And finally… Volume 10 of ‘Scalextric The Ultimate Guide’ is now available!

Volume 10 is here! The final volume of Scalextric The Ultimate Guide Edition 9 is now available (link to purchase). This A4 volume lists every piece of Scalextric product that I, and many contributors, have found amounting to approximately 15,000 items. Purely a reference work, there are thirteen sections covering cars, presentation packs, racing packs, Scalex and Startex, car parts, race sets, buildings and accessories, power & control, track, borders and barriers, ephemera and, finally, printed matter. Over 600 pages, the book is a huge 50mm thick – as large as the entire Edition 8 book!

Chapter 1 is a simple list of all cars ordered by the main reference numbers and includes everything from the early tinplate models to the latest cars up to the end of 2021. In addition to UK built models, also included are the models made in Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Spain and other countries. The Spanish cars listed are only those made under the Exin ownership.

Chapter 2 has 12 sections listing all cars, buildings, track, etc., in detail where all, say, Ferrari F40 cars or Control Towers, can be compared in their respective groupings.

Warning! There are a few colour pictures of Scalextric cars but please be aware that this volume is purely a reference listing of everything that Scalextric made for the retail market. It is intended to appeal to the Scalextric collector who needs to know every detail.

C2463 Ford GT40 MKII suffix variants

A new collector might think that there is only one C2463 Ford GT40, the black No.2 car! – but there are three other variations of this car. One model may be enough to satisfy the collection but which model has been added to the collection?
To differentiate each model, Hornby Hobbies applies a suffix code so that the build specification is specific for the car and its end use. For example it may be a standard solo car, a presentation box or race set car. It may have different livery decoration details and, as is the case with this model, a ‘weathered’ livery finish.
The black, No.2, Le Mans 1966 podium finisher, C2463 Ford GT40 MKII has four different variants and they all have different suffix codes. In this case, the standard C2463, then C2463A, C2463AWD and C2463W. See the full explanation on my facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/scalextricultimateguidebooks/permalink/4993034624097053/

Thank you.

Hey! Volumes 8 and 9 of the Scalextric Ultimate Guide Edition 9 book are here.

Buy here at www.Lulu.com

Volume 8 and 9 are the two gallery books containing images of all the officially produced cars by Scalextric, With over 450 pages in each book, the number of images is truly thorough. The two books cover all types of vehicles from Cobra to Wolfs, from Bugs to Mustangs, Stingrays and Horses to Turtles – and he book has nothing to do with animals! – purely Scalextric model racing cars!

The two gallery books also cover Presentation Packs and Racing Packs and are also adorned with the amazing images from Hub Habets and Dave Hannaway who are both experts at scenic modelling and photography.

The final book, Volume 10, containing complete listings of all Scalextric products, will arrive during March.

Here are some images of the pages within Volume 8…

… and Volume 9 images…

Volume 6 Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide OUT NOW!

Volume 6 “Competitions, Events and Special Models’ is out today. Over 330 pages all about official Scalextric competitions from the launch of Scalextric to the current day including national and World Championships. Events such as Goodwood, Brooklands and the Guiness Book of Records events are all detailed. Of course, many of these events throw up special cars produced to commemorate the event but also included in this volume are many of the cars never released, cars with liveries never seen before and pre-production tests such as ‘glow in the dark’ paint test and other paint decoration trials.
To purchase, go to http://www.lulu.com and search for ‘Scalextric’!

Scalextric Ultimate Guide Edition 9 – Volume 6 and 7

Good News! Volumes 6 and Volume 7 are both completed and awaiting approval. Hopefully, these will be published in November.

Volume 6 has been more interesting than I thought and I hope will appeal to the serious collector. The books contains a comprehensive gallery of many of the special cars Scalextric made since the 1960’s until today. Many cars and decorations will not be known to most collectors but you can now read about and see images of them in the book. In addition to cars, there is a good history of official Scalextric championships and World Records. There is also much about fantastic club and home tracks, the Scalextric Club, Hornby Visitor Centre and VIPS with Scalextric.

Volume 7 is all about the Accessories! Buildings, figures, track, borders and a whole lotta stuff you may have wondered about and always wondered why!

More to follow in a week or so….

Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide 9th Edition, Volume 1 – That Initial Spark – NOW AVAILABLE!

It’s been a long time since I started work on the 9th Edition, which has now exploded into ten volumes.

Volume 1 – That Initial Spark is available now.

Volume 2 – Scalextric in Argentina, Australia & New Zealand, Canada and USA will also be available today.

