Dealer Price List from 1965 which lists
a 3-Lane Set as #9920, but offers no details other than the list price of $49.95.
By Ye Olde
Editore
with a great deal of help
from:
Gary Gerding, Bernard Sampson,
Phil Frank, Roger Schmitt,
Arnie Biondi,
Vince
Romano Jr, Eduardo Casas-Alvero and Kris Mattila
March, 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Since I wrote the original
Strombecker track article in 1998, people have been sending in bits
of information from catalogs
and price sheets which disproved my guess that the 3 lane track
was only made as contest
prizes, and weren’t sold.
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Dealer Price List from 1965 which lists a 3-Lane Set as #9920, but offers no details other than the list price of $49.95. |
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Phil contributed pages
from a
Feb, 1966 Strombecker Catalog/Magazine, which has essentially the same photo as in the Contest announcement I talked about in the first article. However, full set details are included. It’s name is "3-Lane Formula Racing Set", and is an 84" x 36" Figure -8. Track sections are 8 curves, 5 straights, and a terminal section The cars are a front engine Indy roadster, a BRM formula car, and "Rocky Russo’s" Cooper. The box cover art is shown, and it has an overhead view of 3 lanes with cars streaking along. |
Vince sent come real world
evidence: he found the set shown in the 1966
America’s Hobby Center catalog,
and the JC
Penny’s 1965 Christmas catalog. Interesting to note that the Penny’s
set was
marked $34.95. It appears
to contain the same stuff as the official Strombecker set, but it is possible
that it came in a plain
box without the fancy cover art, so the price could be lower.
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Back in 1999, Gary
got his hands on a few pieces, and was kind enough to take some excellent
photos of the details.
On
the undersideit
says "Strombecker Corporation, Made In Hong Kong",
but shows no date. Regretfully,
these photos bit the dust in the computer meltdown.
Gary also found the stock
ad photo of the 3 lane set in Paul
Pecan's "Model Car Handbook"
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May 1965 issue of "Model Car & Track". |
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And recently,
Roger sent in some shots a May 1965 Catalog
page that shows the set,
along with some
photos of his set:
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| And finally, Kris Mattila shows us his 3 lane set, all ready to race....Kris's set came from eBay |  |
Interesting to
note that both ads show trigger finger controllers, yet the weasel words
say plunger type,
and that is in
fact what Euduardo's set has. But Kris's set has the trigger finger controllers.
In Issue 110, we added the pictures of Todd Brace's fantastic 3 lane layout:
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In any event,
we now know that the 3 lane track was made & sold, at least for a year.
There is no mention
of it that I can find after 1966.
If anyone has any additional info, please let me know. Thanks!
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