Matchbox slot cars 6V & 12V for sale or trade

You may be (or may not) be interested in the development background of the Matchbox “Speedtrack” system – also named Power track in UK (we couldn’t get that name for the US – copyright problems)

I was the designer & developer of this system. The design concept was to offer a lower cost real racing set – as opposed to the ever increasing prices and diversion from racing into toys that the other brands were offering.

I decided that we could start with a “clean sheet of paper” for the track and eliminate many existing problems – modern wide tires being upset by running across the standard spacing of the conductors (a hold-over from HO train track rail spacing). So we brought the conductors closer to the slot. Additionally, as Tyco had better spacing between the cars (1.5” spacing vs  1.375” for Aurora) for the current wider cars, but less outside room to “hang the tail out” (.750” vs .8125 for Aurora) all fitting in a 3” wide track. So we took the best of both worlds and used 1.5 between the slots and .8125 on the outer edges and arrived at a 3.3” wide track. To keep the costs down, we tested a 6volt Mabuchi motor and determined that we could have a reliable system on the 6 volts and, for low end sets have the customer supply 4 “D” cell batteries – this was how Scalextric got started. Larger sets were supplied with 6 power packs.

The idea was to gain a market foothold on price and later offer an “upgraded system” operating on 12 volts. The concept started well and we did fairly well with initial sell-in. However, management just would not go the next step with the 12v system.

The UK operation did make the move and was increasing their market share until severe financial problems arose and the company was sold – ending the Speedtrack product line and the Powertrack in UK & Europe

Pat Dennis

Mike,

Funny you should mention the Race ‘N Chase sets. There is an interesting and humorous story behind this system.

 We were developing the lane-change system “RPS” and were testing the double clutch setup for the rear axle which we installed into a standard Speedtrack chassis. We had the proto controllers with the polarity switch on top and were just tooling along hitting the polarity switch at random to see if the changeover was seamless. As we kept pushing the speeds up, the car finally spun out – swapping ends. The car just kept running down the track in the opposite direction as the clutches engaged the unintended polarity reversal. Hummm. Let’s try just overrunning the corner again – same result.

Then we tried a standard Speedtrack car, stopping in mid-corner and hitting the polarity switch – worked again. Now we could pull a U-turn at will by only adding the controller with the polarity swich.

Now we had a concept, but how to make it an exciting set. I distinctly remember driving home that night, mentally going through concepts and came up with a  “tilting bridge with live rails” This could either be jumped without tipping the bridge or, going more slowly, tip it and “close the door” on a pursuing car. This bridge, incorporated into an extended figure “8” , and track side aprons made a set with real play value. This was probably the most fun product that I have ever had for demonstration at Toy Fair.

The “Copter Chase” set was an entirely different story. Our president called me into his office and announced that he had obtained the license for the Hulk & Spiderman, and I was to develop sets to use them. I am not a huge fan of licensing – especially if it did not enhance – or even fit a product. But, wanting to get paid regularly, I did the best I could and the “Copter” was the result. We used the lane-change chassis, converting the rack & pinion steering system to raise & lower a very lightweight ‘copter on demand.  These “Super Hero” sets were not particularly successful – primarily due to financial constraints on the TV adverting budget. Therefore the buy-in by major customers was quite limited, further reducing the ad budget. As I have always stated, “a good license can add to a good product, but no license will make a bad product good “.

Regarding the tooling for the 6 & 12 volt systems, I knew where it was for many years – a HK company that I had been doing business with for years. I have lost track of the owners and my latest attempt to search out this company have been unsuccessful.  They very probably closed shop and the tooling scrapped. I do know that they developed and produced the Scalextric HO system for some time.

Regarding the various track sections developed for the 12 volt system, the UK operation ordered much of this as they kept the Powertrack brand going in both UK and Europe for several years after I left.

Pat

Hi Pat,
I'm extremely interested in the development of speedtrack and matchbox powertrack.
I would like to add any interesting stories on the development on my web site
Www.matchboxpowertack.co.uk
Also do you have an items that I can purchase and put onto my website.

Pete

Pete

Sorry, I didn't keep any items - except one Ferrari F1 car for old times sake.

I do have a series of photos from various toy fairs, photo shoots (one with Mario Andretti), and one Toy Fair Sales flyer.

Send me a PM with your Email.

Pat Dennis

When I was a kid I had a book about Tyrone Malone and his diesel drag trucks.  Did you have any connection to these?  I've been looking for aome nice examples, but have not been able to land any as of yet.

I had a very direct in these - let me writeup the details and get back to you.

Pat Dennis

The story of the Speedtrack Tyrone Malone trucks requires another lecture on Matchbox Speedtrack/Powertrack history, so bear with me.