Volumes 3 to 10 will be released throughout the rest of this year.

Check the page for an expected Index of contents for all ten volumes here at http://www.slotcarportal.com homepage where there is also the link to go to the online website to purchase a book.

C50 Lotus 72 – an exhausting issue.

C50 Lotus 72 – an exhausting issue.

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C50 Lotus 72, No.8 – the original, issued in 1973 with factory applied stickers on body top, side intakes and rear wing.

Hidden in plain sight!
Collectors around the world usually love to know if there is a rare or interesting item out there to be discovered. Once contact with the collecting community is made an understanding of the well-known variations can be understood. Books such as ‘Scalextric Ultimate Guide can also help in gaining the knowledge.

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C50 Lotus 72, No.1 issued in 1975. – now with tampo-printed decoration.

However, every now and then something that’s been hidden in plain sight for years appears. Such is the case with the well known C50 Lotus. Unlike the C126 Lotus 77 that has many known variations the C50 Lotus 72 only has two known variations: the No.8 and the No. 1 versions as far as SCALEXTRIC were concerned… perhaps three, if you include the French versions!

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
The French C50 Lotus 72 – a UK chassis and body, assembled in Calais with French made parts to incude driver helmet, chromed wheel hubs and tyres.

A new era of quality in SCALEXTRIC cars
The C50 Lotus 72 was one of the new models released in the 1970s using the more modern techniques of the era. Scalextric models of the previous decade were, in the main, fairly basic in design and lacking in detail – a typical toy of the 60’s. The 70’s, however, heralded a new thinking in design and the opportunity presented itself when the Scalextric factory was moved to Margate in Kent from Havant in Hampshire. After a settling in period, production of a new range of relatively high detailed models hit the market and were shown in the catalogues as ‘SUPER FORMULA’ cars. Made in the UK, French and Spanish Scalextric factories, the models included the Porsche 917K, March Ford 721, Ferrari 312 B3,  Ferrari 330 GT, McLaren M9A, Mercedes Wankel C111, Jaguar E-type, Mercedes 250SL, Tyrrell Ford and, of course, the championship winning Lotus 72. It was stunning in its black and gold JPS livery. The model was a massive hit with Scalextric fans and the model can still be found quite easily half a century later.

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One of the accepted variants of the 1975 release – black wheels with gold painted rims.
The known variations
The Lotus 72 was released in 1973 with the race number ‘8’ applied as a decal, as were all the graphics. Silver or gold chromed 5-spoke hubs were fitted. The version assembled in France is easily identified by the French made full face helmet which has a different profile to the UK head. The tyres on the French version are also made in France. These ‘slick’ tyres have an unrealistic square edge profile.

The chassis was amended for the 1975 release so that the Johnson motor would be fitted. At the same time the front of the chassis was amended to allow the motor wires to move more freely as the guide blade rotated.

In 1975, the model was again released as C50 but now with race number ‘1’ reflecting its Championship winning status and, furthermore, the number and all other graphics were now tampo-printed on to the car. The RX motor is replaced by the Johnson motor. The chassis was also updated at some point to allow the wires from the guide blade to the motor to move more freely.

After an exhausting search…
Not obvious to the eye, until pointed out, is a huge assembly error that besets both French and UK models. During assembly of the exhaust components a significant amount were fitted to the engine casing in the wrong orientation resulting in the exhaust pipes pointing forward to the side pods next to the driver!

C0050T1FRexhausts wrong direction
C50 Lotus 72 with exhaust pipes feeding in to the cooling pods next to the driver!

It went viral!
Not only was it a general production error, it was also released as an official spare part. The officially bagged part, labelled as “Part No 06014PLTD ENGINE/EXHAUST” can be found incorrectly assembled with the exhausts pointing in the wrong direction. The moulding, as a whole, is in three separate pieces, with the exhaust headers “swaged” or heat-staked into place from the inside of the engine body. Of course, the exhaust pipes should point backwards.

Images, inside and out, showing how easy it was for factory staff to assemble the exhausts pipes incorrectly.

The moulding was made in England, assembled and fitted to the Lotus 72, sold in the UK as a Engine/Exhaust part and also exported to the factory in Calais as a component, along with the chassis and body parts for the C50 Lotus 72, that was also being assembled and sold there for the European market. The French version of the C50 model was assembled with the addition of the French driver’s head, fully chromed wheels hubs and slick tyres. The French versions would however, still state “Made in Great Britain” on the UK produced underpan. This was quite normal for models of this period where they were shared in the UK and French production ranges, and sending parts abroad for assembly was often a means of avoiding import duties.

