I got my first Scalextric set around 1965 for Christmas. It included two FWD Mini-Coopers, one red, one green. Over the next several years I raced with friends like O'Brie and others and we all became hooked on slot car racing. In the thick of this I remember using graph paper and a geometry set to design a four-lane road racing layout complete with overpasses and scenery which I thought I could attach to the ceiling of the bedroom my brother and I shared and be lowered to race. I always wanted to have a "sophisticated" track like this.
Up to last week, little did I know that from as early as 1963 - even before I got my first Scalextric set - there was a six-lane slot car track which was already way ahead of its time. This track belonged to a small club of Californian slot racers called "Miniture Electric Scale Automobile Club" - M.E.S.A.C. or MESAC for short - and was referred to as the MESAC track. Featuring some 200 ft of track, it was designed to have several different configurations with flippers that changed the course layout before racing. There were eight basic layouts which could be run in either direction (giving 16 possible layouts). Pit stops were controlled by the chief marshall in his booth, drivers calling out when they wanted to pit and the marshall flipping a switch that would bring the car into the pits on the following lap. The members were also dedicated to scale and authenticity, so they only allowed scratch-built cars which were immaculately prepared and as accurate as possible to the 1/1 originals. There was even a Concours prize given to the best-prepared and most authentic car at each event and to quote en ex-MESAC member "If your car didn't meet at least 70% of the concours inspection....70% as good as the best car, you didn't race that night. Cars had complete interiors, scale dimension tires down to the VALVE STEMS in some cases." Remember, this was 1963.
Here are two pics of the track:
There's a whole lot more which you can read on the following links, some of which have additional pictures. I encourage you to check them out. Its an amazing view into the history of an amazing club and even more amazing track.
Info from an old MESAC member - a good synopsis of the track:
http://slotcarillustrated.com/portal/fo ... stcount=12
MESAC 6 hour endurance described by a past member (pit stops to change car lights batteries!):
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php? ... st-3717189
Old colour picture of MESAC's pits:
http://slotcarillustrated.com/portal/fo ... stcount=15
Some original MESAC cars:
http://slotcarillustrated.com/portal/fo ... stcount=18
More MESAC pictures:
http://slotblog.net/topic/3824-mesac/?p=54333
Pics taken from "1966 Model Car Racing Handbook" (includes all the track layouts and additional information):
http://slotblog.net/topic/3824-mesac/?p=140989
Two more pics here (only the bottom one is MESAC):
http://www.modelencyclopedia.com/magazi ... PageNum=65
MESAC Mystique - Model Car Science magazine, March 1970:
http://www.vsrnonline.com/Mags/MCS/MCSV8N3_p16.jpg
http://www.vsrnonline.com/Mags/MCS/MCSV8N3_p17.jpg
http://www.vsrnonline.com/Mags/MCS/MCSV8N3_p18.jpg
http://www.vsrnonline.com/Mags/MCS/MCSV8N3_p19.jpg
Concours the MESAC way - Model Car & Track, April 1967 (an article on how MESAC ran their Concours competition):
https://www.frcforum.com/misc_imag ... -way-1.jpg
https://www.frcforum.com/misc_imag ... -way-2.jpg
https://www.frcforum.com/misc_imag ... -way-3.jpg
The end of MESAC described by a surviving member:
http://slotcarillustrated.com/portal/fo ... stcount=26
This is quite a bit of slot car history and it just is about a single track! Makes me feel I've missed the best days of slot car racing.