DEARBORN, Mich. – He may be in his 60s, but Jimmy Attard is absolutely living out a dream a whole lot of us had as kids.
Attard has spent decades transforming the basement of his Dearborn home into an epic slot car racing track, and you really need to see it to believe it.
Stepping into the Dearborn basement is like stepping into another world.
In fact, the reactions are Attard’s favorite thing.
“I’ve got guys who love racing, who are enthralled by it,” said Attard. “I’ve got guys who like fine detail and modeling, and I’ve got the slot car lovers who like to contest their cars against each other. When they see such a large track, it’s sort of fulfilling.”
Seen in the video player above is a 1,050-foot toy slot-car track.
It was called the pre-eminent track in America by a toy car magazine 12 years ago before much of the detail was finished.
“That corrugated steel roof on that building, for example, was the spacer between cordial cherry candies,” Attard said.
Everything Attard sees can be useful.
“Everything from coffee stirrers, these are coat hangers,” Attard said.
No detail is too small for Attard.
“Everything you see here was done from scratch,” Attard said. “Even the gravel and the sand you see is all from the backyard.”
It’s all about authenticity for Attard, from building to scale to having the ability to change lanes.
“Everything on the track is handmade,” Attard said. “Even the lighting system. The red, yellow, and green lighting system is done with Lego’s.”
Why is lighting important? Lighting is essential for night races which is a draw of its own.
“It’s not finished,” Attard said. “It’s a long way from being finished.
I’m mostly proud of the fact that I don’t have $300 into this whole track.”
Attard mentioned that he’s not done yet expanding his race track; he has his eyes set on remodeling pit road to make it even more authentic.