And there it is! Like a virus it was installed in to the distribution chain in plain sight but was unseen until it was too late. Whether anyone in the SCALEXTRIC workforce knew about this or not is unknown though I suspect enthusiasts may have raised this with SCALEXTRIC. It would have been far too late to do anything about it.


Mistakes can certainly be manifold!
With all the help and knowledge available it does make you wonder how a basic mistake can be so easily made – and go undetected through the entire production process right through to market. It should be remembered that the factory operatives would not know how a modern F1 engine would work or what it would like. Fitting the exhaust headers 180 degrees out of true was an easy mistake to make. The QC Department and the foreman in charge of the build process is where any blame might lay. If it wasn’t for the convenient fit of inverted manifolds to look like they were designed that way then the error would probably have been realised by the operatives.

C0050T2 engine not chromed
More QC problems? Engine and exhaust unit not chromed but more likely an engineering sample.


Four decades later,…
Scalextric released the Lotus 72 again but, this time, with new tooling. So far, no variations that we know of!
C3703A

Who would have thought then, a different production version of the C50 Lotus 72 has been under our noses for so long?

But Hey! This, and the hundreds of other production errors since 1957 to date, is what makes out hobby so interesting!

Reference: Scalextric Ultimate Guide, 8th Edition,
If you believe you have a yet unrecorded variant and seek confirmation of its authenticity, please contact me at slotcarportal.com.

“Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide 8th Edition” book, with over 700 pages, is available from the Internet. Search online!

Scalextric Police Force

Quote: “So I was like, ‘I want to be either an undercover cop, or I want to race cars!’”
Well, you can do both with Scalextric.

For many years Scalextric have produced models of police vehicles often with working lights and sometimes (to parents’ annoyance) a working siren. Enjoying Scalextric is not always about racing and the addition of these cars can add more play value with car chases and other ‘cops and robbers’ games, perhaps as an alternative using the 4×4 Trucks and Articulated Lorries that have been available in the past. The ‘super resistant’ bodies with no interiors are very suitable for this type of fun. Many set circuits feature a crossover, or the section can be purchased individually, so that skill and judgement are necessary to avoid or possibly to force your opponent off the track. The use of chicanes and sideswipes will add even more excitement. Add Scalextric Digital in to the equation and the game-play options are endless.
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The Scalextric models range from the recently produced 1960s Mini Cooper ‘Panda’ car, the Rover 3500 of the 1980s to a Lamborghini Gallardo. An attractive model is the Range Rover used by many traffic police departments, this comes complete with working siren and lights. The Range Rover from the set has a 360 degree guide blade assembly instead of a standard guide blade. Other models include the Ford Sierra Cosworth, Subaru Impreza, Vauxhall and Opel Vectra, Ford Focus and Ford Crown (Batman), the BMW and Audi of the German Police and the Alfa Romeo 159 used by the police in Spain. The C3149 Alfa Romeo 159 of the Guardia Civil Trafico is particularly noteworthy in that the siren is a digital sample of the real car’s siren recorded as it drove through the streets of Madrid. The sample lasts for a long time and transitions through the multiple sound voices used on the real car. The Italian police are also represented by an Alfa Romeo 159 and the previously mentioned Lamborghini Gallardo! – One lucky police driver. Two quite rare models are the Vauxhall Vectras of the Jersey (Channel Islands) and London Metropolitan Police. The Lamborghini Diablo is a rare beast hand-decorated and fitted with the lights and siren at the factory to prove that the electronics could be fitted within such a confined area. Alas, it was never released.
C2467

Terms for police cars include (police) cruiser, squad car, area car and patrol car. They may also be informally known as a cop car, a ‘Black and white’, a ‘Cherry top’, a ‘gumball machine’, a ‘panda car’,   ‘jam sandwich’ or ‘battenburg’. But what of these markings; 24 – 46 TD18 – D8 – A 06 – 20 173 – 679 – 12 641 – 20 641 – 44398 – HH01 – HH15 – HH18. What do these mean? Don’t worry this isn’t a keyboard malfunction or a secret code used by the police but they should seem familiar. They are the references printed on the police car roofs. The police forces reflected in the Scalextric range were quite happy not to have their cars replicated too accurately and would usually request deletions or amendments from the real-life cars. So, often, shortcomings in the various constabulary’s insignias and car markings were left to the discretion of the model decoration team.
C2808
The roof markings would often seem random but actually reflect the birthday, age, and initials of the decorator, family or friend. However, the latest Audi R8 police car (C3932) follows a new rule – the year of release. The roof number is HH18 which simply equates to Hornby Hobbies 2018, the same is true for the HH15 QuickBuild car but not for the very first Audi police car bearing HH01 on the roof which was simply the first basic reference in the HH name convention. We will have to wait to see if the format continues.
C2223P


Which to collect, then?
“The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it!”

