| I've been fascinated with cars for as far back as I can | | | | ranging from tiny matchbox-sized RC toy cars all the |
| remember. According to my father, the first word I | | | | way to 1/8 and even 1/6-scale models that are over |
| ever uttered as a toddler was "auto." When I was a | | | | two feet long. And they are certainly not just for kids. |
| small boy, I eagerly soaked up everything my dad told | | | | Though I technically haven't been a kid for many |
| me about cars. I was endlessly fascinated by my | | | | decades, I own a good number of electric RC cars, |
| grandfather's ability to tell the make and model of a | | | | including a 1/6-scale PT Cruiser in the same exact |
| tractor just from the sound their engines made. Before | | | | inferno red color as the real thing in my garage. I also |
| I could even read I was collecting car cards like other | | | | have two other remote control PT Cruisers and |
| kids collected baseball cards. And among my most | | | | playing with all those different sizes is just too much |
| priced possessions were a couple of remote control | | | | fun (and also made for some cool photo ops). |
| cars. In those days, remote control still meant the | | | | Interestingly, even though today's electric RC cars are |
| control was connected to the car via a long cable-they | | | | far more sophisticated than the ones I had when I was |
| weren't like the electric RC cars we have today. | | | | a child, many are very reasonably priced. I remember |
| I'll probably never forget the thrill I experienced when | | | | when the first radio controlled models came on the |
| my dad came back from one of this trips and gave | | | | market they cost a small fortune, and certainly more |
| me a Mercedes Benz sedan remote control toy car. It | | | | than I could afford on my allowance. Prices have |
| was shiny black, looked absolutely realistic, and had | | | | come down drastically since then, and it's now possible |
| working headlights, taillights and blinkers. The doors and | | | | to get even 1/8 or 1/6-scale for about what you pay |
| trunk opened and it would go backwards and | | | | for an XBox or Playstation video game. That's |
| forwards as well as left and right. I played with it every | | | | certainly a tremendous bargain! |
| chance I got for weeks. | | | | What continues to fascinate me is the huge range of |
| Today, RC cars have wireless remote controls and | | | | different models you can get. There is truly something |
| are no longer tethered to the remote. And there is | | | | for every taste. I may never be able to afford a |
| now an entire industry dedicated to electric remote | | | | Ferrari, but for less than it costs to take the family out |
| control cars. What hasn't changed is the thrill children | | | | to dinner in a chain restaurant I can get a beautifully |
| experience operating their RC cars with parents, | | | | crafted red 1/12-scale Ferrari F430 with working |
| friends and siblings. There's just something magical | | | | headlights (just like that Mercedes Benz of my youth), |
| about those shiny remote controlled cars, something | | | | independent suspension and enough detail to make me |
| real that even today's ultra-advanced video games | | | | dream. If you love cars and haven't checked out |
| cannot quite capture. They even help improve kids' | | | | electric RC cars lately, do yourself a favor and see |
| hand and eye coordination. | | | | what's being offered these days! |
| Radio control cars come in many different sizes, | | | | |