Powertrack
Powertrack, Speedtrack, Turbosprint and Lanechanger are brand names for Matchbox's toy slot cars sets. Introduced in the late 1970s, Powertrack and Speedtrack differed from other slot car sets because the cars could be seen in the dark as the cars had headlights. Matchbox's H0/00 cars were smaller than Scalextric 1/32-scale cars.
In the UK, Powertrack was a more affordable product than Scalextric and traded heavily on the Matchbox brand. With the smaller size, the layouts could be quite complex yet still fit in the typical 8×4 ft board size. Additionally, it did not sit out of place with H0/00 railway sets and Matchbox's own 75 die-cast range. Coupled with very dynamic packaging, the Powertrack product was a big turn-on for a child of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Peter Kay commented in his autobiography The Sound of Laughter that the Race 'N' Chase set he received for Christmas in the late 1970s was the best Christmas present ever.
With the collapse of Lesney/Matchbox in the early eighties, the last official year of production appears to be 1982. Various attempts to buy the Lesney stock and continue selling the products were tried but subsequently died out. Most notably, Proops Brothers, of Tottenham Court Road, London packaged together sets in plain boxes and sold existing sets with all sorts of car combinations. Latterly, several vehicles appear from time to time rebranded as 'Counterlane' but these too were short lived.
The sets came with either a 6-volt or an 18-volt power unit. The 18-volt cars are extremely quick due to the size and weight and handle very well with the aid of a magnet on the underside.
No longer in production, cars and sets can be purchased via eBAY with some rarer cars commanding keen prices, like the red Saab 900 Turbo and the gold, yellow livery Ford Escort. Many of the cars for sale come with poor quality tyres, leaving the cars with no grip. The lack of grip results in the cars just wheel spinning without any forward movement. However, there are replacements available and it is still possible to buy brand new cars in sealed cartons.
Powertrack sets
Powertrack sets came in different sets featuring different cars and track type.In the UK this consisted of:
- Powertrack PT-1000 – Grand Prix
Factoid: This is Powertrack's only UK Battery powered set. The cars do not have headlights. RRP in 1979: £14.99.
- Powertrack PT-2000 – Monza
Factoid: One of the most popular sets Powertrack produced with 2 of the most ubiquitous cars. RRP in 1979: £19.99.
- Powertrack PT-3000 – Super Sport
Factoid: Quite an expensive set when released that put it in direct competition with Scalextric. RRP in 1979: £29–99.
- Powertrack PT-4000 – Le Mans Set
Factoid: A premium product but at the time the track layouts supplied eclipsed most rivals. RRP in 1979: £39–99.
- Powertrack PT-5000 – Indianapolis
Factoid: This is one of only 3 sets launched in the UK after the original Powertrack launch of 1978.. RRP was £34.99.
- Powertrack PT-6000 – Race and Chase
Factoid: Far and away the biggest selling Set in the UK. Stole a march on any other slot racing system and even Scalextric were slow to catch up. UK RRP in 1979: £29–99.
- Powertrack PT-6100 – Race and Chase
Set comprised: 1 x Porsche Police Car, 1 x BMW 320i, 6 x 90 degree 9" Curve, 1 x 9" 6V R&C Track Terminal, 2 x Straight 9", 1 x Tip Bridge 9", 2 x Crossovers 15", 2 x 15" Straight, 6 x Aprons, 4 x LH End Pieces, 2 x RH End Pieces. 6V Mains Transformer and 2 x Hand Controllers. 4 Crash Barriers, Sticker Sheet & Bridge supports.
Factoid: This is the only Powertrack/Speedtrack/Powertrack Plus set released that included 15" Crossover Tracks. This set was not launched in the UK. The Box artwork is in German but this product may have also been distributed widely across Western Europe.
- Powertrack PT-8000 – This set featured 4 lane racing
Factoid: The ultimate Powertrack set still fetches good money on E-bay. Although prohibitively expensive for a slot racing set, it undercut Scalextric's 4 lane set by nearly £40. This is the only Powertrack set worldwide that employed 12" outer curves to enable 4 lane corners.
The cars listed are those that appear on the box artwork and are generally proven to be sold with the set. However, Matchbox often replaced at least one car depending on immediate stock levels. The blue Porsche 911, dark blue Fiat Abarth, yellow Escort, red Escort and red & White Scirocco are all known to be substitute cars. The car most often replaced appears to be the Gold Scirocco.
UK RRP in 1981: £79.99.