Police cars are all collectable and will always be popular. Throughout the past thirty years the standard production releases have never commanded high values despite their theme popularity. Whether from the 1980s or from this decade the Scalextric models can always be purchased at a cost near their original retail price. Pre-production or production errors can be found for all examples of Scalextric police cars and standard production items are always available. Collecting police cars is an achievable objective at a reasonable price or treat yourself to a jam sandwich or a slice of battenburg. Tough choice!
C0315

Reference: Scalextric Ultimate Guide, 8th Edition.
If you believe you have a yet unrecorded variant and seek confirmation of its authenticity, please contact me at slotcarportal.com.

“Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide 8th Edition” book, with over 700 pages, is available from the Internet. Search online!

Technical developments of Scalextric

Inventor: Fred Francis of Minimodels Ltd.

1957       Introduced as Scalextric at the Harrogate International Toy Fair between the 12th and 19th January. The track was made of rubber with an inset twin-rail for each lane into which the car’s gimbal wheel rested. Electricity passed through the twin rails, through the two-piece insulated gimbal wheel and onward to the electric motor. Initially, an On/Off button was the only means of controlling the amount of electricity sent to the motor – and therefore, the speed of the car.

1960       Introduction of the plastic range of cars; production of the tinplate cars ceased.

In the 1960s the first plastic track system was introduced, called ‘flexi-track’ then it is now known as the ‘classic’ track system. Around the turn of the century the ‘Sport’ track system was introduced. The race track surface was smoother in texture and offered less grip than classic track. However, although not perfect, it was flatter due to additional support walls on the underside and doesn’t suffer from the warping that affected classic track. The track connections were changed to make it easier to assemble and the rail electricity connectors were changed to improve electrical continuity. The whole system is nicer to look at and easier to assemble. Alas, the nett result is that the grip is less (arguably the most important element), track connections are less positive leading to electrical breaks, the rail connections are not an improvement and still lead to electrical discontinuity – power loss or complete power failure! On top of this many iconic track pieces were not converted from classic to Sport resulting in a track system which is a shadow of its former self.
In the 2000s, a new track system called ‘Start’ was introduced. It was innovative in that its geometry was designed in such a way that only 8 pieces were required to make a figure of ‘8’ layout where the normal Scalextric system needed 15 pieces in Sport track and 17 in the Classic system. However, one huge flaw existed – it was designed with a completely different geometric system where by it was not compatible with the current Sport system! It only had a 90 degree standard curve (R2) and this was of a radius somewhere between an Inner Curve (R1) and a Standard Curve (R2) and the straights were not standard. Consequuently, it was withdrawn from the range after three years.

1960       The first Lap Counter was announced in catalogue 1, 1960, although it was probably not available until 1961 when it was advertised for either electrical or manual operation. Since then there has been a variety of lap counters marketed both mechanical and electrical, some more successful than others, all relying on the car operating a mechanical switch in the slot. However, it was not really until the ‘Sport’ track was announced that the system worked really well when not only did it count the number of laps but could also record fastest lap, including various race and practice modes. By 2014, technology had moved forward a pace and a Scalextric APP for use with smart media such as mobile phones and tablets enabled a much better and more reliable way to count laps and display lap times and other in-race data.

1970s     Autostart, Think Tank, Sound Track, Fuel Load Gauge, a working Public Address system, Supersound and Hazard (track pieces with rows of flashing LED lights) were all electronic analogue devices to provide, for their time, exciting real world-like.

1991 saw the release of Permalite Control, an accessory designed to keep cars’ lights full on when racing instead of varying intensity when the throttle was released, including when they were standing still on the track.

1992       A major improvement in 1992 was the availability of Power Base, a simpler and more efficient method of fixing the current supply to the track, transformer and hand controllers.

1993       Following on from this in 1993 was Supersound which featured in many of the sets that year; three different racing sounds came from a separate unit. The same year Megasound was to be found in the more expensive sets, this had a sound unit built into the controller itself so that an engine sound actually worked in conjunction with the speed of the model. This system lasted for some four years when Pole Position Sound was announced.

