Is Carrera dropping the '57 Chevy Nascars?

[Modlerbob]

I was hoping to see maybe some '57 Fords, Mercs, Pontiacs and etc. But now it looks as though carrera is ending with just the Chevy.

[Slottus]

A drop of interest in this era can be noted, unfortunately... even the Aero-Warriors are affected.😕
The old stockers were "lookalikes" anyway, by-catch for the mould which was mainly chosen because of the roadcar.

[Dave Kennedy]

Sorry to hear this G. I think as the company lacks much marketing here in the US sales will follow with their decisions to not have a more full staff of employees.

[SlotCat]

Agreed with Dave and we Americans want more American muscle cars and old 1960s and early 1970 NASCAR!

[Modlerbob]

We, locally, have been racing the '57s for a couple of years and find them fun. Recently we added a new member to our group and he wants to get one but not at the prices seen in the web stores or on e-bay. Cheapest one I saw was around $60 strictly based on their rareness at this time. I guess my interest reflects my age (71).

[SlotCat]

I’ve got one and it’s tons of fun and looks great! 56 years old here. I wanted to buy a couple more and friends wanted one, can’t find them anywhere except for high prices.

[mattb]

Dave has mentioned before how hard it was to convince Carrera to do any kind of American car. US sales were too weak for them to be an important part of the overall business plan.

[SlotCat]

Carrera’s lack of marketing doesn’t help.

[HomeRacingWorld]

I don't know sales that well. I DO know the recent Carrera Classic NASCARS sold out very fast. Much faster than any other releases on this side of the pond.

The 57 had more opportunity: Smokeys #13/Goldsmith, Fireball, etc. Never done. A real shame. And it needed a rival in the 56 or 57 Ford. Another missed opportunity.

"Group 5" might be a big deal over there...no one really know what they are over here. Only in auto enthusiast circles does anyone have a clue.

We need American race cars in America

[SlotCat]

Agreed, another tons of fun car series!!! I’ve now got half a dozen and so does friend, anxiously awaiting the next releases! After seeing them at my LHS and watching Harry’s tuning video, bought one of the old 1969 dark metallic blue Ben Arnold Ford Torino’s

[williamg]

"Group 5" might be a big deal over there...no one really know what they are over here. Only in auto enthusiast circles does anyone have a clue.

We need American race cars in America

Agreed.

Electric Dreams had the 57's cheap before christmas, did you check there? May or may not be higher.
MBob, contact me if you want a used stock (blue/white) one without case, I may part with it.

[mattb]

It's hard to believe that a country as big as we are can't drive demand more than it can. If we had the numbers which would translate into dollars, maybe we would be more important to the world wide market. I think Dave has compared the numbers of the US hobbyists to the Euro numbers and we are really a small group. Maybe he will add to this thread with that info. Even marketing sets for America as compared to Europe.

I like IROC Camaros, Cudas, and such. There's not a rally car I would ever buy. That seems to mean nothing to the slot car companies.

[SlotCat]

I love group 5 and rally cars, but American cars are my first love provided they are not cartoon like lol. Hopefully Carrera and order slotcar companies will improve marketing slotcars in general and to younger people in the US.

[noddaz]

Thank you Slottus! And maybe, just maybe Dave Kennedy will chime in on this. Something about how the USA is a tiny part of the slot car market. And maybe, just maybe we should review some of Dave's videos about the US market and slot cars. Please no one thake this wrong. I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but this has been covered.

Scott

[CatRacer]

PM sent.

[slothead]

Here's my discounted 2 cents work of opinion. To me there's more to 'demand' than just what gets put up for sale. One of my students (college) did her senior research presentation on how Starbucks markets their Pumpkin Spice Latte which is only available for a few weeks each fall. They pay people to start posting on social media a few weeks ahead of time about how much they are looking forward to the product becoming available. When the lattes' are available ads remind customers and note they're a limited time offer. Marketing studies show demand for Pumpkin Spice lattes responds to marketing.

My point is without people in the hobby doing active marketing of a product the demand isn't likely to be what it could be. Almost all of the new cars I buy are ones featured or discussed on HRW. Sometimes we just don't know we want or need something till someone tells us we do.

[SlotCat]

Great point and interesting! Any flavored coffee is nasty in my book, hot, black and strong or a once in a blue moon a mocha please.

[mattb]

A couple companies have hired Dave to do just that. I think to paraphrase what Dave has said is "they just don't care about the American market". Dave where are you?

[noddaz]

It is not that they don't care. They slot car companies just can't let the American market drive their marketing decisions.
And over the years there have been plenty of "American" cars in the slot market.

[Dave Kennedy]

they can if one of the cars they make in a line of cars is American. They have cut back here in the US. In about 2005 there were over 20 US cars in the line... this year.... what is it? 4?

[SlotCat]

Again, fully agree with Dave! Carrera does almost nothing to promote their tracks and cars here in the USA and most of the stuff they push everywhere is freakin DTM everything and smushed pancake cars like Lamborghinis....I've got all the DTM I need/want and dont' care at all for the smushed aero blob cars.