I love stone-stock original classic cars, and I also love kustoms and ‘rods. I have never had a problem reconciling these 2 sides of my personality, as to me, its all part of loving cars.
But one area where I can’t compromise is wheels. I’m not alone here: as any lover of muscle cars knows, the right set of wheels can so completely change the character of a car that they are more than just an accessory; they are an essential part of making a car what you want it to be.
Slot cars are no exception! As much as I like the Auto World “Thunderjet 500” Ultra-G chassis, no one wants to see the same boring set of wheels and tires over and over again. That’s why every slot car I build has a set of custom wheels and tires.
I can already hear the hardcore racers carping about losing 1/1000th of a second off lap time by using wheels that aren’t 101% “true” or tires that aren’t matched in size down to the micrometer.
So to answer the obvious question: no, a set of custom wheels will not improve your T-Jet’s performance, and in fact may impair it somewhat; the stock Auto World wheels and tires are well designed and of high quality, and provide a good balance of traction and stability… which is great, if you don’t care that all your cars will look the same from the wheel wells down.
There are 2 principal suppliers for custom wheels and tires for Thunderjets: Vincent and Road Race Replicas. I have used both firm’s wheels extensively and found them to be of excellent quality and consistency. Excellent; however, not perfect; barring a flawless installation, they may introduce an infinitesimal amount of wobble.
I don’t care.
I’m in this for the style as much as the speed, and I want my slot cars to look GOOD! And you know what?
THEY DO!
When it comes to racing cars, decals can dress up a slot car a lot too, so I make sure to have some of those around for decoration. I also insist that every car in my sports/racing fleet have a unique number:
To me, this is the most fun aspect of this hobby: BUILDING THE CARS! Decorating, painting them, tuning them, seeing how good I can make them look and then how fast I can make them go! Considering the cost of potential disappointments, I can honestly say I’m having at least as much in this scale-if not more-as I did when I was building REAL hot rods 20 years ago!
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