311 Remote Control Car / Truck Set
General Information
The following information has been collected from original newspapers, catalogs, and magazines, some of which are freely available for reference below. The rest can be found in the site’s gallery. No aggregate catalogs (BrickLink, Brickset, etc.) were used.
Instructions: H-5109
Advertised Part Count(s): 271 pieces
From set box.
First Year Confirmed Available: 1970 (USA)
USA Only.
Most Likely Retirement Date: 1971
Most Samsonite LEGO sets stopped production in 1971 aside from the 166/167 Extras Parts Kits.
Last Year Seen Available: 1972
Hartford Courant, November 12th, 1972
Aliases: Remote Control Car-Truck Set, Motorized Remote Control Set, Remote Control Lego Set
Retail Price(s): $14.98 - $21.75 (USA)
Discounted Example(s): $9.98 (1972)
Rarity Score (Rarity Index): 6/7
Known Box/Packing Variants
The box is quite rare, so I don't really have much to compare off of, but based on other 1970+ LEGO sets, there would be no variants.
Box/Overview
The 311 Remote Control Car/Truck Set is a bit of a fascinating set that I always forget existed. It's much more rare compared to other Model Makers, and so it's a set that you don't see or hear about very much.
The set consists of, in my opinion, the absolute peak of model maker sets, with a much more beefy (and realistic) vehicle selection. The remote control aspect itself is quite novel, but very prone to failure, as I cover in the 312 Remote Control Unit Supplement's article.
To summarize, the remote control itself was a USA exclusive, designed by LEGO and sold to Samsonite. Presumably, it was something Samsonite asked for, as it never sold anywhere else.
The 311's box itself is quite elusive, I'll update later when I have better images.