[Slot Cars] Scalextric Historic Racers

[TimD]

Come on, own up!

Who still has their childhood Scalextric set? Or even better, who has used some of their hard earned cash on the slot car setup they always wanted as a kid?

Have you got better as you got older? Or are you still the 1/32nd scale equivalent of Andrea de Cesaris?

The reason I ask is that I just put down money on a set of the new Ninco/Fly historic GT cars. Two Lola T70s, a Porsche 908 and a Ferrari 512. Once they are delivered, I see myself, my father and my brother-in-law having a serious championship this Christmas.

Has anyone tried any of this range of cars before? I see they even make Ferrari 250TRs and Porsche Speedsters for their range.

And that's as nothing as to the selection of aftermarket body shells which are available these days. I am told that there's even the chance to buy miniatures of Gerry Marshall's Vauxhall Firenza special "Baby Bertha" for your slot car layout.

We never had it so good. Second childhood, anyone?

[angst]

I didn't have Scaletrix, I had Aurora AFX. Only ever had two cars though Niki Lauda Ferrari 312T and James Hunt Mclaren M23. Every time we got the damn thing out we had to psend a good hour running over the track with that wierd rubber thing before the thing would work. Used to love getting the back end out of shape, wait for the right moment then wack the power full on....great. My Dad had made us almost a carbon copy of Suzuka, quite unwittingly as it turned out as he had very little interest in motor racing.

[SL]

There's a few laid out tracks around, one in Bogner, a big straight with a flyover and a few hairpins. My Fly Ferari 312 is very rapid car, they have little magnets that add to the cornering speed. This means you are not always spinning off. We rented the track for a couple of hours earlier this year and had a great time.

This then meant that our old Scalectix had to be dragged out of the loft and set up, car boot sales were then scoured for extra track and so on.

Of course this was all done in the interest of our future sons and daughters.

SL

[Dan Friel]

You know I lived in Bognor for 3 long years and never once went to the slot car track...

I have loads of rusty track (needs a clean..) and several cars of various ages.. one of which is a Ninco. An excellent Alfa 155 DTM car, I kept getting the catalogue being sent over from Spain, but that seems to have stopped now. Very controllable, but not a patch on my Jag XJR 14..

[Sparky]

I've got a couple of Mk1 Escorts (of course!), two Mini Coopers (what did you expect?!) and some others, most notably, a modified Metro with channelled body, wider track, 'magnatraction' and a few other secret mods!

I've got about 160 bits of track, and the latest 'Powerbase' power supply, which allows instant reverse tracks without all that turning-the-plastic-undertrack-clips-around stuff.

Now, I just need a bigger house...

[TimD]

For your daughter, huh, Sparky?

Like my collection is for my niece...


I've never been into modifying for ultra-speed, but I have been known to cannibalise sickly Scalextric cars for new bodyshells. I've done a Monogram '55 Chevy on a TR7 chassis (still handled like rubbish, like all Scalextric TR7s) and a Mk1 Escort was the donor chassis for a Lindberg Jaguar E Type Coupe.

But the best fun is to be had with the fleet of semi-derelict Mk3 Escorts in the parts bin. Their chassis are still okay, although the motors and diffs are a bit wonky. The tyres have gone solid, and thus offer very little grip. When these babies race, they do so in a contest I have never seen tried anywhere else.

Take your humble Mk3 Escort bodyshell, and make a moulding of it in kitchen aluminium foil. A double layer of foil gives the right sort of rigidity. Open up the windows in the moulded tinfoil, and for added realism, slit the joint between bonnet and fenders. Mount the interior plate and the "glass" firmly on the chassis with blu-tack, because our driver needs a stiff rollcage, and then attach the metal body to the chassis by means of blu-tack run along the length of the door sills.

Instant Scalextric Demolition Derby. The winner, when contested in my house, is the car that has one straight panel remaining on it.

It probably works with other cars, but it doesn't seem terribly realistic banger racing with a Porsche Turbo, and the Escorts have the advantage of having flat panels, and not too many compound curves for the tinfoil to conform to.

Try it sometime, as a light relief from the white heat of competition. Could bring a whole new dimension to your racing.

[Slowcoach]

I was out rummaging in the garage last night and came across my old Scalextric set , I think my Dad bought it secondhand - I've no idea how old it is but the cars are an old greed lotus with yellow wheels and the shark nosed Ferrari none of those dreadful spoilers or wings! - got to be early/mid sixties at a guess? - , perhaps I'll have a proper look at the w/e , I even have a bag full of the Grandstands and control towers etc....in their original boxes . I do remember supplementing the cars with a UOP Shadow and a Martini striped something in the late seventies.

[jarama]

Slowcoach,

The Martini stripped must be a Brabham, isn't it?

[TimD]

Yes, I agree. Probably a Brabham BT45.

Slowcoach, you hang on to those boxed grandstands and things. If they're sixties, they're collectable. Certainly the Lotus and Ferrari set is about '61-'64. Depends whether it's a Lotus 16 (high back behind the driver - a bit Vanwall-ish) or a Lotus 25 (rear engined, Jim Clark style).

Either way, got to be good for a nostalgia run for the long winter evenings when the Rover's not being fettled.

[Slowcoach]

Well I went to the box and found that the Martini stripes were actually Yardley stripes making it a BRM . I didnt get time to check the older cars out but according to the box it is a "GP.33" set. The lotus was the Jim Clark style that you mention from memory.
I think fettling is probably the wrong word for the Rover, more likely crying over it, or beating it out of frustration a la Basil Fawlty , anyway one of the problems has been found - a broken rocker shaft.