215 replies to this topic

[MarkWill]

Aha! I think (and if I'm right, my memory really isn't fading as quickly as I thought) that it was the in the 5th Book (the mountain) - It was white with a picture of (I think) John Noakes and a big dog on the front or back. I think that John Noakes was a Scalextric fan at some point in time. I had another Book (correct terminology employed) and it had a Mini Moke on the front. It, too, had something about Scalextric IIRC.

Has anyone ever tried a six-lane layout?

[paulhooft]

I like the lancia D50
Who made it
Paul

[Barry Boor]

Me!

Some details: the chassis is a flat piece of 3 mm plastic sheeting with a Johnson large can motor superglued onto it. (this is the motor favoured by Scalextric in the middle to late 1970s before the Mabuchi took over) The rear axle runs in 2, 5mm thick acrylic bearings. The wheels are by MRRC International in Jersey, as are the rear tyres. The front tyres are custom made by an American guy, Jack Stinson, from silicone rubber. The body is fibreglass and is made by a gentleman named John Bacon who lives near Sydney, Australia. The bodies are marketed as Nostalgia shells. The driver's head, which is actually a little large for the car, being 1/30th scale, not 32nd, is a repro Scalextric medium head made by BTS mouldings in southern England. My home-designed steering system consists of a filed down steel rivet inserted on the front axle line. Brushes are standard Scalextric type, held in place by tiny plastic wedges.

And, NO, I receive no commission from any of the companies mentioned above!

The car is one of a team of 3 (of course) and here they all are:

[Roger Clark]

And they go as well as they look!

[Ashley Lenton]

Since nobody else will mention them, I would just like to say a few words on behalf of VIP slotcars. Loads of extra detail compared to their Scalextrix contempories (separate filler caps, mirrors etc) and generally better models. Check out their Coper T45, Lotus 38 and Sharknose.

[MarkWill]

HI,

I thought that VIP made cars for a slightly different scale, though???

[LittleChris]

Ah Gawd, first set was an Airfix set with the grey track parts held together with plastic joints and it involved two Coopers (Must've been 1969 or so ), then moved onto a figure of eight Scalextric set ( £ 7.00 from the Port Bredy Toy Shop in Bridport, Dorset, England in around 1972 ) involving two Scaletti Arrows ( Can Jackie Oliver get retrospective branding rights !?!), then bought a March 711 cos Ronnie drove it. Took it into a toy shop in central Yeovil one day and never got it back. Sort of lost interest after that, especially after having being given a load of 2nd hand straight sections for Christmas, I built a hillclimb up the stairs in my Mum & Dads house and nearly killed my mum when she slipped arse over tit from the top to the bottom on the track sections.

[Exact10]

Ah the beauty of having young sons, I add to the Scalextric set every Christmas as an extra present to "The boys" luckily my 7 year old adores Scalextric and we've just started using the lane change sets.
Multiple cars on one rail, it's brilliant but not without teething problems.
As to a good car, the fastest one we've had in recent times is the Fly Porsche GT1, you do however have to remove the front tyres as they drag on the wheelarches, it then goes like an absolute rocket!

[Alan Cox]

Interesting to read on Barry's old post that he uses repro parts made by BTS Mouldings. It seems that they were involved in making prototype models for various racing car manufacturers, as I discovered from the following article:

