11-26-2022 Erik and his pup's RC afternoon fun

RC Car Racing – A Brief History of the Sport
RC car racing is a hobby with a long history. The first RC car was made in the 1920s.

RC cars were first developed in the early 1920s, and were originally called “toy tanks” or “tanks”. They were developed by two inventors from Ohio, John W. Drake, and William E. Smith. Their original intention was to create a toy for children to play with within their yards that would resemble full-sized tanks of World War I.

However, they soon found that their invention had much more potential than just as a children’s toy. The first remote-controlled model race took place on Thanksgiving Day of 1926 at the Tijuana bullring in Mexico when Smith’s and Drake’s cars competed in front of more than 25,000 spectators who had been attracted by newspaper advertisements for a remote-controlled motorcar race.

In 1939, the first official remote-controlled car race was organized by Oskar von Miller with the assistance of his friend Walter Eytan. It was held on a stretch of road near Grafenhausen in Germany. From 1939 to 1942, von Miller held four competitions in Germany and Austria. After World War II, remote control races were frequently held in public places.