From Braga to the world...

From Braga, Portugal, to the world...


Hello everyone!

Let me allow to introduce the blog before I introduce myself... not the sequence that what one would expect, I guess, but anyway: most people will miss this message, likely.


What makes a grownup enjoy slot cars? Why do a bunch of guys decide that the best way to enjoy a Friday's night or weekend, is to grab some plastic replicas of cars from all sorts of races and eras, fitted with electric motors... and drive them around a miniature track? It's a question often placed to us, and the answers are not always consistent... but one thing is for sure: we're enthusiasts!

That enthusiasm is what made me want to start this blog: a place for expressing my joy of driving, assembling, painting, repairing (yes, unfortunately...) and evolving ever faster in the world of slot cars! I hope I'm able to express you this feeling the best I can. Slot car is not a way of life. It's not a do-or-die commitment. It's a hobby. And hobbies are to be "lived" in our way, during the time we take for them.


So, how does one get involved in the slot car world? Most people have different stories. Many enjoyed it in childhood times, in slot cars tracks in attics with other kids. Some happened to visit a slot car club later and were impressed. Well, I did have contact with slot cars when I was younger, after another Santa Claus visit that left me a slot car set. I don't remember it too well, but I believe it had a Maserati Bora and a BMW 320, maybe Gr.5, in 1:43 scale, most likely. I do remember having great times with it, and an older neighbour of mine assisted me in changing the power system: it ran on batteries !!! So we adapted it to fit an AC/DC converter with voltage regulator, and by that age I was already experimenting the consequences of riding at full 12 V (and checking the heat on the motors...). Like all things in our childhood, the joy of that came and went, switching my atentions to any other thing I can't remember. Years later, I was starting to enjoy modelism: simple plastic kits, 1:24 to 1:43 replicas of my favourite cars: Ferrari (I hope I haven't disapointed you with this schocking revelation...). From modelism, I was contacted by a slot car enthusiast that required my "services" for a trasformation he was trying for some time, building the Mercedes TT car that Ellen Lohr contested the 2006 Dakar edition.

Well, the project is still going, after 2 years ! The blame was on slot cars: I started to get more and more involved to the point I decided to buy me a car and start taking on the track ! From it, it evolved seemingly endlessly: many cars were bought, parts, etc. Many races were started: some never finished, some won, many of them were really enjoyed. And so one gets caught by slot cars...



So now, to the point were I introduce myself. But speaking of my entrance to the slot car world, haven't I done it already? Well, for those interested, I am Hugo Figueiredo, aged 29 to this date. I entered the slot car world by the end of 2006, so I am quite a newcomer still. Many people I race with started the hobby in my very hometown even before I was born!

Since I was and am a motorsport enthusiast ever since (my dad tells me I learned the car brands names shortly after I started to speak !!!), but not a very skilled driver (hey, I'm not dangerous... just not crazy behind the wheel), I found this "safe" way to go crazy around a track. Any mistake, let the car bear the consequences... glue works fine!



I am already long on this message. What I can assure you, is that I want to cover in this blog every single aspect that makes me enjoy slot cars: from hard-tuned cars built for racing, to slot car madness projects never to be raced, only to be enjoyed, passing through those slot cars I purchased to go straight to the shelves, never seeing track on their lifes.


Until then, check on the Slot Car Driver's log... see you soon ;)