Collector’s Guide for Atlas HO Slot Cars - Highly Recommended for Mid-Century Toy Collectors

The second addition of The Collectors Guide to Atlas HO Slot Cars in available. I bought mine directly from the author on eBay. Atlas made excellent and interesting HO slot cars in the 60s and this guide documents these vintage toy cars. I show a few of my cars and babble on about the book and these interesting race cars.

[@thedude4321]

Something different Here and nice to see. Thanks for video

[@nitromancer6460]

@thedude4321 You’re welcome. I’ll try to do more like this.

[@tccrownhart9642]

Nice job. I have 1 that I got in a lot of cars bought in a yard sale. It took a lot of work on all the cars to get them running. But a lot of fun doing it. Thanks for the insight with your video.

[@eugenepolan1750]

I got an Atlas slot car set for Christmas back in the mid to late 1960's. Cars were an XKE Jaguar and a Pontiac Grand Prix. The motors were integrated into the chassis, like the example you showed with the large lead ballast weight. Also, they came with optional rear guide pins and thumb button wire-wound resister controllers...which I was later able to add a braking circuit to. Montgomery Wards department Store had a sale and I purchased the Porsche 904. The chassis was very different, smaller than that of my other cars - it had a worm gear on the motor shaft and a worm wheel on the axle. I added some 1/4" wide AJ's foam tires on aluminum wheels and then I noticed a trait of this chssis that maybe wasn't such a good thing. Due to the worm gear drivetrain, the rolling inertia of the car could NOT feed back to the motor. When I let off the controller button, the rear wheels would lock up and the car skidded to a stop. Sure, it looked cool, but this made it more difficult to drive smoothly. I learned that when you pry open the toy tabs holding the transformer case, you can expose the inner working of the transformer and the rectifier. I determined that these slot cars would not run on the 120 V AC input to the transformer, the motor brushes popping like fuses. Also, a Cub Scout pocket knife screwdriver blade laid across the transformer inputs welded itself to the wires in the instant before the circuit breaker for that corner of the basement blew. The knife is in my pocket now as I type this note. Eventually, metal from the transformer case saw a second life as a handling pan under one of my Aurora Thunderjet slot cars....after I rewound the pancake armature with about 11 feet of wire from a hifi impedence matching transformer on each pole.

[@nitromancer6460]

@eugenepolant1750 I’m glad to hear you still have your knife. Hopefully you still have some of your old cars. You are correct about the cars with the worm gear drive too, the motor will turn the wheels but the wheels can’t turn the motor so they stop as soon as you let off the throttle. And I’m glad you survived your “experiments” - kinda amazing any kid got thru that time period.

[@olafjentzsch6759]

Awesome video, Definitely have to look into some Atlas cars. Thank you for a great video . I don’t really race my cars but I enjoy collecting them and run them on my layout. I really enjoy the history of one of the best hobbies in the world. Keep it in the slot my friend and making great memories/ videos. 🏎🏎

[@nitromancer6460]

@olafjentzsch6759 Thanks for the nice comments. I like how the Atlas cars run. I use silicone tires from eBay sold by “Weird Jack” when the original tires are dried out.

[@davematthews2317]

I have seen old ads for Atlas, but am not familiar with them. Very interesting. Thanks for the video.

[@nitromancer6460]

@davematthews2317 Thanks. They are well done cars. I think I need to visit some of my buddies with much more extensive collections than mine.

[@mr-meek]

I love Atlas. They have made great scale model products for decades- as you said! I own tons of Atlas stuff... and I didn't know they once made slot cars... Now I'll be on the look out. Thanks for the info :D

[@nitromancer6460]

@mr-meek Atlas slot cars are very well done. Get the guide & have fun.

[@nobodyshome758]

Excellent video. Seems Atlas was more successful with trains than slot cars. I got into this hobby in 1971 when I was 9. I got the Jackie Stewart AFX Golden Gate Race set. My friends had quite a few Tjets, but I honestly cant remember any Atlas cars. 10 minutes is perfect on your videos. I always finding myself wanting more. Great job. Love to see some of those Atlas cars run. Take care.

[@nitromancer6460]

@nobodyshome758 I got into the hobby in ‘71 also! I never saw an Atlas car until many years later. But I did have a hand me down Lionel set before my first AFX set.

[@manofthehour6856]

Thanks for such an interesting presentation, Nitromancer. What has drawn my attention to Atlas were, as you mention, the typical cars on US roads circa 1962. Indeed, my Mother's first car was a yellow ("Cameo Cream") '62 Starfire convertible, just as replicated in this line. The '62 GM cars were some of the most attractive, and I love the Invicta wagon, the '62 Pontiac Grand Prix, and the Impala. One question: although "HO-scale", my familiarity with such slot car scales is that the models are more on the line of 1:72 or 1:64. What are the dimensions on a chassis, or for instance, the body of the Invicta wagon?

[@nitromancer6460]

@manofthehour6856 Slot cars aren’t really scale. The bodies are sized to fit the chassis so we end up with sport cars as big as yank land yachts.

[@Mark-og8ok]

promo sm

[@nitromancer6460]

@Mark-og8ok Yes a promo or letting people know about a slot car book made by an enthusiast.