David Mincica vintage slotcars collection - DMI/Elmodan info

[slotcar7]

And now two items that are absolutely rare..but first a bit of history..

At the beginning of the 60s, Egger, a German train model company, developed a slot car system in the 1/40 scale, but for some reasons they decided not to put it into production, and sold instead everything to the French company Jouef..in this way, the "Record 64" slot car line was born..

The success was huge, and not just in France, but even in the UK, where they were sold under the brand "Playcraft Champion" (but produced in France) and also in Spain and, in this case, locally produced..

So, in 1966, to improve their sales, Egger asked Jouef to be able to produce locally their products, and Jouef agreed..in this way, the original system went back home, and Egger branded their products under the name "Egger Silberpfeil" ("Silver Arrows")..but all this happened for less than a couple of years, because in 1967 the company closed down..so, nowadays, the Egger slot car sets (3 types produced) and slot cars (8 different slots) are a quite rare sight, but what i show you now are two dealer's boxes full of 5 Egger 1/40 Mercedes 300 SL MIB each..for a grand total of ten slot cars MIB..

I think it's very, very difficult to put together in the same photo ten of these slot cars in this condition, let alone the two dealer's boxes..

And have a look at the numbers cars have..: just n.12, n.14, n.15, the only numbers used in the Egger version of this iconic slot car..

Enjoy..

[GranTurismo]

Amazing....

How did you get a hold of them?

[slotcar7]

Hi Gran Turismo, glad you like them..

I've bought them from a German old toys collector..he was collecting overall vintage tin toys, but he had also some Egger stuff, and in particular he'd had these boxes for many years..so, when he decided to sell them he fixed a quite high price, about 13,500 sek for both boxes, but i think they're worth that amount, given their rarity degree and the average price for a single slot car like these ones you usually pay..

And now, guys, something different from the Japanese company Marusan..quite rare in itself, but with an accessories that really is..a 1960s boxed Marusan H0 Citroen DS with its rare, rare, rare soft plastic cover..

Usually, Marusan slot cars were sold just in a box, but for a short period, and just for the cars sold abroad, in particular to the US, they decided to put also a protective cover to the slot..and this one is one of the very few surviving..

Ah, take a look at the last image..: to me, it looks like a snake when it changes its skin..

And now the photos, enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi guys, really sorry if i didn't upload anything recently, but i've been really busy and not always at home..

Anyway, i've finally found a bit of time and i now show you something really uncommon, to make me forgive..

The German company Faller, like many other companies during the 60s/70s, was used to give shops that were selling their products, some factory manufactured layouts, to better show the beauty and the possibilities of their products..

Many of these layouts have been lost, and just very few have survived..the one that i show you now is the "Brezelform" that Faller produced in 1968 to launch the 4003 "City" traffic set..and this one is totally mint, with even its box and with the accessories (like the petrol pumps) still inside a plastic bag.. Very few are know to be left in existence, and this one is the best in shape..

As you can see, i've put it in front of the window to try to create a mix between the layout decorations and the real background outside, both in the morning and in the evening..i think Faller could be proud of this mix..

Ah, and i've also put a slot car on the layout..but it's not a Faller..can someone guess the model and the maker of the real car and of the slot as well? It's not that difficult, if you look back..

And now the photo, enjoy..

[Storabjörnen]

Amazing, really amazing.
That intersection must have provided some spectacular crashes. But I guess that's common for all of Faller's "City tracks". Kids love crashes.

/Sb.

[slotcar7]

Hi, thanks, glad you like it..

But i see that still no one has tried to guess the maker and the model of the slot car..maybe do you need a little help.. ? Ok, both are Japanese..

And while we wait for the correct answer, i show you one of the rarest 1/43 slot cars..it's a quite cheap one, made in 1965/66 in Hong Kong, but so far just three of them are known to be left in existence..its' a Cragstan Mini..

These slots were made, i guess, after the real car became a world success when it started to win the Monte Carlo Rallye..

As you can see, the engine looks huge in a so small body..and have a look at the so strangely shaped metal contact (the other one is missing)..it would be interesting to know if a contact made in that way had a practical utility or it was just the exercise of a genius..

And now the photos, enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi guys, still no answer..? Ravajack, i know you're around.. And Jormungandr..? And..? Should i still wait or do i give you the answer..?

Anyway, for the moment i show you another absolute rarity..

