215 replies to this topic

[MarkWill]

Hi,

As some of you may know, I'm a fan of slot racing, and have recently spent a few fruitless but enjoyable hours trying to scratch-build a few cars (Blame Barry Boor - he makes it look like an art form). Anyway, after some frustration I took a break and bought the new Scalextric Williams and drove it around a largish track, to discover that it really is a pleasure to run. After a while I started to compare it with other cars - not always the best handling ones, but also the ones which gave me the biggest grin-factor. Believe it or not the little FJ cars were the most fun. Sooooooo, not owning an example of every slot car produced, I wondered what people thought of different cars. Here's my "top ten grin" list:

1. Scalextric FJ Lotus
2. Scalextric FJ BRM
3. Latest Scalextric Williams
4. Ninco McLaren F1 (Gulf version)
5. FLY Porsche 917K Martini
6. Pink Car Ferarri 250 GTO
7. FLY Ferrari 512S
8. Ninco Toyota Corolla WRC
9. Scalextric Mini 1250
10. SCX Brabham BT46

Whenever I have a car which has a high grin-factor I buy a second one as a reserve when the other one eventually breaks.

The car I would most like to scratch build is the Lancia D50, but so far I've been an abject failure.

[Barry Boor]

Mark, e-mail me with the problems you are having regarding the D.50; however, I must warn you it is a VERY difficult car to drive!

As for favourite cars (back in the days when I bought them) the P.25 BRM was a beauty and out-performed all the other, then current, cars. The opposite was the Sharknose Ferrari, which was eagerly anticipated for months but which was a total let-down when it arrived. The little sports Porsche was pretty awful too.

After that, I stopped buying them......

I do have a Le Mans Jaguar XJR.9 or whatever, and that goes beautifully, but as I have nothing really to compare it to I can't offer a valid opinion.

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by MarkWill
Hi,

As some of you may know, I'm a fan of slot racing, and have recently spent a few fruitless but enjoyable hours trying to scratch-build a few cars (Blame Barry Boor - he makes it look like an art form). Anyway, after some frustration I took a break and bought the new Scalextric Williams and drove it around a largish track, to discover that it really is a pleasure to run. After a while I started to compare it with other cars - not always the best handling ones, but also the ones which gave me the biggest grin-factor. Believe it or not the little FJ cars were the most fun. Sooooooo, not owning an example of every slot car produced, I wondered what people thought of different cars. Here's my "top ten grin" list:


Whenever I have a car which has a high grin-factor I buy a second one as a reserve when the other one eventually breaks.

The car I would most like to scratch build is the Lancia D50, but so far I've been an abject failure.

And my top 5 - all Scalextric...

Datsun 260Z - in a horrid blue/grey.
March 711
Escort Mexico
BMW 3.0CSL
Brabham BT44

[Darren Galpin]

I only have two Lamborghini Diablo GT cars, but they are very good for tail sliding around the corners.

[Frank de Jong]

Scalextric experience from the late 60's: a yellow Ferrari 250 GTO was unbeatable. A few years after that, I switched to the small Faller slot racers; you won't be surprised that I changed some skinny tyred family saloons into widebody group 2/ group 5 cars, like a Capri RS 3100 (with rear spoiler), a BMW CSL and - an Opel Diplomat with a hugh rear wing. Fatter wheels improved roadholding considerably, the wide cars made passing difficult however...

[mikedeering]

All Scalextric...

From childhood:

March 711
Renault RS02? It was a late 1970s Renault and it came in the same set as the March 711
Audi Quattro (with sophisticated 4WD system - a rubber band!)
Wolf F1

From adulthood:

New Beetle (A girlfriend bought me a set a few years ago and it had New VW Beetles)

[Bladrian]

The two cars I got with my first Scalextric set (hard rubber track, separate copper connecting strips) were the ones I enjoyed most - a Vanwall and a Lotus 16 ....

[Gary C]

anyone remember the Aston that it headlights alight all the time & the brake lights came on when you backed off the throttle??

