Sizzlers were Hot Wheels' "next generation" vehicles. With the help of tiny nicad batteries, these Hot Wheel sized cars could zoom around a track without the aid of a hill or a Super Charger. They were blisteringly fast, and just a whole lot of fun!
One problem with their speed was that they tended to fly off of the typical orange strip Hot Wheels track. They sold Sizzlers sets with "brake sections" so slow them down before they hit the turns, but these were only partly successful. Then they came out with the wide, black Fat Track, which featured big banked turns. These sets were probably the most successful.
Still, there was another catagory of set that was pretty cool. It was made of vacuum formed plastic that allowed for mountains and lakes to be featured, which added a measure of realism not seen with the orange or Fat Tracks. In 1973 they released the Road Chase Set based on this format. I happen to have one, so I'll share some pictures with you!
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| The overall set is pretty big! Interestingly, they also sold a "Road Spint Set" that just featured the left and right ends with no middle piece. |
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| This was a jump ramp that would drop you from the hill to the valley rather quickly! If you adjusted the lever correctly, you could also take off down the dirt road! |
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| The other end also features a switch (which I couldn't find for the picture, but I have). These switches allowed players at either end of the set to control both their car and the other player's car. The idea was to catch the other car... |
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| The middle section, featuring The Mustang Hoss and the Hot Head. Criss-crosses are always good for a thrill! |
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| The Hot Head zooming down a plastic country road... |
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| The Mustang Hoss shows how the sections were engineered. They fit together nicely so that the cars don't get hung up going from one to another. |
All in all this seems like a very fun set. I say "seems like" because I've never run live cars over it. The reason is simple. The vacu-formed plastic is FRAGILE, and in 44 years has only gotten more so! I get nervous just setting it up. Still, I might have to try out a few laps some day.... It just looks too fun not to!
Until next time, keep searching for treasure!
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