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Sometimes hobbies begin at a young age. Other times, all it takes is a picture in a Christmas catalog to ignite the imagination and turn someone on to a craft they had only mildly contemplated doing before.
This is the case with David Beattie, a Mount Clemens resident who saw a picture of a slot car track in the Hammacher Schlemmer Christmas catalog and asked his wife to purchase it for him.
Beattie had played with slot cars a little as a youth, but there was something about this particular wood slot car track that called out to him.
“I saw that and I said, ‘I’ve got to have that,’” he said.
His wife bought him the wrong track, but undeterred, Beattie continued to seek out people involved in the craft, hoping to learn more about it. Soon, Beattie met Jimmy Attard, a Dearborn resident who is well-known for being an expert in the field of slot cars.
“I was inspired by him,” said Beattie of Attard.
After meeting with Beattie several times, Attard could see that he was serious about becoming educated in the craft, so they set out to build a diorama in Beattie’s basement. Soon they were writing out some blueprints, titling the track Legends International Raceway 2006.
“Dave was the first guy to come up to me and say, ‘I love this. I want a track of my own, and what would it take to get this together?’” said Attard. “He had this passion for racing that no one else I met had.”
The Legends International Raceway 2006, which is now finished, is a 20-foot-by-20-foot layout with 170 feet of track in Beattie’s basement. Surrounding the track is tons of scenery all handmade by Beattie, such as trees, mountains and signage. The 250 slot cars Beattie has are 1:32 scale size. The raceway is laid out based on sections of tracks throughout Europe — Le Mans, Monaco, Targa Florio, Monza — plus Road America, which is in the United States.
Beattie began to post photos of the layout online and the response was so huge, he decided to make a go at it, turning his newfound hobby into a business. Now, Beattie makes museum quality slot car tracks. Shipments have been requested as far away as Denmark and South Africa, and Beattie has now been featured in Model Car Racing magazine, Automobile Magazine, and Garage Style Magazine.
“I just saw there was a need, a niche,” he said.
The standard track that Beattie makes for customers is 4 feet by 16 feet, but he’ll do just about anything, including making only scenery if that’s what is requested.
“Beattie said that he would like to see a diorama like the one he’s created at a local museum. Additionally, he hopes that his business will continue to increase, not only so he can continue to support his family, but also so he can continue to work on his craft.
“It really brings smiles to a lot of people’s faces,” he said.
For more information on Beattie’s business, visit www.slotmods.com.