Quote

NEWS FROM BTS
By Barry Smith

My company, BTS Mouldings, has been known for many years as a maker of spare parts for Dinky and Corgi Toys and for Scalextric, among many other parts. We have also, from time to time, made 1:43 scale models of British Le Mans cars. The latest in this line is the MG TD Mk II from Le Mans 1951, #43. People who have seen us at Toy Fairs, Classic Car Shows and Autojumbles in the last 18 months or so will have seen this model, but unfinished, because up to now we been unable to find a rear view of the car. But thanks to a very nice man from Germany we now have the information to complete this model. As promised, he will receive the first built model of the finished car. The model will only be supplied handbuilt, and it will be a limited run.
BTS Mouldings has been in business since the end of 1969. We were involved in making full-size racing cars, more precisely making the masters from which the fibre glass bodies would be made. Among the cars we helped to create were Ford GT70, Hesketh F1 cars, de Cadenet Le Mans cars from 1976 onwards and a few of the Penske Indy cars from the late 1970s to the early 80s.
Our next model project is one of the real cars with which we were involved, the Nomad 2 litre Group 6 sports car that raced at Le Mans in 1969. My involvement with the car was after the race, when we changed the car from a long body to a short body for sprint races. The model we are making is that of the Le Mans car of 1969, and should be completed in the next two months, again as a handbuilt model only. Other models in the pipeline include the Jowett Jupiter R1s that raced at Le Mans in 1952, for which I have been given a lot of assistance from members of the Jowett Owners Club.
For more details, contact BTS Mouldings, Rear of 19/21 Mount Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 5LB, England. Tel-fax (+44) 01424 722279.

[bill moffat]

Riko chassis (remember those?) with a Doc Merfield Fraud Cortina bodyshell painted in a lurid yellow with a black stripe.

2nd favourite was an Airfix build-it-yourself Ferrari 250LM in Ecurie Francorchamps colours (probably because I had some yellow paint left over from the Cortina).

My Chaparral loooked great but the self-built balsa rear wing fell off every time that I went "over the top" on the Monza banking...

[paulhooft]

back to Scalextric,
My all time favourite car is the blue Bugatti type 59...
even if it is the Pinkkar replica..
Paul

[David Lawson]

It's nice to see this old thread, I didn't realise there was one about Scalextric.

I have a soft spot for the Airfix Mini Cooper and Lotus Cortina which I had in about 1964/65, they were very accurate models and went very well particularly the Cortina. I also liked the Airfix track system in preference to Scalextric as it was made from a harder plastic that didn't buckle like the Scalex "plexytrack".

My favourite slot car from my days at the commercial tracks in the 1960s was my 1/24 scale Cox Lotus 40 which had reasonable performance and very good detailing.

David

[P4Replica]

Quote

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

Mark,
If you don't mind resorting to 'kitformitis' (a common ailment with 60's slot scratchbuilder / club racers) ....
.... may I recommend this kit as an excellent starting basis (for a Lancia Ferrari) - the Hawk 1:32 shell.

There's one on eBay currently - going for a song !!

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...em=290077128470

Obviously this has the faired in tanks, so you can use a brass pan type chassis with narrowish side pans.

It's a very light shell too, and quite well detailed. I used one way back in the 60's, motorised with mostly Riko components (Rikochet 16D motor in a (re-branded) BMW Models Add-Speed 8/11d brass chassis), but you could equally use an MRRC brass chassis and a modern can motor.

Hawk also produced this as a full slot car kit - very collectable nowadays.;)

The Hawk 1:32 Maserati 5000 GT (Tipo 151) kit, which this eBay seller is also offering, was also another favourite of mine - but needed a lot more work to turn it into a decent slot car bodyshell.

[Barry Boor]

Following a visit to David Lawson's home last summer, I had a chance to drive one of his cars - the winning GT.40 from Le Mans 1966. I was entranced by it, so I obtained the first new Scalextric car I have had for 15 years. It is a red version, the Dan Gurney colours from Le Mans.

It is without doubt the fastest slot car I have ever driven by some distance.

I know that the home-made, Scalextric-powered cars that I run have the old large can Johnson motor and are therefore not quick by modern standards, but this thing is sensational.

As a guide, in my most recent race, at Aintree, the fastest lap went to Jack Brabham's Cooper at 8.294 seconds. The GT.40 achieved 6.346....

Need I say more?

[paulhooft]

And i liked these old first series sidecars, even if I never had that Hurricane, and one of my Typhoons is still without engine...
paul

[charles r]

...or the SCX Jordan 191...?

