Sunday July 30, 2006

Carrera Dodge Charger 500
by Rich McMahon

The 1/32 scale American muscle and vintage stock cars made by Carrera have been around for three years. I always wanted some slots of classic muscle cars and I feel lucky that Carrera continues to bring us these great cars for a ridiculously low price. This lets me avoid the effort of scratch building my own which saves me a great amount of time and cash. Carrera has recently released some new versions, street cars with “spinner” wheels. It is really fantastic that Carrera has continued to make cars that compliment the others I already have. These are great cars and are great fun to race, they see a lot of track time.

These cars are huge for a 1/32 scale slot car at over six and a half inches long and close to two inches tall. But they look fantastic! They are modeled very well. I am very familiar with the real cars and have always been extremely pleased with the appearance of Carrera’s slot car versions. I’m sure many people have never seen an actual Dodge Charger 500 because they are so rare of a car, only 500 were made. The 500 had special parts to improve the aerodynamics, so a flush front grills and fast back glass were installed.  I can’t say they are modeled perfectly but are pretty close to it. The nose down stance is a bit aggressive for a street car but it still looks really appealing.

The paint is outstanding on these cars!   I know I couldn’t paint a body and have it look this good. The black paint has a great luster and the finish is super smooth.   The classic Dodge “bumble bee” red stripes on the rear are sharply defined. With a clear coat it not only looks good but also takes a lot of hard on track usage.   The other body details, such as, clear front lights, bright tail lights, racing style gas cap, chin spoiler and chrome mirrors are all included. Outstanding minor details like the painted on side marker lights, Hemi logo and Charger graphics are meticulously applied. Paint to highlight the excellent body mold bring out the door handles, key, window moldings and wipers.   A rear California license plate is also included.

The interior is a tray type with a sun glass wearing driver torso. It is difficult to see the extensive details on the dash as it is molded in black but the two big and four small gauges of the street Charger 500 are all there. There’s an old school three spoke steering wheel and even a shift lever. With some detail painting this interior would show really well.

And of course, there’s the chrome spinner wheels. Yes each wheel really does have a spinner and it does rotate independently of the wheel.   It is a bit of a gimmick but some people are amused by these unique wheels. For those that do not appreciate the spinners they can be popped out of the wheel leaving huge modern looking chrome wheels. Personally I would prefer a set of Mopar road wheels for a more authentic look. The tires are new but the same width as seen on the previous releases.

The chassis and running gear are very familiar. After three years of running these cars the two-magnet Carrera chassis now seems like an old friend, but unlike most of my friends it is smooth and quiet. Right out of the box these cars are fun and just challenging enough to drive. This car is NOT the fastest slot car around, it does NOT rocket around the track with uncanny road holding in the corners, but it is quick and rewarding to drive. It is a large and tall car with rather narrow tires. The two magnets assist traction but not so much that they eliminate the need of driver skill. This car can be driven aggressively around turns and it allows one to power slide through fast turns. It’s great fun. I have never seen a reason to try to improve or modify any of these Carrera cars, they have always provide fun and even racing with absolutely no modifications.

It is good to see a slot car with a deep guide that can utilize the high quality tracks that have a deep slot. You may need to trim the guide if your track has a shallow slot. All of these big American cars are great for all slot car racers, both long time enthusiasts and other who may be trying slot car racing for the first time. These cars are fun to race side by side and they reward the skilled and aggressive drivers that do not crash. They are also excellent to teach someone how to race. I usually run my cars with the sliding traction magnet all of the way forward, when racing with a novice I have the option to give them just a bit more traction by sliding their magnet reward. I have taught many beginners how to have fun racing with these cars, usually on an oval track.

On it’s own the Carrera 1/32 scale Dodge Charger 500 is one of the best scale model slot car ever made, one that any slot car enthusiast should be proud to own. Making it even more appealing is the wide selection of Carrera cars that it can be raced against that have identical on track performance. This is truly great slot car that fits in with the other cars Carrera has been making for three years.

- Rich

Thanks Go To Carrera USA For Providing Us With This Model!