[MarkWill]

I remember the Astons - in fact I have one, plus a Ferrari that was in the same set. The problem was that the guide pin was behind the front wheels, and the car always broke away in a very unforgiving way - no oversteer at all. They were fun cars in that their engines actually growled - its an old RX train engine that was used. Also if the car stalled, there was always a spectacular belching of smoke from underneat the body.

re. the Brabham BT 44 - I had forgotten about it, but its true that it was another fun car - the SWB and low C of G made it always look very quick and "darty" (a new word). The Wolf is in the same category,bt not quite as fast (probably the motor or the out-of-round wheels)

I own a March 711 and although its really beautiful its very fragile, and always reminded me of a crab (it seems to have a wide stance). I find that the Lamborghini's are undriveable on anyting but an oval, but they really look the part. I always hoped that one day Scalextric or someone would make the Jaguar saloons (including the XJC - one of my favourite/most beautiful cars of all time), or a Lotus Cortina.

Barry has raised a good point abput the BRM p25 - for some reason it really does seem to have an edge compared with other cars of the same era. Ditto the scalextric p160, but it might just be down to inspiration (I like the livery of the real car).

The Renault was always a bit of a strange car, even in Scalextric form. The detailing is very poor, and its quite heavy, but it generally beats the Ferrari it was always raced against.

I have never tried the Vanwall and Lotus - amongst the first cars scalextric built, not the Audi, but I have a Porsche 956 with the same drive-method, and all I can say is that it started and stopped instantaneously, which took a lot of practice to get right (and after which, you couldn't drive another car).

[David Beard]

Originally posted by Bladrian
The two cars I got with my first Scalextric set (hard rubber track, separate copper connecting strips) were the ones I enjoyed most - a Vanwall and a Lotus 16 ....

I've seen the 16 in some funny colours. Have I got this right...some were made in New Zealand?

[Bumblyari]

Originally posted by David Beard
I've seen the 16 in some funny colours. Have I got this right...some were made in New Zealand?

According to Roger Gillham's book on the subject, a Lotus 16 has been seen with 'Made in Australia & NZ' on its underside. The factory was Moldex Ltd, Fairfield, Victoria.

Although the Lotus 16 was the first plastic car that Scalextric made (in 1960), it's far from being the rarest. That honour goes to the Type 59 Bugatti and if you still happen to have one of those tucked away in your loft in good condition it's worth around three grand.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Bumblyari
According to Roger Gillham's book on the subject, a Lotus 16 has been seen with 'Made in Australia & NZ' on its underside. The factory was Moldex Ltd, Fairfield, Victoria.

Frankly, I have never seen anything marked 'made in Australia and New Zealand'... this surprises me.

I wonder how this came to be? Fairfield is a long way from Christchurch...

[paulhooft]

My all time Favourite Scalextric car:
The Bugatti type 59!
This priceless model is now re-released by Pinkkar,
Together with the Auto Union..
the Race Tuned Auto Union was and is a great joy to drive,
essp with those rear wheels going in all directions,
even if you are half way a long straight...

And I still enjoy the Great Bentley and Alfa Romeo Vintages ones.

The most fun to drive:
The BRM P25 and Jaguar D type!
I could trow them around at all kinds of drift angles:
Wondelful balance!!

Then there was another favourite:
But they are no cars at all:
The first series Sidecars..
But I never managed to get the Hurricane,
and am in fact still looking for an inexpensive one..
Paul

[Vilcornell]

scalextric Jaguar E (long like a train, large like a bike )

Fly Porsche 908 (White, Zeltweg 1000Km winner?)

Spanish factory that I can't remember Ferrari Sharknose (ridicolous to drive)

Fly 356 speedster

[Catalina Park]

The best car I have is the BRM P160, for some reason it was the best by a long way!
If you took the motor and wheels out of it and put them into another car they would not go as good.

[Leif Snellman]

I have never really forgiven Scalextric for replacing their F1 cars by something called "Javelin" and "Electra" in their gift sets just before X-mas 1968.
What were the Javelin and a Electra by the way? Were they fantasy products or did there exist a prototype?