[SpitfireJEJ]

I have had a yellow Auto Union since new in circa 1964. It has always been my favourite. One can only speculate what a W125 Mercedes from the same source would have looked like. Most of the cars of this "classic" era were 1/30th scale to allow room for the open frame motor then used. The later "Formula Junior" motored cars were the standard 1/32nd scale but alas had 1/30th scale drivers' heads which gave then an odd appearance to my eyes. Also highly recommended are the Vintage "Blower" Bentley and Alfa Romeo.

[bill patterson]

My personal "old" favourites would have to include:_

1/24th scale; Cox Chaparral 2D, Russkit Eagle-Weslake, Russkit Lotus 40 & Cox Gurney Ford Galaxie
1/32nd scale; Monogram Lotus 33, Monogram Ferrari 250LM, Monogram Lola GT & Cox Ford GT40

Scalextric favourites would include Aston Martin DBR1, Cooper Climax and BRM P25

I still have a Cox Chaparral 2C & 2D and a Cox Ford GT to remind me of the pre-anglewinder days!

[TennisUK]

I recall the Ferrari f187/88 being by far the best around when it first came out. Sadly, I contrived to break the rear aerofoil pretty early on and it was made of a plastic which didn't much like being glued Very quick machines, though, and also, far more detailed than the late 80s Williams and Lotus models.

There was also a 1988 Mclaren about once, in the catalogue and such, but I'm not sure it was ever released? This and the ferrari i mentioned earlier seemed to usher in a new era of more detailed models.

[Barry Boor]

I'm not sure I have this story absolutely correct but I believe the McLaren mentioned by Tennis was produced and advertised, but then Marlboro stepped in because being a 'toy' although it had the Marlboro colours on it, it carried no names.

The fag makers didn't like that and blocked the sale.

Allegedly, there were thousands of them in a warehouse somewhere, but I guess they are now gone.

Quite possibly someone else has a more accurate version of the story.

[paulhooft]

The big fun with the Auto Union was, that it drove:
Like an:
AUTO UNION!!!

Paul

[SpitfireJEJ]

I believe Marlborough sought litigation as they felt that their colours on a "toy" might encourage the young to smoke. The overwhelming majority of the McLaren bodies were destroyed in the presence of a Marlborough executive and a court representative.

[TennisUK]

We might infer that something along those line is accurate:

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...1QQcmdZViewItem

That's a lot of money for a peice of plastic...

[Simpson RX1]

I thought I'd seen one in the flesh.

Also, markwill mentions in one of his earlier posts (is he still around 5 years later?) Jag XJCs and Lotus Cortinas; I worked in a large hobby shop in 1980 and I was fairly sure Scalex did an XJC, I've certainly seen a slot car of that car, and MRRC did a MK1 Lotus Cortina (I've got a couple lurking in a cupboard somewhere) along with a Vanwall and shark nose Ferrari.

They were pretty grim with narrow track/high C of G, slow engines and hard narrow tyres, but you could modify the Cortina with Scalex rear wheels, a faster engine and some ballast, then you had a respectable car.

[T54]

Actually the story of the Scalextric/Exin McLaren MP4 in question is that it was refused a license not by Marlboro but by...Ayrton Senna. Indeed a few "got out" as I have had 3 of them obtained from a British fellow who used to represent Scalextric in the USA. There are a few floating around, specialized Brit dealer Phil Smith can find you one if you must.

Quote

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...?

You can blame Yours Truly for this. I was the guy who developed the idea in 1970. Two companies I worked for wanted nothing to do with it, but a third, Cox, produced the first commercially-available "magnet-car" in 1973. Here is a picture of it:



The car was an imaginary design for a Can-Am car named "Manta", and the traction magnet was fitted in the pocket at the back of the car. Their scale was 1/40th, and besides two versions of this car, there were a pair of Eagle and McLaren Indy cars, a Datsun 240Z, a Porsche Carrera RSR, a NASCAR Chevelle and a Matador. The cars were sold in racing sets until 1978. Interestingly, the design could not be patented because it was used since the 1960 in model trains to increase traction between steel wheels and rails. Scalextric copied the design sometimes in 1977 if I recall.

