Normally I can’t be bothered to care about slot car racing. I mean, being a huge nerd myself, I get the appeal but A: I suck at it, and B: I can drive actual cars, so it’s just not something I’m into, or at least it wasn’t before I saw this wild-arse slot car track that just sold on Bring A Trailer for $US205,000.
If that sounds like an unhealthy amount of money to spend on a literal toy, it is, but it’s not just your average slot car track because this one is hidden in a Gulf Racing-liveried replica Porsche 917K body which opens via remote to expose a miniature Circuit de la Sarthe as seen in the Steve McQueen racing film Le Mans.
While the track isn’t exactly a perfect replica, it is incredibly detailed with tons of period-correct touches like a surprisingly faithful recreation of the pits complete with all sorts of tiny advertisements from companies like Dunlop, Shell, Marlboro, Agip, SEV Marchal and more.
Given the overall surprisingly small footprint of the Porsche 917K (no, really, it’s way smaller in person than you’d think), the track only has two lanes, so you’ll have to take on all the friends you probably don’t have if you bought this one at a time. The set comes with a handful of period-appropriate cars to race with, including the 917, a Ferrari 512 and even a Ford GT40 modified to serve as a camera car. Speaking of camera cars, there’s a POV video of a car going around the track, which is awesome.
So now all you can do is join me in wishing we were rich enough and weird enough to have bought something like this and secretly applaud the person who actually did buy it.