SRM was a company that at the end of the 50s, following the slot car racing boom started by Scalextric and VIP, began to produce a slot cars set, in the 1/40 scale, with a Ferrari 246 and a Vanwall VW5, the stars of the 1958 F1 season..

The cars had a brass chassis and they were quite nice..and in this their first period, SRM stood for "SLOT RACING MODELS"..but the sales weren't that good, so after a while they stopped this production and started a new range of slot cars and sets..the cars didn't have a full chassis anymore and the overall sensation was that the quality was lowered..and in this second period they even changed their brand name in "SCALE RACEWAY MODELS"..

But to compete with giants like Scalextric was a too hard task for them, so after a couple of years, by 1965, they stopped all their slot cars production and continued producing plastic objects, and they still do until today..

So, SRM was active in slot racing during the years 1959/65, and while the later slot cars and sets, even if uncommon, can be still found today, the first set and slot cars are between the rarest of all the slot racing world..

Until today, just one set was know to be in existence, and not more than 10/12 slot cars..and between them, my two, that i've showed you earlier in this thread..but..i've said until today, because what i show you now is the second set known in all the world..

The set is complete with the two cars, track, hand controllers, bottle of oil and even a small tool to operate on the chassis..and as you can see from the photos, the two cars are in a wonderful condition, almost mint with even the pins at both ends..and i've also put in some photos all the 4 cars together..i think it's the only opportunity to see four of these cars in just one picture..

But..there's something more..

The first two cars i had show you earlier have the usual chassis these cars are known to have, a full brass chassis, and they look exactly the same like the chassises of all the other cars i've seen, and also the bodies are the same..but the two cars found in the set show instead they don't have a real chassis, like the later cars SRM produced, and the interior of the bodies is different, having some plastic holes not present in the earlier ones..

So, i think this set had to be one of the last manufactured, when SRM already started to eliminate a proper chassis to reduce costs or for some other reason..and it's obvious they changed a bit even the mould for the body..so, we can rightly say that there are two versions of the first series of SRM slots, and the two second version cars i show you are the only ones known..

But i've talked too much..now the photos..enjoy..

[Jormungandr]

Carrera and Opel Manta although I'm pretty sure it's all wrong...

[Ravajack]

Ah, and i've also put a slot car on the layout..but it's not a Faller...can someone guess the model and the maker of the real car and of the slot as well?

Of course.
The vehicle "hidden" in your Faller layout is a HO version of a Datsun/Nissan 1600 Coupe (CSP 311) from the mid-1960's (1964-1968) by the japanese slot car model maker Kogure. The 1/1 model car is also known as Nissan/Datsun Silvia. Here are some external views of the HO car, and also the set in which it was included, together with a Honda S600.



The Nissan/Datsun model was aptly named after our Swedish Queen Silvia, curiously enough also long before she became queen in 1976. (Or if it was the other way around... ) Also another common appliance is named after Swedish Royalty, the bazooka/recoilless gun Carl Gustav, in the pic below used by the US Army Special Forces in Iraq 2007.

[slotcar7]

Hi Ravajack, spot on as usual..and my compliments for your so interesting Royal Couple..

So, here you are both cars from the set, together with a static model, a Fiat 1800 Familiare made by the Italian company Pocher in 1960..i think it fits really well in the layout..

But after these photos, there's another mistery car..can you guess also this, Ravajack..? That's more difficult i think..let's test your huge knowledge..

And before finishing, i show you one of the earliest Hong Kong made sets..a rare 1/32 Thunderac set, mint in box, with two Lister Jaguars..i guess this set was made in the first half of the 60s, and the cars are really similar to the Speedking ones..maybe this set was produced by Speedking itself but with an earlier name..and it's funny to read the serious hint given to the slot cars racers: "GOOD RACING DRIVERS SAY IT IS WISE TO GO SLOW INTO A CORNER AND AS FAST AS POSSIBLE WHEN OUT OF IT"..good Asian wisdom because, i guess, drivers doing the other way round wouldn't be able to give advices anymore..

And now the photos, enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi Ravajack, still no answer about the mistery car..? You surprise me.. i'm sure you can guess it..Anyway, i give you a hint: it's a Japanese brand..

And during the wait, i show you two rare HO Playcraft Highways slot cars, a Chevrolet sedan and a Ford lorry..they were part of the first of the two sets Playcraft made in 1959..they're the origin of the HO slot racing..here you can see them in a mint condition, in a blue/green livery for the Chevrolet and in plain red for the Ford, and actually this lorry is an early example, given that it has not the load on the back..