I saw my first Scalextric car, a Maserati set, on Christmas 1957 in a department store in Paris. I was hooked for life and while I ended racing bikes and cars, I never let go of the slot cars. In the early 1970's, shortly after emigrating to the USA, I became very competitive in the pro-racing scene, and my hand-built cars won a multitude of national-level races both in the US and abroad. They were widely copied by British pros still racing at Tottenham, Wonderland and other raceways.
Nowadays I am restoring some of the survivors for the great new slot car racing museum being built in Los Angeles by vintage racer and slot racing enthusiast Scott Bader. Scott owns some serious full-size machinery such as the ex-Parsons Simoniz-Lola T163, one of Ronnie Peterson's "tea-tray" formula one STP Marches, an ex-works Nissan GTS, vintage SCCA Vettes and a vast collection of odds and ends including dragsters. He also drives them very well and is a regular HSR-West winner.

Here is one of my own cars I just finished restoring, that dates from 1972. It is in the 1/24 scale:





Scalextric cars are lots of fun, but there is nothing like these incredibly fast and superbly-handling pro cars, made of steel wire, brass and thin Lexan bodies, with hand-wound motors using as big as 23AWG gauge wire, speed monsters...

Nowadays, one of my companies produces high performance chassis to use for Scalextric, Carrera, Slot.It and other good-looking bodies in both the 1/24 and 1/32 scales for people who are serious about home-racing performance without compromise. Used with or without traction magnets, these cars bring much greater fun to the whole experience because of the levels of handling, predictability, feel and realism that they bring. Here is an LC2 assembled by one of our customers:



And its running gear:



A FLY Porsche 917 body mounted on the smaller 1/32 scale chassis we produce:



Not only the car goes a lot faster (cutting lap time in nearly 1/2 from the stock FLY car!) but the car handles sweetly and stays ON the track even when driven by novices... this with or without traction magnet.

What is good about modern slot cars is that they are getting more and more realistic. What is bad is that they still handle rather poorly and off-track excursions are part of the equation. I KNOW that they don't have to be that way.
Regards,

T54

[Barry Boor]

Philippe, when you say that modern slot cars are "becoming more realistic", I'm interested to know what you mean by that.

If my experience with a Scalextric GT.40 that I recounted a few posts ago is anything to go by, modern slot cars are certainly far from being realistic from the point of view of speed.

I once had an argument with someone about 'scale speed'. I said that if you multiply a 32nd scale slot car speed by 32 you will get a realistic scale speed. His view was that unless you had scale weight, it was unrealistic to consider scale speed.

Be that as it may, there is no doubt that a modern Scalextric car is WAY too quick and handles far too well to be considered truly realistic.

And as for those slot projectiles that race at the top level... the mind boggles. I was looking at some on You Tube and they were so fast I could hardly SEE them. Surely that can't be realistic?

Or maybe you meant visually?

[Kingsleyrob]

Great stuff in this thread, revived after nearly a five year rest!

Slightly off thread, but forgive me for digressing...my first slot car set was a 1/52 scale by Wrenn, a thrill for me as a Christmas present (probably about 1962 when I'd be 7). It was secondhand, and never fulfilled its potential (three cars per lane was possible), although I particularly liked my red Ferrari and green Cooper, 1959 models I guess.

It was replaced in (about) 1964 with the Aston DB4 and Ferrari 250 with working lights. This in turn was replaced in 1968 (?) with an Airfix set with banking, an Eagle and Honda.

Around that time I also got into the proper slot car scene with clear plastic bodies (painted on the inside for a great finish) brass chassis with hinged sides to allow body roll, and sidewinder or anglewinder motors to aid road holding. Unlikely I suppose that anyone here used to go to Haymans Green in West Derby, Liverpool as members of their slot car club? We had a fantastic six (I think) lane track with hills, scenery and some characters too. I was a mere child amongst many middle aged men!

I even had a mention in the Electric Car Racing Association's newsletter when I'd achieved some success at one of their meetings.

