As with anything you buy, you get what pay for in slot cars as well. There are several brands offering slot cars that range from good to great depending on your expectations of use. HO scale (approximately 2.75 inch) slot cars are very popular in the U.S. and are relatively inexpensive. In addition, HO scale track systems require little space. Generally, the most popular brands in this size are Tomy, Tyco, AFX, and recently Autoworld. The brand Autoworld is manufactured by the former owner of Playing Mantis who revived the Johnny Lightning and Aurora slot car brands. Old Aurora slot cars in good shape carry very high aftermarket values. You can expect a common 1/72 scale track to occupy a 4′ x 3′ space. This scale of slot car is most popular in the U.S., but not so overseas because it is considered a toy and not hobby market item.

The larger scale slot cars (approximately 6 inches) of the 1/32 size are offered in many brands, such as Carrera, Scalextric, Fly Car Model, Ninco, Slot.it, AUTOart, Racer, Monogram/Revell, NSR, and SCX, to name a few. Scalextric, a British company, has been around the longest and offers a wide variety of slot car models and track systems, system components, and slot car parts. The quality of the Scalextric brand is superb for a mid-range price. The slot cars race well and are crafted well enough for display. Carrera is a step down from Scalextric in pricing and does offer some cool cars and systems, but a side-by-side comparison of the brands reveals qualitative differences associated with the price. Carrera has a mass-market brand feel and Scalextric is strictly hobby market oriented. Larger scale slot cars take up significant space. You can expect a common 1/32 scale track to occupy a 10′ x 6′ space. This scale of slot cars is most popular around the world and its popularlity in the U.S. is tremendous.

Lastly, 1/24 scale slot cars are for serious slot car racers with lots of space available. They are big, 8 to 9 inches depending on the model. Yes, you can run 1/24 scale cars on some 1/32 scale tracks, but expect the track to be dwarfed by the car and forget racing more than one car on the track at a time.

Carrera makes some awesome tracks that can be used for 1/24 or 1/32 cars. The performance is second to none and the add on available like grandstands, special track pieces, figures and support buildings are incredible. I’ve seen these in Hobbytown USA and other hobby shops. I don’t think you could go wrong with one of these.
They won’t be the cheapest but you’ll get what you pay for.