Race and Chase (distributed by Matchbox in the UK and Tyco in the US) was the slot car equivalent of holding up a liquor store and legging it from the cops (well, except for the liquor store part).
As the title suggests, the whole point of the game was to have a car chase – accordingly, one of the two vehicles on the track was a pursuit police car (the other a high-powered imported sports car!)
Rather than a conventional figure-of-eight circuit, Race & Chase had a track with a tilting ramp, which sent your sports car (or the police car chasing you) soaring literally inches into the air. Sometimes, the car even landed in the groove on the other side of the track as it was meant to . . .
The cars were also able to do U-turns! This was a tricky manoeuvre, to say the least, but did result in you outrunning the cop/ catching the crook, as well as the glowing admiration of all your friends who witnessed this amazing feat.
Race & Chase brought an edge of excitement and danger to the slot-car racing set. No longer did you have to go round and round in circles for an hour in a Ford Escort Mk 1 with bad decals . . . now you could Race and Chase.