[paulhooft]

they were just fantacy:
but that was long ago,
in fact they are making better models now..
but the old ones..
the young ones were by some Cliff Richard..
now SIR...
had some charm..
Paul

[Don Capps]

I had a few of the Cox machines, the BRM and the Chaparral. These were pretty fair, especially after I put the "spongies" on the rear of the BRM. I found it easier to build my own cars and remember making a Cobra Daytona, a Ford GT Mk. 2, a Maserati 250F (of course...) and a few others. I was really most successful with a series the Cooper Lowline cars I built for use at one of the local tracks. For whatever reason, these proved to be incredibly successful and I ended up building a team of them, perhaps four of five. For something like six or seven months in a row one of my Coopers won the monthly championship -- being a Cooper, it was usually the customers who won, my brother or I only winning one apeice during that period....

I did make '67 Plymouth Hemi which was pretty wicked -- #43 of course -- and fabulous on the oval track layouts we raced on..... Once we got it working (it had a monster engine I found while on a trip to California) and set up, it was awesome, my brother being the driver and me solely functioning as the engineer and entrant at that point; Dave retired the oval track championship trophy by winning it back-to-back three times, twice....

We did almost 100% of our driving at the local tracks (there were as many as five in our neighborhood at one point) and virtually none at home, except the HO Aurora set we built up once in awhile -- the Ford GT's were the class of this scale competition.....

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Leif Snellman
I have never really forgiven Scalextric for replacing their F1 cars by something called "Javelin" and "Electra" in their gift sets just before X-mas 1968.
What were the Javelin and a Electra by the way? Were they fantasy products or did there exist a prototype?

The fantasy ones when I was a nipper were the "Scaletti Arrow" and
another one whose name I can't remember. One of them looked vaguely like
a Surtees and the other vaguely like a Lotus 70, IIRC.

pete

[Bumblyari]

The companion to the Scalletti Arrow was the Dart.

Then there were the Europa Vee and Panther 'Power Sledges', Tiger Special (modified Electra) and Cougar Sports. Both the Tiger & the Cougar are now quite rare.

From the point of view of both realism & performance the best models Scalextric have ever produced are the ones they are making now (the new GT40 is a gem). From the point of view of charm, the Aston Martin DBR1, Ferrari 156, Ferrari 330GT & Triumph TR4 take a lot of beating but the 1/24th series were probably the nicest models of the 60's era especially the Lotus 38 and Ferrari 158.

[MarkWill]

Its a funny thing but for me the ones which slid all over the place but stayed on (pre-magnet era) seemed to always give me the most pleasure. I remember reading an article by some racing driver (it might even have ben Jim Clark) when I was younger explaining how to get the power on the instant the back of the car lined up with the straight (he was explaining how to do fast laps in a scalextric car), and that you should never back off the throttle completely in a turn. After reading the article, the driving became more involving for me, and I spent hours and hours trying to get the technique down.......lots of fun in the old cars.

I havenèt seen the new GT40, but I agree that it looks great. You have to applaud Scalextric for making the american stock cars as well.

I have two Race-Tuned Jaguar D-types which I use from time to time. After reading that someone liked them I pulled them out again and.....yep, BIG grins . I also have some cars from Carrera from the same era ( bought recently since the Nostalgia forum bug struck) - actually they're new releases of older cars - one of them is the Mercedes driven by Jenks and Moss in the Mille Miglia. They aren't as much fun to drive as the D-type, but you can have still spend hours re-creating the Sports Car races from the late fifties. Now if only I could get that XJC.......

One more thing - I think the Speedster 356 is made by NINCO. They do a hit and miss good job of reproducing older cars - but of all of them the Speedster is to me the best one.

One MORE thing - I have never tried out the COX cars, but I'm looking out for them - they seem to be very good quality. I detested the Scaletti Arrows, the Dart, the Javelin, the Electra, and all the other cars made from that thin margarine container plastic (yes, even the Urraco). That being said I ended up buying a Sunbeam Alpine and a TR4 just because they are cars I like.

One MORE THING - has anyone used the new Scalextric Sport track yet? I use Ninco track for many of the curves at the moment because the rails are further apart, but I'll switch to Scalextric if its any good. Only the earlier cars stand a reasonable chance of passing on the old scalextric track.