As for favourite cars (some of which are still in the loft) the Aston and Ferrari were great with the lights but awkward to control with the guide pin (as opposed to the later guide 'flags'), as mentioned previously. As also mentioned, the Airfix Lotus Cortina and Mini were good fun.

I remember being impressed by my Scalextric Ford GT40 which were part of a 'go faster' range - no doubt someone will remind me the name!

I had an MRRC BRM, and recall being confounded and confused by the BRM colour when I decided to paint it, a shade of blue or green? Maybe I was colour blind then.
Humbrol did do dayglo orange though!

What great fun it all was, and serious stuff too with 'rewinding' the wire on the motors to get more power out of them, and a delicate decision on tyre choice too.

Another favourite was a custom built Chapparal 2F - I too had trouble with my carefully sculpted balsa wing coming off.

I still have many editions of 'Model Cars' magazine in the loft too, then read as arduously as my Thursday Motoring News.

Forgive the meanderings of a middle aged boy - great to go down memory lane!

Rob

[T54]

Quote

Philippe, when you say that modern slot cars are "becoming more realistic", I'm interested to know what you mean by that.

I said this from an aesthetic point of view. The first slot cars (Scalex, MRRC, Strombecker) were looking frankly like crude toys for toddlers. They did not get much better until 1997 when FLY issued their first cars. For the first time, slot cars looked as good as precise model cars. It eventually FORCED Scalextric to improve their own, beginning with the Cadillac LMP. Since then, both companies have been battling for best looks, with Slot.It as the arbitror. Other companies (Ninco, SCX, Carrera...) are not even in the ballpark compared to these three. Some have decent bodies but ridiculous-looking drivers in impossible physical postures, with helmets looking like pencil erasers.

As far as speed, even the earliest slot cars by Scalextric NEVER performed at scale speed. If you would have slot cars at correct scale speed, they would be CRAWLING! This is unfortunately just not possible and has never been.
I would be satisfied with cars that are slower than they are today, but actually stay on the track better. This is what we have tried to accomplish with our own. The speed is an extra bonus.

[Barry Boor]

Quote

I said this from an aesthetic point of view.

Right, o.k. Philippe, I'm with you all the way on that one then.

Just to reinforce your comments about scale speed, I did some calculations based on my most recent race at Aintree.

The circuit measured 51.84 feet (15.8 metres); although the fastest race lap was 8.294, I worked out the speed of an average car - the middle one of these three:



Its best race lap was 8.572. Doing the necessary calculations, I find that this gives an actual speed of 4.123 mph and hence a scale speed of 131.948 mph.

All my cars run the old Johnson large can motors, which are a million miles away from being the fastest motors available, but I am running silicone tyres, which make a difference to cornering speeds but even so, that's a pretty quick lap for a Lotus 12!

I remember doing these sort of calculations when I was MUCH younger than I am now, and IIRC I found that the slower the circuit, the bigger the gap between real and model speeds became. I guess it has much to do with acceleration, which maybe brings us back to scale weight...

Purely as a matter of no interest whatsoever, that GT.40 I have mentioned before averaged 178.231 mph around the same track....

[Alan Cox]

Much talk here about Airfix's Lotus Cortina being a favourite - you can still get a slot kit based on the Airfix kit:

http://www.traffic-m...ini-coopers.htm

Interesting to read your recollections of favourite slot cars. I sold my circuit as a job lot, and re-erected it in the purchaser's house nearly 40 years ago, since when I have been trying to buy back all the models that I sold with it! Have succeeded with the Revell GTO and Cobra which were my favourites, various Monogram slot bodies, the Auto Hobbies Daytona Cobra (which was a revelation in its day), an as-yet unbuilt Airfix/MRRC BRM but they are all knocked into a cocked hat by the current Fly/Revell offerings. Haven't managed to trace a Super Shells Porsche 906 or Lotus Elite yet....

Have still got my original Scalextric set (minus some track) in its original box, with the two tin-plate Maseratis. Can one still find bits of the original shiny track?

