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24/11/2021 11:25 am
It was Christmas morning in 1962! 59 Years ago, I awakened in anxious anticipation of what gifts awaited me under the Christmas tree1 For virtually the entire year, I was enthralled with the announcement of the AMT Turnpike set! I wanted one so much! I read every article I could find about this amazing slot car set. I dreamed about the AMT Turnpike.
Compared to the 1:32 scale sets from Strombecker and Aurora, the AMT Turnpike was vastly superior! First, they were larger and matched the size of my model cars. Further, the cars could be steered, jumped, cross lanes, and even drive in reverse! The AMT Turnpike was perfect! The ONLY problem was it was unbelievably expensive! In 1962, $49 for a slot car set with only one car and one controller was a lot of money! The fact that another $9.95 was required for the second car and controller put it way out of financial reach for my family. The purchase of the AMT Turnpike constituted almost 1/3 of my father's weekly wages. He told me all year long that it was too much money and not to count on it.
On Christmas morning, when I came down the stairs and saw the AMT Turnpike sitting under my tree (along with a Monogram 1:8 scale Big T). My older, adult age brother purchased the second car for me. I screamed in gleeful disbelief! I had the AMT Turnpike! I had the AMT Turnpike! I had the AMT Turnpike! It was overwhelming and too good to be true! I had the AMT Turnpike! 😍
I was the ONLY kid in the entire neighborhood who had one too! My best friend Billy (no longer with us), who lived across the street, Jerome (now retired), who lived around the corner, and Richard (lost contact) all had Strombecker and Aurora sets! But I had the AMT Turnpike! I was the envy of all my friends. I so vividly remember my joy, that it seems like it was yesterday! I can remember all of it.
Thanks to eBay, in my adult years, I managed to acquire a few sets. I keep two for myself but with others, I'd buy them, refurbish them and get them working, and paint the cars for resale on eBay for a nice little profit.
24/11/2021 11:38 am
Very cool post Marty! Yes, not only do I remember my first slot-car set, I still have a few of the cars. Mine were the AF-X. I later turned the platform where the cars raced, into an HO Gauge train set for my late daughter and still have that to this day. Great nostalgia sir!
24/11/2021 12:54 pm
there was lust in my heart......for that very set 
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24/11/2021 1:13 pm
Very Cool Marty. I wish I had my first set. Somewhere in a move they got lost. I have newer sets that I purchased for my kids and they are sitting in a closet collecting dust. Once the computer age came on strong, they had no interest in these great slot cars.
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24/11/2021 3:35 pm
When Lori and I got married in 1965 we had very little furniture and none at all in the living room of our apartment. We bought a slot car track and set it up and would have friends over and have races. We kept adding track and cars until we filled the room. I can't remember what happened to the setup but it was a great way to entertain ourselves on a budget.
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24/11/2021 8:14 pm
When Lori and I got married in 1965 we had very little furniture and none at all in the living room of our apartment. We bought a slot car track and set it up and would have friends over and have races. We kept adding track and cars until we filled the room. I can't remember what happened to the setup but it was a great way to entertain ourselves on a budget.
Just one question Bob.....where did you find that woman !!!! Lol.
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24/11/2021 9:01 pm
My first slot car set was a 1/32 set made by Eldon. I lived about half a mile from the manufacturing facility, so my friends and I would go digging in their trash and coble track pieces and cars and build our own. My favorite car was a '66 Dodge Charger which looks like this one I found on eBay:
That AMT set looks great. I recently built an AMT Nova slot car kit '66 for a friend of mine. I posted it a while back.
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