph"
So yesterday I spent some time in San Diego interviewing a car and motorcycle thief now reformed and determined to live a proper life. "Joseph" taught me much in the 50 minutes or so we had together. But above all, I commend him for his decision to honor his wife and stay away from both drugs and crime. "Joseph" started on drugs at age 14 and it was drugs that led him to other illegal activities. He began stealing cars because he was into street racing, and wanted parts, engines, and accessories that were taken from Hondas or Accuras. In particular, Accura Integras from the 1990s had twin cam engines that the street racers of the day wanted for their rides. Ironically, "Joseph" had his own car stolen from him, even though it had two kill switches and an alarm! And, he was sleeping only 6 feet or so from where the car was parked. It is a disgrace that Honda in particular had such a flimsy lock set up. It doesn't take much to overcome the ignition lock -- a bar and screwdriver, or a fabricated piece of aluminum taken from a pop top. Motorcycles became the chief object of "Joseph's" desires, however. And Joseph will admit that it was greed -- simply wanting what others have -- that set him on his course of motorcycle theft. Since one can get $1,200 to $1,800 for a very good cycle in Mexico (of course the Cartel is involved -- auto/motorcycle theft 3rd in revenue after drugs and kidnapping), this is a profitable vocation. But in reality while "Joseph" made 96k a year, due to his drug habit all he had to show for it was two shirts, a pair of trousers, and a pair of shoes. What do you steal -- Harleys? No, because they are simply too slow. A Harley can only top out at 120 mph or so -- cop cars can go 140 mph. You want to steal a "crotch rocket" that can go 190 on the freeway if necessary. And, by the way, once you steal the motorcycle, the first thing you do is fill the gas tank, because you do not want to run out of gas if you are chased by the cops. Note that for a number of the manufacturers, they make it far too easy to steal their products. "Joseph" argued that all that is needed is some minor re-designs of ignition systems to stop most thieves cold. Why is the motorcycle industry so resistant to making these improvements? Is it because they end up selling more bikes? Is it because the owner buys a replacement more costly than the one stolen? There is much more detail that I need to consider that was recorded from this interview. One final item -- most of the car theft rings in San Diego are run by women. They manage, but do not go out and do the actual theft of vehicles. Why women? Because they are smarter!
SLOT MINIAUTO DELIVERY NSR THE CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Over the past Nuremberg Toy Fair, Slot MiniAuto delivered to the Italian manufacturer's NSR the 2010 Car of Year trophy for his Porsche 997 RS Rally.
The award is the result of the election of fans around the world, in a vote conducted through various social networks, Slot Adictos, Pasion Slot, DemoSlot Blog and Slot MiniAuto Facebook friends.
This is the eleventh convocation of the Car of the Year, one of the most recognized awards for global manufacturers of slot sector.
Salvatore Noviello (right) and Giovanni Montiglio (left) from NSR, received from Albert Boet, Slot MiniAuto Editor, the trophy in German toy fair exhibition.
COCHE DEL AÑO
Slot MiniAuto entrega a NSR el premio del Coche del Año.
Durante la pasada Feria del Juguete de Nuremberg, Slot MiniAuto hizo entrega al fabricante italiano NSR del trofeo Coche del Año 2010, por su Porsche 997 RS Rally.
El premio es resultado de la elección de aficionados de todo el mundo, en una votación efectuada a través de diversas redes sociales, Slot Adictos, Pasion Slot, Blog DemoSlot, y los amigos de Facebook de Slot MiniAuto.
Esta es la onceava convocatoria del Coche del Año, uno de los premios más reconocidos por los fabricantes mundiales del sector del slot.
Salvatore Noviello (dcha) y Giovanni Montiglio (izq.) de NSR, recibieron de Albert Boet, Director de Slot MiniAuto, el trofeo en su exposición en Alemania.
I love this space invaders art car from the UK. I takes me back to a time when life was simple and the video games were the same. The goal was easy enough to accomplish in one sitting and the controls were easy to manage: Left, Right, and Fire.