[T54]

I have several Lotus Elite complete body shells for trade...

[Alan Cox]

I can't imagine I would have anything you want to trade, Philippe!

[T54]

Do you have a cute daughter?
Seriously, PM me, I am sure that we can find something.

[doc knutsen]

Does anybody have an MRRC Clubman Special BRM P261 to dispose of? I really regret not getting one of those when they were available, even if the colour was wrong and the nose shape was a wee bit out.
With a few fellow enthusiasts here, my son Matt and I have built a 1:32 scale permanent Scalextric-based track based on Goodwood....named, in the best Cheek Racing tradition, Badwood. We are converting to Scalex digital for next Winter, it is a lovely way to keep one's hand in while waiting for our Scandinavian 1:1 circuits to clear from snow and ice. Historic racing is the thing over here, much as it is in 1:1 scale racing (Historics were the best supported class of racing in Norway last year, and this year things will be even better.)

[dretceterini]

Quote

Originally posted by T54
I have several Lotus Elite complete body shells for trade...

The Super Shells bodies were some of the best of their time. I also remember a company called Scuderia Scale, which did hite plastic 2 part vac-form bodies that did a nice Elite and also the Chap I, but I think those were 1/24th

The Lancia LC shown is excellent! It looks like an VERY well done vac body, though, and not everyone can paint that well...

[David Lawson]

Quote

Originally posted by T54
Scalextric cars are lots of fun, but there is nothing like these incredibly fast and superbly-handling pro cars, made of steel wire, brass and thin Lexan bodies, with hand-wound motors using as big as 23AWG gauge wire, speed monsters...

Nowadays, one of my companies produces high performance chassis to use for Scalextric, Carrera, Slot.It and other good-looking bodies in both the 1/24 and 1/32 scales for people who are serious about home-racing performance without compromise. Used with or without traction magnets, these cars bring much greater fun to the whole experience because of the levels of handling, predictability, feel and realism that they bring.

What is good about modern slot cars is that they are getting more and more realistic. What is bad is that they still handle rather poorly and off-track excursions are part of the equation. I KNOW that they don't have to be that way.
Regards,

T54

I partially agree with Philippe but can't let him get away totally without some comment

Slot cars appeal to a very wide range of enthusiasts these days and there are some who like the unrealistic ultra fast cars, some who like the box standard ready to run cars from the larger manufacturers, some who like to modify and improve the ready to run cars (to the point where on certain types of track they're quicker than the metal chassis cars), those that enjoy racing original 1960s/70s slot cars and some who like to build retro slot cars with modern components. Over the years I've raced them all.

Each type of racing is fascinating and fun to those concerned and is a part of this growing hobby, I don't see any type being better than any other - there's plenty of room for all of them.

David

[T54]

David, we agree 100%. But it is a bit like a drug, once you have driven one of those really fast cars, it is hard to come back!
The same is true for full-size vintage racing. Once in a really fast and good-handling car, it's really hard to get back to drive a Datsun 510 or a Mini...
Simply my opinion of course. But I like it all, and especially the wonderful hand-built cars by you or Mark Gussin...

And I still enjoy the pro-racing oldies, like this 1966 Ferrari used by the famous John Cukras, the 1/24 scale equivalent of Jimmy Clark in professional slot car racing, to win the world's first truly professional slot car race, the Memphis ARCO, co-driving with another famous period racer (and still at it today at 57 years old) Mike Steube:





This car that got a complete but sympathetic restoration, as well as hundreds (thousands!) more, will be on display at the new slot car museum to be completed in Los Angeles by the end of 2007...

[Francois78]

Hi crazy slotheads !

Since 1980 , I've tried all scales from 1/24 wing cars to 1/43 toys .
Now I prefer HO scale because they are fast , cheap and reliable.

The latest cars from Tomy-SRT AFX are really nice (cobra daytona , Chapparal 2D)



But some old Tyco from the 70's are pretty too....



If you like it , more pics here : http://hoslotfrance.free.fr


Regards Francois

[David Lawson]

My main focus at the moment is to build slot cars for the various retro race meetings around the UK.

