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Well it does say Vintage,and these are! ;)
I've had Eldon over the years,but never really took time to clean,tune ,and re-tire them.These cars were some of the lower priced cars/sets out during the 60's.Eldon,or Marx slots would have been what I was under the Christmas tree for me,if I had received 1/32 slots.I didn't,got a Hot wheels super Charger set and had a ball with it..
But back to the cars..
I recently purchased a few of them and been having some fun racing.
Tuned them up with tires,cleaning and lube.
Run them on 6 to 8 volts and they are as smooth as silk.Now the detail isn't Cox or Monogram,but they look like 60's slots to me.
Looks like I'll be getting some more,for the fun of it. :dance:
Rusty






Any body know the difference,beside color between the Blue and silver moters?

Come on folks,show us some of your ol' vintage slots.They don't have to be Eldon or even 1/32..
Show some pictures of you with your Birthday,Christmas slots all over the floor :dance:
Rusty

Those are cool Rusty! I sold most of my Eldon's a while ago.

My very first slot car set was an Eldon. It had a battery powered "powerpack", push button "controllers"... and two little fat indy-type racers. This would have been the very, very early 60's. (1960?) I had to assemble everything, including installing the track rails in the track! (Came with a stamped metal "spade" that you used to spread the rail U-channel on the underside of the track.)

From there I went to Strombecker a couple years later.

However during my Strombecker days, on a lark, I purchased a figure eight set with the snap-apart "Jalopies". I had the most fun with that old set! It was a simplistic little set... but a ton of fun and seeing the cars circle the track with some parts missing was part of the fun! After a "race", I could re-install the fenders/etc and off I'd go on another race.

(The Figure 8 sets were on an after Christmas clearance sale. I also nabbed a fantastic Aurora set likewise!)

Those were some really fun days.

Andre

Greetings, here are some Eldon and Strombecker cars I redid awhile back. Regards, John

Those are nice,very nice!
Thanks for posting.
Rusty

In about the seventh grade around 1969 I got an Eldon layout that fit on our rec room's pool table with several of the cars you posted. Great fun! Spent plenty Friday nights with a pal racing either on my layout or over at his house racing on his. Had cousins that bought eldon cars to race on my track. Eldon had plenty short comings but they were inexpensive, sold in many outlets and worked well enough for many hundreds of fun laps.

Ah yes the Eldons :D
Got some practice building some chassis.

Great looking cars and Chassis.I bet they run a bit better with your chassis work! :D
And o yea,running Eldons on a pool table.I too have done this.They do have their short comings,but they introduced thousands to the hobby during the 60's and 70's.Remember some of the cool ol' adds that were placed in Boys life and other mags??They even had Santa racing with a couple of eager boys Christmas morning..
now what could be cooler than that? :clap:
Rusty

Here's my Strombeckers, with a Monogram mixed in.

Nice ,very Nice..You've got some great detail on those so-called cheapy cars! :)

Rusty

An Eldon set (now long gone) was my first exposure to slots too.

I run my later (65 and up) Eldons at 12VDC and with a couple of subtle tweaks will come suprisingly close to modern slots in lap times. Obviously they need new tires and you can install wider tires on the original rear wheels. A little weight around the motor or a weak small magnet just behind the motor will let them really open up. Lowering the front guide can help some but check clearance first. Mine slide around the corners and are loose but they still turn in pretty good times. I've set some impressive lap times approaching modern slots and well below the times of Strombeckers. For comparison the P3 pictured below runs within a couple tenths of say an Artin.

The earlier pre '65 Eldons with the tall narrow 'spoke' wheels ride much too high and can be more difficult to 'tune'. Very high CG and the guides ride waaay to high. Some weight and dramatically lowering the front guides will help but don't expect a lot here. Swapping the axles/wheels off later Eldons can address those issues but they don't look right due to the vintage bodies and short wheels. But it's an option if that doesn't bother you.

Bodies can be delicate on the later models particularly the delicate a-pillars. Might reinforce them on the inside w/ a little glue or something if you run these like I do.

I prefer to keep the Eldons original looking. Their less than perfect scale and detail are part of the charm. If I wanted detail I just go for the modern stuff.

Here's a pre 65, note the wider tires on the stock rims - they look stock when on the track but extend their extra width to the inboard. The guide has been lowered (and new braids) but you can't tell in this image. It's still at least a good second or more slower than the 65+ Eldons and it frequently de-slots, rolls over etc. Though it is far better than original and retains the original chassis, wheels and body.

Some great looking cars and info.Some of the 1st Eldons I had were the early 60's cars.They didn't run near as well as the later ones.Just never took the time to figure out what you did.Thanks for the info.I still enjoy running these later Eldons.They run like a big t-jet .Could you show how you lowered the guide?
Thanks

rusty