[Dennis David]

For some it’s the smell of Castrol that got their heart racing but for me it was always the Oil of Wintergreen that brought back memories of racing slot cars at the local track up and down Northern California in the mid’ 60’s. My favorites? Probably my scratch built 1/24 scale cars for they handled in a way the smaller scale could never but if I had to choose it would be my Fly Porsche 908 with the just right amount of power and magnet that lets me power out of corners with slight oversteer. In fact most of the Fly cars work really well if you change the motor and rear axel assembly. I’m limited to plastic track at home but one day I’ll build my own track and watch out.

[eldougo]

WHOW this takes me back a few years,I had only 1 scalextric but for the love of me i can,t remember what type it was(open wheeler).Then i
got onto COX cars an they where just great diecast chassis very advanced for it,s time, COBRA DAYTONA the best ran it an won a few local series here in Campise in Sydney. Great days.

[Haddock]

Used to have a 36ft track in the garage when I was a kid....my father got it into his head he wanted to build the permanent track he'd never had himself, and the end result was pretty impressive, at least until winter came and it became a running battle to stop it rusting to pieces.

I used to really like the Scalextric rally cars ..... I had a couple of evil handling 6R4s that made for good racing, and a beautiful RS200, which was probably my favourite car.

Anyone else ever cotton on to the fact that you got much more grip out of old tyres if you soaked them in white spirits for a few days ? Or that WD40 sped up the motors no end ?

Then at 13 I got into radio controlled car racing and that was the end of the slot racing obsession. Three years later they got sold to buy music festival tickets or some such thing

My ex-girlfriend has left some track she had lying around my place, but I've never quite gotten round to doing anything with it. Sometime perhaps....

[MarkWill]

I have an RS200 (spanish, with lights) but one of the wheels has always been a bit out-of round (apparently this has been something which Scalextric took a while to fix - I even have a recent arrows car with the same problem). The net result is that the car jumps and slides more than other cars and although its fun to drive on its own its bad in a race because its limits are really inherently low, even if you use your best technique to race.

By the way, Barry, why do you say tha the Lancia is diffucult to drive? Surely there is so much potential for improving weight distribution that I would have thought it would be a winner?

Was it in Autocar that I recently saw a test-drive of a rebuilt/modern day knock-off Lancia?

[TODave2]

Hmm, can't really remember anything prior to about 1975 odd. My brother had the track then, and we used to race the Minis around. I remember racing one mini one way, the other mini the other, and they met on a crossover track. Five year old me just presses both throttles harder to see which one will win this head-on struggle, before large amounts of smoke start pouring out of both cars. Since brother was in kitchen at the time, much hand waving followed to dispel smoke before his return. Strangely, said Minis were never quite the same after that... (and brother still doesn't know to this day why...)


Anyway, got my own track in the mid-80s and best cars then were...

The motorbike and sidecars. Vicious acceleration.
Audi Quattro (with the already mentioned elastic-band derived four wheel drive. I soon took that off and it was still an absolute belter. I think it had a new type of engine actually. The Ferrari GTO that followed soon after was equally as good)
Renault RS05 (I think). The yellow one with the big rear wing. The whole car could best be described as 'chunky'...
Brabham BT49. Fragile front wings though.
Escort Mexico.

The worst I had was the TR7. Gawd knows what scale it was (no way was it 1/24th, more like 1/20th or 1/18th), and the centre of gravity was way too high at the front.


Is it just me or was the fun part tail sliding cars around the corners... so why did they start fitting that 'magnatraction' with the magnets in the back to stop that...?

[Barry Boor]

Scalextric would probably tell you that the magnets replicate the grip of modern ground effects cars but I suspect the true purpose is rather different. Younger kids who cannot keep a normal car on the road can have much more fun with a magnetised car and therefore not get fed up so quickly.
Result, "Dad, can I have another car, please?"

Mark, as far as my Lancias go, believe me, there is NO potential under that little bodyshell for ANY alteration of weight distribution or anything else. Remember, all my cars all have basically the same chassis (flat plastic) and the same motors (Johnson large can) so the handling is basically determined by the distance between the back axle line and the guide pin (which is in line with the front axle.) Quite why some bodyshells give different handling to others is a mystery to me, but they do.

ALL my 250Fs (8) handle about the same, as do the 4 Mercs. In fact, only rarely do 2 cars of the same type handle vastly differently.