There are now annual events for 1/32 pre 1961 grand prix cars, pre 1969 sports cars and 1950s and 60s saloon cars which are held in Wolverhampton and a slot car convention each summer in Colne, Lancashire with a variety of classes which usually include 1950s GP, 1960s GP/Indy, 1950s and 60s sports/CanAm and sometimes 1/24 sports cars.



These are some recent cars I've built. I'm racing the Alan Brown Vanwall Special this weekend at one of the Wolverhampton events. Bruce McLaren's 1962 Monaco winning Cooper T60 and the John Surtees 1963 Ferrari 156 have been built for a 1961-65 series starting in May this year and I've built John Cobb's Napier Railton just because it is such a great racing car.

I have been gently suggesting to Barry over the last few months that he enters one of these events as they are such fun and I'm patiently waiting to hear what he plans to do.

David

[dretceterini]

Slot cars that actually look like cars; what a concept!

[Alan Cox]

Fabulous cars, David. I especially liked your Bonnier 250F posted some time back. My efforts look terribly crude in comparison.

[dretceterini]

Quote

Originally posted by David Lawson
My main focus at the moment is to build slot cars for the various retro race meetings around the UK.

There are now annual events for 1/32 pre 1961 grand prix cars, pre 1969 sports cars and 1950s and 60s saloon cars which are held in Wolverhampton and a slot car convention each summer in Colne, Lancashire with a variety of classes which usually include 1950s GP, 1960s GP/Indy, 1950s and 60s sports/CanAm and sometimes 1/24 sports cars.



These are some recent cars I've built. I'm racing the Alan Brown Vanwall Special this weekend at one of the Wolverhampton events. Bruce McLaren's 1962 Monaco winning Cooper T60 and the John Surtees 1963 Ferrari 156 have been built for a 1961-65 series starting in May this year and I've built John Cobb's Napier Railton just because it is such a great racing car.

I have been gently suggesting to Barry over the last few months that he enters one of these events as they are such fun and I'm patiently waiting to hear what he plans to do.

David

Where did the 1/32nd Napier body come from, or is it totally scratch built? Superb work if it is!!

[Breadmaster]

nice to see this thread back

[T54]

We LOVE slot cars, the least expensive form of motor racing!

[Bumblyari]

Just in passing, there's some quite interesting stuff in the new (50th anniversary) Scalextric catalogue including a tinplate Ferrari 375 slot car.

Now there's something you don't see every day.

[David Lawson]

It is nice to see this thread back Breadmaster, slot cars are enjoying a boom time these days with all us greying old pharts behaving badly with our toys. It's difficult to believe that I've been fascinated by slot cars since 1960.

I would like to see an example of your slot car building Alan, if it is half as good as your motor racing photography then I'm sure they are very good. I think I have a Super Shells Lotus Elite body somewhere in my model-making room. I do still have that Centro Sud 250F and I will give it a run during practice at this weekends race meeting.

The Napier Railton is scratchbuilt dretceterini, I will take a photograph of the car alongside a friend's scratchbuilt Birkin Bentley at this weekends race meeting and post it here.

David

[T54]

Quote

Just in passing, there's some quite interesting stuff in the new (50th anniversary) Scalextric catalogue including a tinplate Ferrari 375 slot car.

Actually they are relatively common and seen on E-Pay quite often as well as the tinplate Maseratis.
The new Scalex issue should warm your heart:



(Picture courtesy Slotforum)



Now if only they would make an Alfetta...

[Alan Cox]

Quote

Originally posted by T54

Good grief! This bears absolutely no relation to the original Scalextric tinplate Ferrari. Beautiful, nonetheless.

[T54]

Quote

Good grief! This bears absolutely no relation to the original Scalextric tinplate Ferrari.

Thanks God and the Chinese craftsmen...

[dretceterini]

If that is Scalextric, boy have they improved! Looks as good as Fly! I would love to see an Alfa Tipo B (P3) of that quality...