Auto Racing
Auto Racing — frequently asked questions
- Is Auto Racing on Steam?
- No. Auto Racing is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
- What platforms is Auto Racing on?
- Auto Racing is available on Intellivision.
- When did Auto Racing release?
- Auto Racing was first released on October 3, 1980.
About Auto Racing
Auto Racing is a one or two player racing game that puts the player behind the wheel of one of five cars, each with different specialties. The player may race on five different fairly large courses. In the one player game, the player is racing the clock to finish five laps as quickly as possible. In the two player game, the player can race a friend and gain points for either the opponent crashing or if one is leading far enough to reach the edge of the screen.
Summary via IGDB.
Game details
- Platforms
- Intellivision
- Developer
- Mattel Electronics
- Publisher
- Mattel Electronics
- Game modes
- Single player, Split screen
- Themes
- Action
Details via IGDB.
Collector value & authenticity
Intellivision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-20
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about once a week
- Sealed: about 4 times a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-20.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $0.87 in Apr 2009, $4.01 five years ago, and $4.50 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $0.80 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $0.99 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $1.49 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $0.63 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $2.50 | $4.99 |
| Jan 2015 | $0.99 | $4.99 |
| Jan 2016 | $2.83 | $1.50 |
| Jan 2017 | $4.95 | $5.95 |
| Jan 2018 | $3.36 | $6.68 |
| Jan 2019 | $2.46 | $7.47 |
| Jan 2020 | $3.00 | $6.88 |
| Jan 2021 | $3.65 | $5.99 |
| Jan 2022 | $3.46 | $7.36 |
| Jan 2023 | $5.80 | $10.79 |
| Jan 2024 | $5.19 | $9.61 |
| Jan 2025 | $4.95 | $7.40 |
| Jan 2026 | $4.96 | $6.47 |
| Oct 2026 | $4.50 | $6.66 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Product # | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| North America Mattel Electronics | 1113 | 018571011134 |
| North America Sears (Tele-Games) | 49 75205 | — |
- North America: Product number confirmed by the UPC barcode, which encodes it and Mattel's own catalogue.
- North America: Sears catalogue number, printed on the Sears Tele-Games box.
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1980
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 1 or 2
- Authenticity
- Low
Mattel's overhead racer was praised in 1981 as the best racing game yet, and it still works as a clean time-trial game, though the disc is an awkward steering wheel.
Auto Racing is a top-down race around a track with realistically drawn scenery. Larry Zwick wrote it and APh developed it for Mattel's sports network. Five cars line up, and four combinations of top speed, acceleration and cornering are on offer; the tan and blue cars are deliberately identical so two equally skilled players can race head to head.
Video's Arcade Alley column in late 1981 called it the best video game any manufacturer had made about the subject, and singled out the realistically rendered cars, track and surroundings. Electronic Games said it was even more fun as a solo race against the clock, and explained that in the two-player mode the game has to pause the action whenever one car gets a sizable lead. The recurring weak spot is the controller: an Electronic Games reader letter in 1982 said that steering with the disc turned a good game sour.
A running change swapped the steering from directional to a more realistic left-and-right scheme.
How it was made
Written by Larry Zwick for Mattel Electronics, with APh Technological Consulting credited as developer.
What the press said at the time
“is undeniably the best video game any manufacturer has produced about this subject so far.”
“Mattel is certainly not the first company to produce a motor sports game, but Auto Racing clearly laps all the competition.”
“Superbly detailed graphics do much to lift USAC Auto Racing above the "first generation" racing cartridges. Coupled with an impressive array of authentic engine and brake sounds, this game gives participants a taste of the atmosphere that surrounds motor sports events.”
Worth knowing
- From the Intellivision manual. There are 5 courses numbered by difficulty, with course 1 the easiest and course 5 the hardest.
- From the Intellivision manual. Braking uses just one of the side buttons; acceleration is automatic, and your speed rises again as soon as you release the brake.
- From the Intellivision manual. The TAN and BLUE cars are identical, so they suit two-car races between players of equal skill.
Before you buy
Inexpensive loose, and a complete copy is still cheap. Mattel's own copies came with two keypad overlays; the later Intellivision Inc. reissues of Auto Racing are documented as shipping with none and with a correction notice, so a missing overlay pair on a white-label copy is normal. Sears sold the game under the same name.
Auto Racing screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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