During the Lesney Matchbox product line expansion of the late 1970s the plastic kit line was eyed as fertile ground. Matchbox had been producing and marketing a very nice, but limited line of 1/32^nd scale cars worldwide. When we noted that AMT was going into receivership, our VP of marketing and myself traved to Troy MI, for a “due diligence” of the company. For me, personally, it was a saddening trip. While walking through the darked halls and offices – seeing witness marks on the walls where box-art originals had been framed and hung, all I could remember were the various photos and articles in the model magazines of tours that the correspondents received at this dynamic company.

As all of the original tooling was determined to be complete and in very good condition and the original model & pattern shop, with key personnel was included, we “made the plunge”. This was in 1978.

The first order of business, after inventorying everything, was to develop a plan to revitalize the line. It was decided to have known “big name” customizers contribute their ides to a line of re-introduced kits. George Barris was chosen for this and a sub-line of kits bearing his ideas was created.

Although I do not know how the connection was made, Jerry “Tyrone” Malone was contracted to produce his “World’s Fastest Trucks” in the AMT normal 1/25^th scale. Tyrone was ever the consummate showman – a story that was revealed at the next Toy Fair. As we got to know this showman personality better, it was decided to use his designs in the Speedtrack line. Tyron’s signature maneuver was pulling 180’s and 360’s with this huge truck at events. What better a subject for our Race”N Chase sets.

At Hobby Show 1979 (Anaheim, CA that year), George Barris and Tyrone Malone, with full size samples of their vehicles, were on hand to address the sales staff at the “kick-off” meeting and greet the major customers. When it was time to meet our largest customer – the buyer for K Mart, Tyrone asked the buyer (who shall go un-named for this) if “he wanted a ride through the parking lot” in his truck. After climbing in and firing this monster up, he cruised to the far end and promptly did one of his 180’s, followed by two more. We were aghast, convinced that the buyer would have a cardiac arrest. Quite the opposite – as he climbed down, he shook Tyrone’s hand and placed the order!

Toy Fair got even more interesting. George and Tyrone insisted that the staff be their guest for dinner. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Smith & Wollenski’s in New York City, but it certainly isn’t a restaurant for the budget minded. There were easily 24 people in the party. Tyrone laid out the story of how he got into the drag truck business. He started out as a small time promoter, traveling the shopping mall circuit with his 18 wheeler. He began with an interesting car or such inside the elaborately decorated trailer. He would park the rig and sell tickets to the growing crowd for a tour inside. He supplemented ticket sales by making and selling T shirts depicting whatever was the attraction inside the trailer. One day, he dreamed up his “ultimate” attraction – a real whale inside the trailer. He discussed it with one of the professors at the nearby university and a plan was hatched. He determined that the whale had to be an exact length (I think it was 38ft) to completely fill the trailer. Then he, somehow, got the permit, as whales are protected species. The grand plan was to shove a huge pipe down the whale’s mouth and inject liquid CO2– freezing it from the inside out. As the planned trailer was a refrigerated type, he could then hit the show circuit. Every evening he went down to the docks to meet the fishing boat that had his “order” for a 38 ft whale. Days turned into weeks, money was getting scarce, when finally – success! After winching the whale into the trailer and installing the pipe, the CO2 was started. Tyrone knew he had a very limited time period to completely freeze this thing. Four hours – still warm, 8 hours – no noticeable change. He was getting very nervous; he had invested every dime he had into this “dream”. I think it was at the 20^th hour that it finally felt cold to the touch.  Success had finally come to him.

He started the show circuit again and was getting a lot of results, so he decorated up another rig to park at the next stop – sort of advertising the “coming feature” and selling T shirts in advance. He noticed that many people were interested in viewing the elaborately decorated empty truck, thus the next phase of the Tyrone Malone show was born. Asking himself “what would the appeal be to simply go all out and decorate a tractor (truck), without a trailer into the “world’s most beautiful truck”? First make it pretty and then make it noisy and fast. This, he claims, was the background for the trucks we know him for.

Eventually, Lesney used the Speedtrack Patterns to produce his trucks in the 1-75 diecast line.

A long response, but I think the story needed to be recorded.

Pat Dennis

This is an advert that was featured in the Toy Fair Magazine.

You said "Lesney used the Speedtrack Patterns to produce his trucks in the 1-75 diecast line."

Does this mean the glass and chrome parts should match up with the slot cars?  I scored a Bandag Bandit in an auction, but it's missing the pipes.

Probaby not. Matchbox tooling engineers tended to "beef" up any section that they felt could break in production handling and/or use - such as window posts, bumper ends, etc. They became so paranoid about this that there were items that were hardly recognizable to the original creator when the first samples came out of the production molds..