Above are a LeMans winning Bentley and a Porsche 911 GT 1 Evo on a section of Scalextric track. Below: Roger Chandronet, of Warwick, has been collecting slot cars for the past 2 years; he figures he has over 100. Slot cars at 1/32 scale are especially popular.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

WARWICK -- Would you or a loved one like a Lamborghini Gallardo for Christmas? How about a Formula One Ferrari or James Bond’s Aston Martin DBS?

If you are between 5 and 95, stop dreaming. These cars are readily available and you can race them against each other.

At 1/32 scale, that is.

Scalextric, a British company that had been making toy electric race cars since 1957, offers a wide range of detailed model cars and track configurations that allow two drivers to race each other around tight corners and down straights using hand-held throttles.

The hobby is known as slot car racing because the cars run on tracks that have slots that guide and power them.

Hairpin bends, bridges, crossovers and side-swiping chicanes add an element of risk while accessories that include a pit garage, a grandstand and pit teams bring the tracks to life. And lap counters serve to keep everyone honest.

But it is the wide range of cars that is remarkable, each about 6 inches long, based on real cars and detailed to a very high level. Certainly, the price can reflect the artistry with many of the cars costing in the region of $50. Less detailed and more rugged cars, which are better suited for young children, cost about half that.

They include true-to-life renditions of race cars from such formats as NASCAR, Formula 1 and Le Mans, as well as high performance road cars, both historic and contemporary.

And while Scalextric is designed for children, many adults collect and race the toy cars.

Greg Moniz, 52, has a 92-foot track in the basement of his house in East Providence and regularly hosts track meets with a bunch of friends who call themselves the Cellar Dwellers — although he said his 3-year old grandson also likes to play. He said race formats include regular lap races and drag races down the 16-foot straight.

Collectors tend to have numerous cars — Moniz said he owns 50, while club member Kurt Gruneberg, 24, said he and his father Ray own 102 — so races are organized by class, such as NASCAR, GT Endurance, Formula One or Mini Cooper. And that is just within the range of Scalextric cars. Other companies producing cars and track at the same 1/32 scale include Carrera and SCX.

To make the cars go faster, Moniz showed off his small bottles of alcohol and high-grade oil that he uses to clean and lubricate the engines. Other variables include toothpaste, which he said can make the gears smoother, and the tires, which can affect performance, depending on the track surface.

“It’s just like real racing,” he said. “The cars have to be ready.”

Slot car racing at the even larger 1/24 scale was popular in the 1960s at a number of public tracks. But just as interest in the smaller 1/64 scale racers has waned — Moniz and Gruneberg both said they started in smaller cars but moved up to 1/32 scale about five years ago — so 1/24 slot racing tracks have all but disappeared.

“The public tracks kept on closing,” said Moniz.

Steve Mason, assistant manager at the Apponaug Color Shop on Greenwich Avenue, agreed. He said interest in the smaller 1/64 racers at a recent toy fair in New York was low.

Moniz said he was sold on the 1/32 scale, noting that the cars all handle differently.

Scalextric cars and tracks were introduced at a toy fair in England in 1957. The name comes from Scalex, which was a brand of Minimodels Inc., and electric. While the hobby includes the ability to dress up the tracks with accessories, like a model train set, the ability to race has always taken precedence.

And like model trains sets, Scalextric is designed for children but adults enjoy the hobby. It is typically sold in a wide range of sets of two cars with a track configuration and two hand throttles. Players can add pieces of track to create different configurations as well as run different cars.

Scalextric also introduced a digital format that allows six cars to run on a two slot track “with competitive passing maneuvers” in 2004.

While the cars run the gamut in terms of different types of racers, they also include sport road cars, such as Lamborghinis and Mustangs, and even a British police Range Rover complete with lights. Historically, Scalextric has also produced novelty motorcycle-sidecar and horse racing sets.

Last year, the company produced a number of classic race cars, including a Formula One Ferrari from the 1950s, in traditional tinplate to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Another classic set contains Jim Clark’s Lotus 49 and Dan Gurney’s Eagle Gurney-Westlake T1 from the 1967 Formula One season.

Roger Chandronet of Warwick is more of a collector than a racer. He said he has about 100 models, including Scalextric, Carrera and SCX cars, in addition to his collection of plastic and die-cast models. He said he runs his cars on a track when he first buys them and then he puts them away on mounted wall racks in his home.

“It’s the love affair that America has with cars,” he said. “Whether it’s a car in your garage that you are restoring or whether it is a slot car that you are racing or (a car) sitting in a case that appeals to you.”

Chandronet, 51, said he has been making models since he was a child and has also restored at least two full-sized cars. He said he needs the hobby to relax after his stressful job as an officer with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections.

“I don’t know why my wife puts up with it,” he added, noting his house is full of his collections. “She’s a godsend.”

Mason said he has nearly 20 cars in his collection and occasionally races with his two older sons at a track at his home. His prize car is a model of the 2003 Lola-MG from Dyson Racing, a Le Mans racer that he saw race at Sebring, Florida. The model includes details such as lights and the names of the three drivers on the side of the chassis in tiny script.

Moniz has a Scalextric model of his Viper Red 1973 Pontiac Firebrid that he made by mounting a painted plastic model onto a Scalextric chassis.

The Apponaug Color shop started life in 1949 as a paint store and slowly morphed into a hobby shop, according to owner Chuck Moore.

It stocks Scalextric sets, cars and accessories (as well as cars and track accessories from other manufacturers), along with traditional toy train sets and plastic and wooden models. The ceiling is lined with antique toys, and a small cockatiel named Buddy holds court, either from a cage on the counter or from Moore’s head.

Moore explained the bird, which is “exceedingly social,” belongs to his daughter, who is moving to North Smithfield, and he is loath to leave it alone all day.

Does he also have the Scalextric bug?

“No,” he said. “The owner of the candy store can’t eat the candy.”

For more information, go to:

www.hobbyri.com

www.scalextric-usa.com/

pelsworth@projo.com