Slot racing was very popular in the sixties. The German model railway manufacturer Märklin introduced the Sprint system in the market during the peak of slot racing.

Märklin had a very good access to the market trough their existing dealership. The sales network and a technically better product made Sprint competitive to systems from other manufacturers, such as Carrera and Scaletrix, even though the Sprint system was the more expensive.

Sprint - a better product at a higher cost
The Märklin engineers had developed a high quality slotcar system, which had several important advantages compared to the existing systems from other manufacturers. The Sprint cars actually stood on all four wheels, while other slotcars usually stands on the rear two wheels and the guiding pin/ power pickup shoes. Because of that all were equipped with "steering" front wheels and spring loaded solid copper power pick-up shoes.

The 73 Märklin Sprint cars
Märklin produced 32 different Sprint cars during the period 1967-1982. Many of the cars were available in several different

colorschemes, which totals to a 73 different models and variations. The first cars had an inline type of motor. The later models were driven by a sidewinder motor, which vastly improved the performance of the cars.

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