[MarkWill]

Hi,

I read in one of the interviews (NSCC, I think) that Scalextric did in fact add magnets for the dual purpose of improving handling and reducing accidents (a lot of their saloon ars have high centres of gravity, and without a magnet they have to be driven very carefully - read they are only intended for the extremely patient).

Re. The Lancias, I really though the side pods would be a help (space for ballast or a magnet) but I see that the motor must take up a lot of that space.
I'm itching to have a fleet of Maserati's and Lancia's, although I was recently given an Airfix Viva (static kit) which I want to make into a racer - any suggestions?

The crossovers are the pieces of track which my children like the most - there are never enough accidents - and the tenth is as amazing to them as the first (some things never change - are all children demolotion derby fans?).

Once more, I never had a TR7 but until reading TODave's posting I was tempted (now I'll just save my money for another Ferrari 512S Longtail from FLY).

The Caterham/Lotus 7 is pretty decent, but I find that the guide blade design is a bit strange - it can be really sticky at times. It certainly looks the part ("I am NOT a number........"). Not a grin-car, but a nice retromobile which I really enjoy even when its static.

In the WRC cars, I think that the best is the Subaru. I like the Focus, but its not as solid as the Subaru. I've tried changing tyres for older, worn ones, which makes the Focus slide a bit more, but it still doesn't meet my exacting grin standards. Too bad, because I would like to be able to appreciate this car. I've never tried or seen the Renault , but it sounds like fun. The Metro's were always good for a laugh (crossover fodder) although I've never owned one.

Once more, I have to say how good the Williams is - you really have to try it if you can (best current F1 car).


Does anyone know of a 1/32 Jaguar XJC kit or car???????


BAnd if you haven't checked out Barry Boors cars yet - you really should consult his webpage.

[TODave2]

Sort of connected but not really: It was only seeing the recent footage of the Goodwood festival that I finally saw the real Goodwood chicane in comparison with the Scalextric version.

Er... you wouldn't exactly describe the Scalextric version as an accurate copy, would you?!

[Haddock]

The bodyshells affect the handling because they can make a difference to the centre of gravity of the car. I had an XR3i which used to go a lot better with the bodyshell off.

I'm glad it wasn't just me that trashed the wing of the Brabham BT49 too.

[MarkWill]

Add me to the list of Scalextric BT49 owners who broke the wing. Wow! this looks like a hidden defect. Maybe we should all club together and bring a class action suit against Scalextric for failing to design their cars to be robust and idiot-proof ;) We could claim a replacement bodyshell and $4.5m for mental grief and punitive damages.....

I find that the Scalextic Goodwood chicane looks like a real chicane should - its sharp and it really does a good job of slowing you down at the end of a straight.

[Criceto]

Favourite Scalextric moments for me were the fearsome battles my father and I shared using Porsche 911 Turbo and BMW 3.0CSL. The BMW was more of a tailslider, but it was big enough to be able to use the Porsche as a shoulder to lean on in tight cornering battles, and the tail, carefully slung out, could prevent that Porsche using its superior speed to get away.

Mention of the XR3 with no body reminds me of one trick we used to play. Back in the days when the shale stock car scene was filled with Mk1 Ford Escorts, a pair of Scalextric Mexicos donated their chassis to the cause. Tinfoil would be carefully moulded over the contours of the plastic body, the window apertures were cut out, and then slits were made along the moulding lines of the bonnet and bootlid. The tinfoil replicas were blu-tak'd firmly to the chassis, with the drivers in their little pods fixed firmly inside, and *presto*, instant "banger racing" with cars whose bonnets would fly up and fenders which would crumple most realistically. The winner was generally decided as the one who could cause his opponent to roll and thus render every "panel" distorted!

[dretceterini]

Well, many years ago, I started out with an early Scalextric set (circa 1960). When I was in high school and college, I was the head of Strombecker's US slot car team. Today slot racing has evolved to the point that the cars are so high tech, that what is known as Group 7 can negotiate a 155 foot track in 1.6 seconds! These cars have electric motors that are so sophisticated that they turn in excess of 100,000 RPM, have cobalt magnets, and cost over $200 US!

