by Vintage 1/24 » Sun Dec 14, 2014 9:26 am
There is a line that runs through this.
In the 'golden era' of slot car racing - (in 1965 there were more commercial slot car tracks in the United States than there were bowling alleys) - 1/24 was the scale that dominated the commercial venues. They were fast, expensive, heavy, well made, with metal chassis and running gear and with interchangeable quality parts - *substantial racers* - plus they had a connection to the 1/24 and 1/25 static model kits, which were also at the top of their arc of popularity.
The home set cars were 1/32 - cheaper, lighter, plastic, slower - less substantial toys - and were looked at more like 'toys'. Sure, there was a lot of fun to be had with plastic track on the living room rug, but the real action - and the action that defined the 'era' - was at the commercial tracks and with 1/24.
I collected 'Vintage 1/24' slot cars and appreciated the quality of these 'Lionel Trains' of slot cars. For me these well crafted vintage cars were the road that leads to 1/24.
The Renaissance of the 1990s-2000s brought higher quality 1/32 cars to the home market in droves - and I even have a handful...
But I connect to rebuildable 16ds, 36ds, low ohm controllers, brass, set screws, and wood tracks with real braid.
I figure that home based wood track folks approach from two directions - two roads.
One the 1/24 commercial track refugee - the store track closed or got expensive and they built a wood track to run their cars - a small but necessary downgrade. The other, the advanced 1/32 collector - builds a wood track to make a permanent, smoother, and higher quality replacement for the plastic track on the living room floor - a welcome upgrade.
There is a line that runs through this - sometimes they are just different lines.
All roads lead to Rome.