Model cars have been around since cars existed. The first commercially sold model electric cars appeared in 1912. These drew power from toy train rails connected to a battery, with a slot cut between the rails to guide the car around the track.

Electrically powered models came and went over the next 40 years from various manufacturers in America and Europe. Raised rails guided all of these early powered car designs, either at the wheels, the lane center or along one edge. These types of model cars are known as “rail cars” rather than true slot cars.

The precursor to modern Slot Car Racing was called Rail Racing, and was spurred by the development of gasoline powered model cars in the late 1930s.Never heard of this before? Get up to speed here. In Rail Racing, gas powered cars sped along the surface of a board track consisting of 4-6 lanes. The cars were attached to a set of ball bearings in the front and back that guided the car along a rail set in the track. Maximum speed for these cars could reach close to 100 mph.

In the 1940s hobbyists in Britain developed controllable electric cars, at first using hand-built electric motors, and by the 1950s commercially available model train motors. In 1954 the Southport Model Engineering Society in the UK built the first electric racecourse that is considered to be the progenitor of all electric slot-racing courses thereafter. Slots in the center lane of the tracks guided these models, so the term “slot car” was coined.

Slot Car Racing exploded in popularity, with thousands of clubs and racing courses across America and Europe by the late 60s, but organized Slot Car Racing declined from the 1970s on.

Today, with new technologies and new products, Slot Car Racing is enjoying a Renaissance of sorts as aficionados and hard-core enthusiasts connect with each other online.