An early Scalextric car would take around 20 seconds, and modern Scalextric or Fly car around
12. Scratch built cars that are still scale models take about 8 seconds.

[Milan Fistonic]

I never owned a Scalextric set but I did race slot cars many years ago. My best two were scratch built, one an Eagle F1 car and the other Robbie Francevic’s “Colour Me Gone” Custaxie.

I remember putting the body of a Cox Ford GT40 together one night only to find the next morning that the dog had got hold of it and chewed a great chunk off it.

In a short-lived magazine called Motorsport Collector there was an article about the ten rarest Scalextric models. This was their list

1 – C70 Bugatti Type 59 – estimated value 3000 pounds
2 – C69 Ferrari 250GT SWB in yellow – 1600 pounds
3 – C68 Aston Martin DB4 GT in yellow – 1000 pounds
4 – 24C/101 1:24 scale Jaguar E-type in red – 700 pounds
5 – MM/C53 Austin-Healey 100/6, tinplate – 650 pounds
6 – CK2 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS – 600 pounds
7 – C65 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 in yellow – 500 pounds
8 – C71 Auto Union C-type in yellow – 400 pounds
9 – 24C/500 1:24 scale Lotus 38 – 375 pounds
10 – C88 Cooper Type 51 in blue – 350 pounds

[MarkWill]

Ouch! The prices seem a bit high to me for some of the medium-range cars, but as an investment some of the older cars seem to be doing quite well right now (example - the TR4 I bought cost 100 pounds - a pretty good mark-up on the original).

At the moment slot-car racing is going through a boom, and the biggest problem seems to be that the manufacturers often bring out too many liveries or sometimes there are too many manufacturers making the same car for you to be able to collect them all. Another set to look out for is the James Bond set - I've seen the best ones going for nearly 1500 pounds, and the cars are actually pretty good - with ejector seat and all.

I've ordered three GT40's....I'm itching to get my hands on them (can't wait/must have).

[TODave2]

I remember that the Spanish and French cars produced in the late 70s and early 80s were very sought after at the time. And rightly so, some of them were beautiful, including the 6 wheeler Tyrrell and Brabham Alfa. There were also some interesting differences between Porsche 911s from Spain, France and the UK. IIRC, we got a sort of long-tail version, the Spanish got a shorter version, and the French got a sort of stubby, wide track one with a small rear wing. I know our next door neighbour had a few of these overseas cars and the detail was way ahead of the UK stuff at the time.

[Bumblyari]

But still no-one's ever done a Mk II Jag - why ?

I'm building up a resin kit of one but it's taking forever - can't get the windows right. Anyone got any tips ?

[MarkWill]

Can't help with the windows I'm afraid, but I was going to add the Jag Mk II to my "wish list" after the XJC, of course. Weren't the windows all flat, except for the windscreen? This should be an easy one to cut out of clear cellophane or plasitc sheet. At worst you could make them solid and paint them silver.

The Spanish cars are great - I recently added a few of them to my collection. The BT46 looks and runs really well (a bit big though) and the Lotus 79 (or JPS Mk4) is also great.

I have no less than four tyrell p34's - two of the original ones, and two re-liveried ones. They aren't that good to drive - I race them against each other so that they stand a better chance of racing (all the other F1 cars wipethe floor with them)

[ry6]

Barry, you may remember ....

In my day the fastest of the slot car clubbers used the Scalex Lotus 21 (or was it 20?) with a Pitman 196 (I think) stuck in its tail. It seemed to be the best performer for racing and itused to be the winning combination.

My favourite was the Auto Union, although I liked the tail happy and wobbly Vanwall and Lotus 16.

At the time Airfix brought out some lovely little 1/32 Coopers, which handled nicely. That was my favourite slot car.

[Criceto]

Mk2 Jags - got vague childhood recollections of a friend's Minic Roadway set (I think that was the name) which had a pair of Matchbox-size (approx 1/76 scale) Jaguar saloons.

As an aside on this topic - does anyone know of a reasonably common commercial power unit with really small dimensions for slot racing? It has to be Scalextric track/transformer compatible, and the key thing is it needs to be really small. Performance is not the issue - only overall dimensions. Got plans for scratchbuilt Scalextric-type racing but to 1/43 scale....