This set was also branded as Silverstone 8000
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Powertrack Plus sets
In 1982, Matchbox unveiled Powertrack Plus in the UK. The cars were operated from 12V and were much faster. A magnet on the underside of the 'gearbox' increased grip to the track and the higher voltage was more tolerant of larger track layouts.Powertrack Plus sets had upgraded transformers, hand controllers and track terminals which featured different connectors that were not compatible with the 6V systems. Curiously, the 12V terminal had no facility for powering the lap counter though. All other track remained the same stock parts but were repacked with Powertrack Plus branding.
A number of new parts were created for Powertrack Plus. A Chicane 'loop the loop' and 'self supporting' banked curve featured in the PP-9000 set, while crossover tracks and a crossover 'flying jump' were included in the PP-3000.
Aside from magnets the cars also had wider pickups on the underside. They also had torquier motors and a different pinion gear and crown wheel. Essentially, every Powertrack Plus car was a revamped Powertrack car body shell with the new Chassis.
It is worth noting however that the 'Super Boss' and 'Bandag Bandit' were only ever launched in the UK in 12V form.
- Powertrack PP-2000
Factoid: Introduction to 12V racing. RRP in 1982: £24.99.
- Powertrack PP-3000
Factoid: The only UK set to include the 9" Crossover track. The black & white markings on the Flying Jump and Crossover track were spray painted on and not stickers. RRP in 1982: £34.99.
- Powertrack PP-4000
Factoid: There are 2 versions of the 12V Hand controller. One has a Race & Chase style button to reverse the current direction, the other has no such button. Evidence indeed that Matchbox were well under way with launching this set.
It is possible this set was due for release just when Matchbox 'hit the wall' – any further information welcome.
- Powertrack PP-6000
- Powertrack PP-9000
Factoid: The only UK set to include the Loop. The Loop was painted red on the exterior. The loop was also a chicane and was a very cool addition to the range. The Banked Curve supplied with this set was a 'Self Supporting' type made of 4 x 45 degree sections. It did not need the sculptured entry & exit tracks or additional support of PT-208. RRP in 1982: £59.99.
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Speedtrack sets
Released in the USA at virtually the same time as Powertrack in UK. All these items were 6 Volt and curiously did not feature the stunning box art work of the European products. They also did not include the vac-formed plastic liner to house all the parts. Instead, parts were bagged and packaged loose in similar size cartons. However, in terms of content they were excellent value for money – possibly because of the competition from rival H0/00 sets from AFX & Tyco. Different livery and set contents were also available in the Canadian Sets, boxes were in US English and FrenchIn the US, the following Speedtrack sets were available from 1978:
- Grand Prix 150
- Trenton 150 This set was advertised in the Matchbox 1978 catalogue. The set featured two cars, a battery box and White hand controllers.
- Monza 200
- Le Mans 300
- Riverside 500
- International 1000 This set was advertised in the Matchbox 1978 catalogue. The set featured two Pinto cars, a battery box and White hand controllers.
- Hulk Racing
- Spider-Man Race & Chase
- Copter Chase
- Race & Chase
There are inconsistencies with this information, not least because to date no US magnet car has appeared on E-bay and the ubiquitous Porsche 911 & VW Scirocco supplied in 3 of the sets have not surfaced either. It is possible that Matchbox cut back its operations in the US and just supplied the Slipstream, Tyrone Daredevil and Race 'N' Chase sets, the cars supplied all being non-Positraction cars.
The cars supplied with these sets were catalogued at the same time as 'Positraction' cars but have all surfaced on E-bay. The firm conclusion is Matchbox never got round to introducing 'Positraction' to the US.
- Slipstream Racing 14-36-80
- Tyrone Malone's Daredevil Race N Chase
- Jump Cross Championship
- Pro 8 Challenge
- World Class Racing
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Race 'N' Chase sets
- Race and Chase – This set featured a Bandit car and an American police car. The unique feature of this set was that the cars could u-turn, and jump using a tilting bridge.
- Race and Chase 2 – This set featured a Bandit car and an American police car. The unique feature of this set was that the cars could u-turn, and jump using a tilting bridge. This set differed from the previous race and chase set as this was a PowerTrack Plus PP6600 was 4.2m or 14 ft in length, the track also featured some sort of dead end section.
- Race and Chase – This set featured American Racing trucks and featured Tyrone Malone on the box. The unique feature of this set was that the cars could u-turn, and jump using a tilting bridge. This did not appear until 1981
- Copter Chase – This set incorporated both the 'Flat Intersection' and the LH & RH Switch track sections. The only set to do so worldwide. It featured the regular US cop car chasing a Black Chevy van and a Helicopter, which ran along on a conventional chassis disguised as a black plinth. The contents of this set are so unique and quite rare that it may command a premium over every other Powertrack/Powertrack Plus & Speedtrack set.
