Our Christmas list just got a lot shorter and more specific. As they say in the classics, shut up and take our money!
Have you ever felt the excitement on Christmas morning of opening your present to find an AFX slot-car set? Multiply that feeling by infinity as you can now buy what is possibly the greatest slot-car race track ever conceived.
It might also be one of the most expensive slot-car tracks ever sold, as the auction – live now on US-based Bring a Trailer – is up to a bid of $US80,000 ($AU120,000) as of writing with no reserve and six days still to go.
This 1:32 scale race track diorama not only depicts the Le Mans 24-hour race from the 1971 Steve McQueen movie of the same name, but it is also housed inside a replica Porsche 917 race car, sporting the same number-20 roundel and Gulf Racing blue and orange livery seen in the film.
This is the car that McQueen’s character, Michael Delaney, crashes in the film’s 1970 race.
If you haven’t seen it, enjoy the film’s trailer below.
Porsche was successful in the real 1970 and 1971 Le Mans races too, with the 917K endurance racer winning both events.
Constructed in Detroit by Slot Mods, the set measures approximately four meters long by two meters wide, and runs twin tracks (with two controllers) so you can re-enact your favourite Le Mans battles.
There is even trackside lighting should you want to settle in and conduct your own 24-hour endurance race.
All elements of the diorama landscape were hand-painted to match the 1971 race as featured in the Le Mans film, with period-correct advertising signs and buildings completing the look.
The lucky winner will score 19 cars (including a Ford GT40 customised to represent the camera car infamously constructed to film the movie’s racing scenes at real racing speeds), as well as a selection of period racers in both their fictional and real-world racing liveries.
Our one point of contention is the inclusion of a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C which feels decidedly out of place, and out of time. That aside, the Slot Mods 917 Raceway is in our minds, the ultimate centerpiece to any home, or automotive publishing office…
For a bit of extra wow factor (should you need it), the Porsche 917 body hinges open by remote control, and the head and tail lamps work.
The 917 layout isn’t the largest or most detailed in the Slot Mods portfolio either.
Should you want something specific, the company offers basic ‘scenic raceway’ commissions starting from around $US50,000 ($AU75,000), that can reportedly climb to over $US250,000 ($AU375,000) for a custom ‘megatrack’ layout.