[Barry Boor]

At the time Airfix brought out some lovely little 1/32 Coopers, which handled nicely. That was my favourite slot car.

What a co-incidence, ry6, in the last month or so I have obtained, through Ebay, half a dozen or so of those Airfix Coopers, along with a similar number of Sharknose Ferraris, Lotus 24s and some Porsche flat 8s that I plan to make into a new series of F1 cars based on 1961-2. The only regular runner I need to make myself is the BRM.

[MarkWill]

A long time ago (must be 26 years) I had an Aifix Porsche Carerra. It was chronic (in my opinion) because its gearing was too high, the wheels were wobbly, and the body was made of brittle airfix-kit plastic. That turned me off them for good. Are the mini's any different to what I have just described?


I also have a Fiat 131 from Scalextric which caost me a small fortune, but which I bought because I love the car. I have never had the courage to race it - it looks as if its never been used, and its hard to find, so until I get another one I'm sticking it on the shelf. I guess that meakes me a bit of a collector as well, although I really try to use most of my cars, if only to find which one is adapted to any track best. For ages I liked the Tyrell 007 best because I did well with it on the Monaco track, but I'm afraid its really not up to the modern cars.

Does anyone own a Lotus 72? That was my best friend's chosen steed - we had epic races, flat out for fifteen laps, or at a more careful pace to make it up to sixty. If you could do fifteen consistent flat-out laps, you were doing pretty well.

I'm not too sure about the motors, but I would have thought that the HO-scale car-motors are better suited to 1/43 than they are to HO racing (which is mental - my two boys have a set). Aurora and Tyco make them - check out Scale Models or Pendle Slot racing for spare parts (they include motors).

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by MarkWill
[B]Does anyone own a Lotus 72? That was my best friend's chosen steed - we had epic races, flat out for fifteen laps, or at a more careful pace to make it up to sixty. If you could do fifteen consistent flat-out laps, you were doing pretty well.

Yes, I had the 72 - came in a set with the March 711. In the interests of being "different" I tried to make mine into a GLTL one some years later - off with the airbox and a crude GLTL paintjob.

pete

[MarkWill]

Back to the Lancia - I guess because its so small it must handle a bit like a mini? The Lancia Stratos is also a SWB car.....gentlemen, is this the Lancia secret of success?

[Barry Boor]

Oddly enough, Mark, the D50 wheelbase is not that short. The car simply has a wheel at each corner, rather than large overhangs at each end that were commonplace at that time.

[MarkWill]

COR!!!! Much envy! Must have!

[mikedeering]

I also recall having a set from my childhood called "Blow Out"

The set came with MG Metro's (funny how they lost the bumpers and wing mirrors within about 5 mins of racing them!) but the most intriguing feature was a section of track that had a small section which could lift up. This was connected (somewhat crudely) by plastic piping with a (ahem) squeezy bit at the end (and you wonder why I never visit the technical forums). The idea was to squeeze the end piece, which would then lift the track up. If you timed it right, the track would lift up and your rival would crash off the track.

Except NEVER EVER EVER EVER did this happen. Now maybe the reactions of everyone I know and raced against were useless, but we could never time it right....did anyone else have a frustrating time with this set? I note that Scalextric stopped making it years ago...I wonder why?

[MarkWill]

One of our neighbours, back in the early sixkties, also had a "blow-out" set, which was spring-loaded i.e. a plastic wedge popped up in the track, activated by a remote control (might have been another spring). The end result was a car that flew, but which also broke its little guide pin before the end of christmas day. These gimmicks were aimed at the type of racer who also owned the crossover. When I was little, I really wanted a mini set with crossovers (I think it was a rally set) and I had a Blue Peter annual which showed how to build mountains to go with them.

[mikedeering]

Blue Peter Annuals....now that deserves a thread all of its own! (Although perhaps not in TNF...)

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by mikedeering
Blue Peter Annuals....now that deserves a thread all of its own! (Although perhaps not in TNF...)

Just as a point of detail, they weren't called Annuals.

They were always called Blue Peter Nth Book.

pete