- Spider-Man Race and Chase – This set featured of track a Spider-Man car and a Black Villain van. Released in 1979 it was one of only 2 sets to ever feature the Cross road section.
- Hulk's Race – This was a basic set featuring a cardboard city scape and a 6V battery box. It featured the Incredible Hulk's van and Escort vehicles.
- Spin out in space – Spin off licensed set the robots are Voltrons and can be separately assembled to make a larger toy. Track is 12V and Blue.
Powertrack cars
Powertrack Plus cars
----Speedtrack cars
----Positraction cars
Track Pieces (Powertrack)
Track (Powertrack Plus)
Powertrack crash barrier advertising
Along the side of the track crash barriers were fitted which featured the following company's logos. Most sets featured grey crash barriers however the Indianapolis 500 set featured red ones. Gobots sets featured Yellow Crash Barriers adverts on these barriers were self-promoting PowerPak Racing and Gobots Space Chase.- Bosch
- Champion
- Ferodo
- Goodyear
- Castrol GTX
- Jägermeister
- Martini
- Shell
- Texaco
- Porsche
- Philips
PowerTrack Accessories
Power supply specification Powertrack
- Part Number 22894 D.C Output 6V 0.7 amps 4.2VA – Black
- Part Number PT332 D.C Output 6V 1 amps 6.0VA – Red/Orange
- LC302 D.C Output 10V 0.35 amps 7VA - Grey
Track supports Powertrack
Track supports where included with the sets to allow elevated sections of track thus also enabling cars to pass underneath. These connectors could be place together to make the track as high or low as you so desired, typically these pieces where utilised to make a figure eight circuit.- Colours available − grey, yellow
Lane Changer
Lanechanger Sets
- Lane Changer LC 1000 – This set featured cars which could switch lanes at a press of a button on the Controller.
- Lane Changer LC 2000 – of track and 3 Chicanes
- Lane Changer LC 4000 – RPS or Speedtrack RPS Turbo 4000 – Us version of Lanechanger featuring black hand controllers with Turbo written on them. The RPS in Lanechanger RPS stands for Rack and Pinion Steering.
Lanechanger Cars
Lane Changer Track and Track accessories
Lanechanger Trackside Advertising
Like Powertrack before the Lane changer sets also featured Crash Barrier Advertising and also unlike PowerTrack Advertising on the chicanes, the advertising reflected the time.- Dunlop Tyres
- Shell
- Phillips
- Porsche
- Jagermister
- Federo
- Castrol GTX
- Goodyear
Powertrack Worldwide
- Italy – Turbo Sprint
- Hong Kong – Laneshifter
- USA – Speedtrack
- France – Circuit Electrique
- Germany – TurboRennen
Trivia
The instructions supplied with the sets featured cartoon like cars examples.- To represent a car overheating – A cartoon car sweating with its tongue hanging out.
The Porsche Turbo
The first Turbo was loosely modelled on the Group 4 930 type. It had wide front wheel arches and 'whale tail' rear wing. In the UK, this was the Green Kremer Powertrack car which was identical to the US light blue/orange car.
However, despite its popularity it was an inferior moulding and short on 'wow' factor. Curiously, it is the only Powertrack/Speedtrack car to have a front axle with spacer bushes on it. This suggests it was a very early Matchbox prototype that could just about pass for production.
When Lanechanger was launched in 1979 Matchbox produced the 935 'Flat nosed' Porsche and this bodyshell was superior in every way to the Powertrack/Speedtrack offering. Matchbox increased its desirability by incorporating the Martini striping of the Works cars from the mid-Seventies.
Intriguingly, when Powertrack Plus was launched in the UK in 1982, the instruction manual included a range of cars 'facelifted' for the new 12V system. Among these was a 'Mark 1' Porsche bodyshell repainted in red to include the new Kremer/Esso Decals.
However, what Matchbox actually produced was a brand new Porsche bodyshell. This was a different mould to the Mark 1 and altogether a superior product.
Collectors will no doubt be seeking the Mark 1 with Esso/Kremer Decals as photographed in the 1981/2 manual. A rare car indeed...
Pre-Production Cars
Matchbox spent 1976 and 1977 developing cars for the sets. Matchbox needed a fair amount of money to invest in tooling for these cars but its fair to say the early cars are lacking in some detail. Unearthed in the 1978 Speedtrack Catalogue is this fascinating page detailing the state of production in late '77.Powertrack Pre-Production cars
The Renault Alpine and Porsche 936 are fairly advanced and if anything represent a more detailed facsimile of the 'production' cars.The Porsche Turbo and the Corvette look like pre-production cars but apart from wheels and liveries remained unchanged throughout their life. Of interest to this Author is the arrival of the funky VW Scirocco at this stage, given that it did not surface in the UK until 1979/80.