And now the pics, enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi guys, sorry if i haven't been active recently, but very busy, as usual..

Anyway, now i show you one of the rarest 1/24 slot car you can ever find..: a Policar 1/24 BRE Samurai..
But, first, as usual, a bit of history..

Hino is a Japanese company that in the last decades has produced commercial vehicles, but in the 40s, 50s and 60s, until 1967 when it was taken over by Toyota, they were in the private car market as well, mainly producing under Renault licence.
In 1967, the car designer company BRE joined forces with Hino to produce a GT car that was meant to race, and so a prototype, the BRE Hino Samurai was born. The car was stunning, not maybe for its engine, just a 1,300cc., but it had a wonderful shaped body with a moveable rear wing.. But, as it happens sometimes, the car actually never raced, because of some issues with racing rules..

So, in 1968, Policar produced this wonderful car in the 1/24 scale, and later also in the 1/43 scale. But if the 1/43 are not so rare, the 1/24 are! They were produced in two colours, white and blue (even if the real Samurai was actually red) and just no more than a dozen of these slot cars are known to be left in existence..and here's one of them..

And now the photos..enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi guys, now i show you an absolute rarity..: two of the only three known vintage Italian slot cars with working front lights..

Well, as you already know, National Toys produced the very first Italian slot cars at the end of 1962, the 1/30 F1 Ferrari with elastic band already shown, and in their first catalogue, from the beginning of 1963, they presented an Alfa Romeo Giuletta SS with working lights, that was their most expensive slot car, costing 2,000 lire (about 24 euros in today's money).

They produced this slot car for just a very short time, because they later put on the market a different version with no lights..the reason can be that it was a too fragile car, with overheating problems..

Now, the "normal" Giulietta without lights are already a very rare sight, overall when they're complete with the front and back bumpers, that were really easy to break..so far just one Giulietta with working lights was known..but not anymore.. Because i've found the two i show you know, a light blue (the only known Giulietta in this colour of both types) and a red one.

And, as you can see, i've put side by side the light blue with lights together with the "normal" blue to better see the differences..

Of course, the light blue is missing the front bumper (but i'll find one..) but it's really interesting to see that the two cars have different rear lights panels, different motors (the light blue has the same early motor of the very first F1 slot cars) and the underside is different as well, with a metal pin and metal contacts and a different shape in general..

And, as said, the National Toys 1/30 Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS is the only Italian slot car that has a pair of working lights..no other Italian vintage brand, starting from Policar, had ever produced something similar..

So, you can see the two cars with lights, the various differences between the two series, how nice the Giulietta looks in the night with its lights on (pay attention to the Alfa badge between the two lights..) and a "family portrait" with all the four cars present in the collection..

And now let's stop talking..there are the photos..enjoy..

[slotcar7]

Hi guys, it's been a very long time since i've uploaded anything here, but you know..many things to do..anyway, i didn't stop to buy and i hope in the next weeks to show you some very interesting pieces..

But first i'd like to show something i've just bought in Sweden..a really nice country for slot cars..and not just.. ..something really unique but, as usual, first a small introduction..

In 1953 General Motors built a car prototype, called "Firebird"..this to show the capability of the company and the possibility to use a gas turbine engine in a car..actually, the Firebird looked like a plane on 4 wheels, but it was never pushed to its maximum speed (320 km)..you know, the new jet planes were so fashionable at the time that car makers wanted to do something similar..

Anyway, after a few years, the American toy and model company Monogram put on sale a kit of the car, but for legal reasons i guess, they couldn't make an exact reproduction of the Firebird, and they also could't use the same name..so, they produced a slightly different model and gave it the name of "Firebolt".

And a little later (we're now in the mid 60s) the Hong Kong manufacturer Speedking decided to copy the Monogram model making a slot car of it..so, they produced a set with both slots being a copy of Monogram models, a Dragster and a Firebolt.

Well, the 1/30 Speedking Dragster was already one of the rarest slot cars around..with the one i show you now, just 3 are known left in existence..but the 1/30 Speedking Firebolt is the only one known.. ! This was a really forgotten slot car no one i've talked to had ever heard about, so what i show you now are two of the rarest slot cars you can ever see..and i think the Firebolt it's how in the 50/60s people imagined how cars could look in the XXI century..

Enjoy..

[slotcar7]