This is not trying to be condescending or patronising in any way. It's just my way of getting in the mood, and set the scene for why I'm into it. And maybe a few others as well.
A long time ago, when the smell of Methyl salicylate cleared your head at every slot car track, when brass was the slot car chassis builder's choice of materials, when hot singles, doubles and tripple winds melted endbells and acrid smell of burning delrin overwhelmed the wintergreen, when we raced 12 and 24 hour enduro's, was a time considered by some to be the golden age of slot cars.
It was a time when pimply faced teenagers could aspire to earning a living, albeit short term for most, from building and racing home made toy cars around a wooden track, buying our slot car magazines to see what was happening around Australia and in the USA, and reading the names of guys who were building and racing on the 'pro' scene when cars were more scale looking than they were in later years.
This was pre 1970, before the angle winder and air control changed things forever.
Some of those guys, who were building and racing (and famous through the magazines that we bought) got together late in 2005 and took up an idea developed by Paul Sterrett to revisit those golden years by essentially building brass frames of the day, but level out the horse power issues by utilising a modern motor that provides sufficient performance to get the frames working and generate enough track speed to provide the thrill of close competition and get the pulse up a notch.
D3 Retro Can-Am was born. Paul Sterrett developed a set of regs that embodied what was being built by most of the top guys at the time. Mike Steube was excited enough about the 'new' class, he built a stack of frames and loaned them to anyone interested in them to have a play. Eventually there was enough interest that a race was held in May 2006, and so it developed from there.
As the interest grew, and more people got involved more questions were asked of the rules, so other classes were developed to cater for the increasing interest.
There was a group of motor builders who felt left out, so the Retro-Pro was introduced which caters for the need for a bit more speed available to the motor tinkerers and is also angle winder. But no air control except for rear spoilers.
Retro Can-Am is the foundation class of D3 and IRRA Retro, and should be preserved as such.
The regs are written to allow enough latitude for builders to develop chassis in a wide range of styles, and also limit those ideas that were not in wide use or had been thought of pre 1970.
In the early days of D3, other groups wanted to participate, but wanted to make some minor changes to suit their local preferences and availability of equipment, but as;
"D3 is the exclusive intellectual property of its founder Paul Sterrett, who allows and encourages any and all racing clubs, associations and raceways worldwide to race under the D3 format. However the use of the D3 name by any such association also requires a respect of the racing rules established by the founders of D3 racing for the benefit of all enthusiasts. The "D3" name is protected by the trademark and copyright laws of the United States of America and its use is forbidden for any racing series not strictly enforcing the rules as expressed on the pages of the official D3 website." Quoted from D3 Website.
To facilitate others participating in Retro racing, IRRA was founded which allows groups (like us) to use their regs, and modify to suit. This is where our regs derived from.
Hutch, your original participation (60s & 70s) in slot cars is totally different to most, as you were earning a living from it, and as such were looking for better ways of doing things to win, in order to make money. I appreciate the way you approach things and question "why".
If we all adopt and accept these regs because they are currently workable and can provide uniform basis to build a competitive car, I believe the class will succeed. I also believe that the tie to the USA regs is a good thing. That's where it came from. We can still do our local variations as needed.
You talked about changing rules is a fast way to kill it off. I think continually questioning a set of regs, that do work, is more damaging.
Stoo made a comment about changing to Coupe/GT bodies for the next season, and I commented that it would effectively be another class, as identified by IRRA regs. and so it went on. Another class, not changing the regs.
I don't know if I've got my thoughts accross here or not, but to me it's the nostalgia of days of my youth with acid flux fumes, burnt finger tips, and racing cars that I have built, with good mates.
Maybe others can relate to this as well??
As far as tyres go, how about starting off with 0.850 dia?
