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Follow on Google News | Los Angeles Slot Car Museum display a success at the Greystone Mansion Concours.The May 5th Concours d’Elegance at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills was a very successful event despite dreary weather. Beautiful automobiles were displayed all over the former residence of the Doheny family.
By: Los Angeles Slot Car Museum The estate was a gift from "Big-Oil" magnate Edward L. Doheny to his son, Edward "Ned" Doheny, Jr., and his family. Following the purchase of the estate by the City of Beverly Hills in 1965, the property became a city park in 1971 and was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as Doheny Estate/Greystone. The house and grounds are often used in film-making and television production. The house's descending staircase is one of the most famous sets in Hollywood. The LASCM (Los Angeles Slot Car Museum), a private entity set by enthusiast Scott Bader, was invited by the Mansion’s curators to display a sample of its immense and colorful collection of vintage slot cars, possibly the finest automobile toys ever made in America since the end of the 19th century. Scott had some of the museum's showcases transported to the mansion, the display set in the main hall facing the dramatic staircase leading to the second floor rooms. Artist Sean Robinson produced large posters representing a brief history of the hobby, enlarged period photography and composite pictures of Cox and Classic box tops. Artifacts ranged from a 1912 Lionel “Stutz” rail-racing car to kits issued in 1966 by well-known American manufacturers. View images from the event here: http://lascm.com/ Original box art from Monogram, Classic and GarVic slot cars was also on display. An original painting by former GM designer Bob Cadaret of the Classic “Gamma Ray” gathered much interest and several large, cash-on-the- After hesitant beginnings, slot car racing became a huge fad between 1964 and 1968, drawing millions of youth to over 3500 racing centers in the United States alone and generating hundreds of millions of dollars. Circumstances sank the hobby as lack of cooperation between manufacturers to limit technology and cost through national racing rules, as well as their lack of vehicle-dynamics understanding resulted in cosmetically beautiful machinery that offered mediocre on-track performance. It meant that frustrated but smart teenagers began building better cars, discouraging casual “kit racers” with no access to such hand-built machinery who simply turned their back on the fascinating new hobby. After a financial collapse that meant bankruptcy for many companies, the hobby was reborn in the late 1990s in the form of sophisticated home-racing sets now produced in China, and is now part of the general hobby world along with model aircraft, radio controlled cars etc. The LASCM has gathered the world’s largest collection of period artifacts that include mint and boxed original kits and cars produced by toy giants such as Revell, Cox, Monogram or AMT, as well a the finest collection of hand built and pro-racing cars by some of the most brilliant of 1960s teenagers, some of whom ended in high spheres of technology or business. The LASCM has also a vast library of books, magazines, articles and product catalogs. A new book about the history of this hobby is soon to be published by the LASCM, authored by one of the most knowledgeable authorities on the subject, himself a witness of the rise and fall of slot car raceways as a commercial venture. At the same time, Scott Bader’s other venture Electric Dreams, showed currently available slot car models by Scalextric, Fly, Ninco, Slot.It, Carrera etc. from its store, that has the largest inventory of slot cars and parts in the United States. http://www.electricdreams.com The museum can be visited online at http://www.lascm.com Media contact: Scott Bader End
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