Added 2/27/05
Here is an excellent pair of Eldon slot kart racers I was fortunate to find at a toy show.
Eldon was one of the major manufacturers of slot cars in the 60's, and this cool pair of
karts features red/white reversed color scheme. These don't crop up that often, especially
in pairs.
Check this out!
This is an actual photo of a kit from my collection (recently sold - June 2001). This is a difficult kit to find in such mint condition (parts are still sealed in plastic). The kit, manufactured by Strombecker back around 1960 or 1961, depicts the "Go Kart 400" with Clinton A400 engine. It has a small electric motor powered by penlight batteries (not included) and steerable wheels. As you might well know, especially if you frequent this web site, the Go Kart 400 was the first kart to ever go into production, back in 1957 (Bug followed by about 6 weeks I'm told). The following is the Strombecker promo pic from 1961. The kit originally sold for $1.49.
Around the same time, Hawk Models added a motorized Fox Go-Boy kart kit to their
line-up. It retailed for $1.50.
Also in 1961, Strombecker entered the slot racing business in a big way with the
introduction of their first (and very popular) figure 8 racing set with 1/32 scale D-Jag
and Ferrari Testa Rossa cars. In 1962, they added a variety of racers to their line-up,
including this slot kart racer.
[There was even a record album in the 60's about slot car racing by "The
Revells". You can buy the CD
from amazon.com]
Here's
a great slot racing set by Lincoln!
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