John Ford has been a leading authority on slot car racing since 1965.

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AFX - See Aurora.

AJ's - A company that has survived since the 60's. Produces tires and other products for H.O. Cars. Originally founded by the late Maurice Wynn, it is now owned by Bob Haines, of R.E.H. Distributing.

AMF - The company that bought out American tracks in the late '60's. They also bought the slot car portion of Cox through another holding of theirs called Leisure Dynamics. Although the reason is speculative, the fact is that they closed down both operations. They changed the name of all slot car tracks in stock to AMF and shipped them to Europe. Not one AMF track was ever located here in the U.S. Most all of the Cox equipment, cars and controllers, were hauled to the dump in Los Angeles. Because of the wholesale destruction of the product back then, Cox cars and controllers today are very hard to come by. An interesting side note to the AMF story. During the same time they were disposing of the number 1 slot car track company, the number 1 controller company, and the number 2 car company, they ran an article in the Wall Street Journal stating that their entry into the slot car racing industry was a big mistake. They stated that their slot related companies were losing money and they feared that slot racing was a bigger fad than hoola hoops, and would die a greater death. In doing so, they fulfilled their own prophesy.

Aero - A slot car company in Florida owned by Rick Franchi, that is known for their great slot car body paint jobs, among other things.

Acid core - A type of solder. Definately NOT recommeded for use on electrical wires. Slot related or not.

Air brakes - Sorry, these don't exist in slot cars today, not that it hasen't been tried. In the 60's, classic had a car called the Stinger which had a large flap that sprang to a vertical position when the driver let off the controller. The idea was that this large flap would push air, helping to slow down the car. Right!

Air gap - That space between the magnets and the poles of your armature. Too tight and your motor will not develope sufficient RPM, but have killer brakes. Too wide and your motor will not develope sufficient torque, and will roll from here to Dallas when the power goes off. Just right, and it will scream till it blows. What is just right...Ahhhh, that is for you to find out through many hours of testing, trial and error. But first, ask some of your fellow racers what their air gap is. If they answer with "uhhhh", ask somebody else.

Air gap tool- A round, usually aluminum slug with an armature shaft through the middle. Used for checking and sizing the air gap in a slot car motor. Some have additional tooling to allow the installation of bearings and oilites in motors. See Armature slug.

Air control - Thin plastic or mylar devices which when applied to the slot car help direct the air flowing over the body to cause extra weight to be applied to the rear tires.

Air relief - Any cuts or removed portions in the air control devices that allow air to spill out, resulting in less downforce and less weight.

Aligned - This is what, if you arm isn't, will cause it to go up in smoke! Alignment is the single most important thing you can do to a slot racing motor, car, etc. It is most important that everything spin freely, and most importantly, it must continue to spin freely even after taking a wall blast. Everything that moves on your car must be aligned properly to reduce the power robbing friction that will occur when things like your axle is in a bind, and not properly aligned. Motor brushes must also be aligned so that they will burn evenly and not hang up while sliding inside the hoods.

Allen - Short for allen wrench. You need two sizes to work on a modern slot car. The larger one is for the motor, and the smaller one is for the wheels and gears.

Alligator clips - Three are needed, and go on the end of each of the three wires coming from your controller. It is best if each clip has a boot on it. See boots.

Alpha - A slot car company in Wisconsen that is known for their motors among otherthings. Owned by Paul Pfeiffer.

Altech - A brand of slot car track that existed back in the '60's. The company was located in Florida, and used as their primary builder, Stan Engleman of Texas.

Altered - A term given to a car which is no longer stock. Usually given to a particular class of drag race car.

Amateur - The a ranking of a competitor. Usually, one given a beginner. More often than not, in slot racing, you have to be pretty professional to be able to compete with amateurs.

American tracks - Originally started back in the '60's. Their concept was to start a sales staff marching from California across the U.S. selling slot tracks in every town they stopped in. The original factory was located in an unused movie studio in Hollywood, California. The banks were actually formed in a steam room, using steam machines formerly used to create special effects in the movies.

Am-Slot - A true amateur organization, using "common sense" rules originated by John Ford for his own raceways back in the 60's and 70's. Operated like a franchise, rather than a standard club or orginazation, raceways hold competitions and send results in to be placed in the main computer bank. Racers are than ranked nationally on a top 100 amateur list.

Anglewinder - Refers to the fact that the motor sits sideways, at an angle to the back axle. The theory of what angle to use is variable. If your motor sits with a greater angle, the weight is shifted towards the front. If it is sitting with a lessor angle, the weight is shifted towards the rear and closer to the rear axle. Determining which, and how much you need, will take some experimenting. It is totally reletive depending on the track banking and conditions of the track surface. The anglewinder is a derivitive of the full sidewinder chassis of the 60's. The motor is placed at an angle to get the gears closer together so that smaller gears can be used and therefore, smaller tires. The end result is acheiving a lower center of gravity.

Answerman - While this term has been used in many different ways, slot racers may remember it best as a long running question and answer series that ran in Scale Auto Racing News. There never was an actual "answerman" and many different writers took a stab at the article. It is currently in re-run here in Scale Auto Racing On-Line's FAQ section.

Arc - The actual name for those sparks that you see under your braid. Worn out tires will also cause the frame to arc out on the track braid.

Aristocrat - The name given to a specific road course from American Model Car Raceways. Also known better as the "hillclimb". This track was one of the last to be designed by American, and took up much less floor space. It was never produced in the "premium" version, and had wood paneling on its sides. There were some released with seats, steering wheels, and foot pedals. These versions had the "T" slot, and today, this version is worth the least due to the great deterioation of the slot cause by the undercut that held the special "T" guides.

Armature - This is the thing inside your motor that spins. You will find your pinion gear on one end, and occasionally, a comm. cooler on the other end. Its main components consist of the shaft, the comutator, the wires and the stacks.

Arm - Commonly used slang or short term for Armature.

Armature slug - Round piece of steel to put in between magnets in the set up. Used for magnetising. Also made from aluminum and mounted on a shaft for setting proper air gap in setups.

Aurora - Also known as Aurora AFX. A company that is still around in the H.O. race car and track field. Even after several bankruptcies and sell outs. Their cars are considered to be the best available today, and the most collectible from the past.

Axle - That part of your car that has two wheels attached to it. The back axle should also have a gear as well, or your car is not going to win any races. The back axle comes in two sizes. See 3/32 and 1/8. The front axle could be any number of combinations from small pieces of wire with a non functional wheel to a full 1/8 inch rolling axle. Which one you use depends on the class of car you are building.

Axle relief - This term refers to the "cut out" portion of the "can" of your motor. This portion is located on the back side, or that portion that sits closest to the axle. This is also the position of the south pole magnet. This "cut out" portion makes room for the axle to nestle in allowing the motor position to be further back on the chassis.

Axle tube - Though not widely used today, it is the brass tube located at the rear of the chassis that the axle oilites or bearings are located in, and the axle runs through.

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