The stand out exhibit here is the Police car. This is clearly a prototype more typical of the 'Street' cars of Tyco/Aurora. It looks far from being resolved and in scale and detail it is clearly a long way from being signed off.
Matchbox must have concentrated a lot of effort on development to get the Police Car to its production intent. The production version was entirely different and had a certain appeal that must have been instrumental to the success of Race & Chase.
Given the launch of Race 'n' Chase in 1978 and the great numbers it sold in both the UK & US this would have been quite a feat.
By 1979 Matchbox were developing additional cars and this brochure packed with the UK Race 'N' Chase included the intriguing examples of familiar cars.
The Red Escort is numbered 1, not 8. The moulding is clearly new and lacking windows. The TR7 is in 'army' green metallic which was not a production colour. Again, it lacked windows. The Fiat too, numbered 22 and a metallic blue with black detailing. The Police car is in evidence and very much redeveloped from its early prototype. The Stingray is actually a Corvette with Stingray colours, not the new Stingray moulding. Only the little VW is unchanged.
Lanechanger Preproduction artwork
In 1978, Matchbox launched the RPS Lanechanger system. The Cars initially available were either the Chevrolet Monza or the Porsche Turbo. The Chevys had Chassis type 'A' and the Porsches had Chassis type B. The difference was in the pick up shoes on the underside of the cars. A cars had 2 parallel pick ups, B cars had an 'Offset' pick up shoe. This was to anable the cars to be powered independently while using the same lane. It was not possible to use 2 Type A cars or 2 type B cars at the same time.Matchbox eventually decided to include both pick up shoe types with each car. This was probably to extend its limited range of bodies for Lanechanger.
The artwork above shows renderings for the 1978 Speedtrack catalogue. The actual cars were not ready for photography so these renderings sufficed.
In the track photography, the Porsche was a white Powertrack body with a red LC Porsche wing. Look closely and the body is not even fitted with a chassis! The Monza was replaced with a silver Powertrack Corvette but curiously does have a Lanechanger Chassis fitted to it...
Crossroads – Intersection
The 'Crossroad' section of Powertrack is an exciting addition to any layout. However, it only featured in the Copter chase set for the US market. The track did appear in sufficient quantity in the UK around 1980/1 and appears to be a regular on eBay. The track piece was quite large, consisting effectively of 2 15" track pieces adjacent to each other. Any layout requiring this piece needed a fair amount of room to provide sufficient turn in/run out.The Powertrack Plus manual of 1981/2 details a Cross road track PP-212. This piece is clearly a standard 9" section of straight with two female joints halfway along the straight. This piece would have enabled the expansion of small sets with limited space and expanded track layout options. However, it did not arrive on the market. Yet again, as with the Porsche Turbo story above, Matchbox seemed keen to redesign existing items rather than design new ones.
In addition to the crossroad, the crossover tracks provide further controversy. The PP-3000 set of 1981 features a 9" section of cross over track, while all other sets and accessories in the UK & US feature 15" cross overs. Perhaps if Powertrack Plus has really taken off then the 9" crossover would have become a widely available accessory – but as it stands the PP-3000 is a must for anyone requiring a 9" Crossover.
Counterlane
Matchbox sold some of its excess stock to a company called Dapol who rebranded it as Counterlane Dapol reboxed cars and sold them on. When Dapol decided to stop selling Counterlane the remaining stock was sold to Proops who were electrical retailers in London, items were reboxed again in plain white boxes. Below is pictured such a rebranded car, in this instance an unknown Lanechanger car. Sets were also reboxed and sold by counterlane which today are extremely rare.Hybrid Cars
It is possible to place the Matchbox Powertrack Chassis into other shells and in some instances making the cars physically bigger. The table below pictures such examples, however the origin of such cars is yet to be established.| Body | Body Origin | Colour | Compatible with | Head Lights | Image |
| Ferrari F40 | Possible Scalextric | Light Blue | PowerTrack | Yes |
Hobbyist Models
Keen hobbyists have produced alternate shells for existing chassis examples are listed below, the makers of such shells are as yet unknown.| Body | Hobbyist | Colour | Image |
| New York Taxi | Undisclosed | Yellow | |
| Red Bull Blue Corvette | Undisclosed | Blue | |
| Craig's 442 oldsmobile | Undisclosed | Orange | |
| AC Shelby Cobra | Undisclosed | Red Blue Green |