Today we are looking at our latest Retro-Review, covering the Louis Marx International Sports Car Race Set. I had some challenges finding the release date of this set, finding release dates for both 1959 and 1960. Louis Marx also released a later set using the same name adding to the challenge. I won this set in a raffle drawing at a swap meet a few years ago and was intrigued with the history of the set and thought this would be an interesting subject for a slot car article. I had not started the Retro-Reviews at that time and had set the race set aside and honestly forgot I had it. Digging through some other items, I came across the set and began putting the article together. Fortunately, most of the parts are all there with the exception of the power pack. The previous owner added a Marx HO power pack which has the same power output as the 1:32nd scale sets. So let’s take journey back to 1959 (or 1960) and see what the Louis Marx Company offered in the race set that has “Nothing Else to Buy!”.
Here is the side of the box, showing the catalog number (22240) and that it was made by the Louis Marx & Co in Girard, Pennsylvania USA (Motors made in Japan).
The box contents are neatly packed in cardboard dividers with a spot for each item. The previous owner added the Marx open wheel car, but it was not part of the original release of this set. I’ll look into that car at a later date and cover it in another article. The set includes eight curved sections and two cross-over straights that make up an oval that fits in a thirty inch by forty-two inch area.
The set did not have the instruction sheet, but I did find a copy of the cover page. The top picture is from the inside edge of the bottom box, with instructions on how to get repair parts. Notice they called the race set the “Racing Game”.
Here’s the layout. Given the age, I did not trust the original wiring, so I tested everything with a more modern set up. But the track did carry power and the cars ran. It took some tune up work, but given their age, I was surprised that both cars worked and the track did not have any unusual issues that we don’t see in a modern track. A quick cleaning of the rails and connection points took care of those.
The track slides together and two clips are inserted into the pair of slots to hold it together. I did not apply the clips. With the plastic being sixty-plus years old, I was afraid the track would break.
As mentioned earlier, the set had a Marx power pack from one of their HO scale race sets. It does have the same power characteristics as the original unit, outputting 19 volts and half an Amp. The controllers are simple spring loaded on/off buttons. Both worked, but “buzzed” in your hand.
The track sections are a set of eight curves and two cross-over straights and make up the small oval.
The curves have built-in slots to hold the guardrails. The guardrails are made from the same material as the track. It appears to be ABS plastic and has become very brittle over the years, but they slid into the slots and were still flexible enough for at least one more go round. I had two guardrails missing tabs and one guardrail missing altogether.
The set included a small envelope with the track clips, one replacement track rail repair piece and a replacement spring for the controller button. I was pleased to find this in the set and I imagine they are rare to be intact.
The Green Race Car
The Red Race Car
I’m not certain what cars these are modeled after. They could be a Jaguar, or a Lotus, or maybe a Ferrari? I could not find a catalog listing for these specific cars. I’m leaning toward the Jaguar due to the fender and wheel well lines and maybe the right-hand driver position.
The chassis is the lower half of the body and houses the pick ups, motor, gears and axle carriers. The gearing step down gear design and drives a crown and spur gear combination, powered by the motor pinion. It is very smooth in action and given the on/off controllers, this helps keep the car on the track.
Here are few shots of the cars together and from different views.
Using the set controllers, the cars were very challenging to keep on the track. A Sixty Ohm trigger controller made the driving easier, but these are not speed demons. They do run smooth, but the early model motors (appear to be Mabuchi units) do not have high RPMs and even less torque.
I can only imagine the excitement a kid had when getting one of these sets (games?). Slot cars were in their infancy as a retail item at this time. Louis Marx was well known for their model trains and slot cars was a logical progression to get into a new market that was to grow beyond anyone’s expectations. This was a interesting peek into our hobby’s past, in its earliest stages.