2002       New CD-driven RMS Race Management System programme for use on a personal computer. This features race times, fastest laps, lap counting, start lights, pit stops, a track design facility and much more. It will accommodate up to six lanes.

2004      ‘Digital Scalextric’ introduced– the invention to take Scalextric into the future.

Sport Digital:  A separate lap counter/race position unit C7039 was added to the range as an accessory, this unit counts up to 999 laps, pre-set as required and will show the lead car on each lap finally displaying the winner at the finish, it can handle up to 6 cars.  Catalogue 49 (2008) illustrated the new Pit Lane game (C7041) adding more play value. 6 cars can be accommodated with up to 3 random pit stops and penalties if a pit stop was missed or entered at the wrong time. This new unit was accompanied by a new 6 car (digital or analogue) Powerbase (C7042), including 5 skill settings, various game modes and even individual hand controller calibration.

2007       The Sport World System allowed Scalextric racers worldwide to race against each other by connecting their layouts to the internet via a PC or laptop. The hardware comprised a control unit incorporating a LCD screen connected to the circuit through a half straight. 9 different race modes were available and the software also included 3D circuit design with buildings and landscapes, pit stops and even weather strategy.

2008       The Gadget Show set a Guiness Book of Rcords record for the fastest Scalextric car.

2008       Whilst earlier games generally were independent of the track the advent of the digital system now allows far greater scope. With C7041 ‘Digital Pit Lane’, introduced in 2008, the game play is actually attached to the circuit layout itself.  Up to six cars can be accommodated and the object of the game is to select and complete up to three pit stops throughout the race. Enter the pit lane when the randomly applied ‘open’ light shows; leaving the pit lane extinguishes the ‘pit’ light for that particular car, enter the pit lane at other times and a pit lane penalty is imposed. The winner is the first to complete all the selected number of pit stops, adds more play value. Additional to this game play device is the C7042 6-car Advanced Power Base which allows full race parameter set-up, race time variable such as Yellow Flag and Penalties. Full power can be lowered for individual cars to either better balance cars against each other or balance the driver abilities.

An important policy decision was taken by Hornby that it would encourage the slot car community to develop its own independent firmware and software options for enhanced race control. C7042 was, therefore, developed and built with a output port for such Open-Source activities. Indeed this led to the active participation of experts from the community to give substantial input in to the systems development. The decision to make the 6-car powerbase compatible with a computer was a sensible idea and has proved to be so with enthusiasts and slot racing clubs taking up Scalextric Digital software systems.

2011       Apps: The advent of digital ‘Smart’ media devices such as iPhone, iPad and similar tablets created more possibilities with Scalextric to create tracks and race cars by oneself.  An ‘App’ (application) software program could be downloaded from the iTunes App store (59p in 2011) called simply SCALEXTRIC.

2013       A new APP called SCALEXTRIC DIGITAL was launched.

2014       A new product was announced in the catalogue – ‘RCS’ –  Race Control System! During 2014, before it was released, the product was renamed ‘ARC’ – APP Race Control to reflect the important point that it used blue-tooth technology that required smart devices such as an I-Pad or similar notepads and smart phones and from which an APP could be downloaded. The APP, called ‘ARC’ allowed the owner to set up races, penalties, driver names, number of laps, etc., etc., from the smart device. When the race was in progress all the race time information would be displayed on the smart device. This enabled a huge step forward in that the need for electronic lap counters, hand controllers with wires and plugs and such ‘cumbersome’ devices such as computers would be a thing of the past. How quickly technology becomes redundant!

2017 saw the introduction of the high-end ARC-PRO system. Essentially a digital version of ARC-AIR featuring many more game play scenarios, wireless hand-controllers and the ARC-PRO APP.

NASCAR – “Start your Engines” with Dale Earnhardt Snr.

NASCAR – “Start your Engines” with Dale Earnhardt Snr.

1997: Dale Earnhardt’s famous No.3 Goodwrench sponsored car was to be the first NASCAR car to be released by Scalextric. In the 1990s, Dale Earnhardt Snr was the man to beat on the NASCAR oval and circuits. Earnhardt, known as ‘The Intimidator’, was a hard charger and had a huge fan base through winning the NASCAR ‘Winston Cup Series’ championships between 1975 and 1994 a record breaking seven times. Scalextric took the decision to go with a new racing theme and Dale Earnhardt’s car was to be the first one to market.

In 1997, SCALEXTRIC released their first take on North American Stock Car racing with a range of Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Ford Thunderbird cars. It was a ‘toe-in-the-water’ moment for Scalextric as they had not previously released NASCAR model racing cars. There was, rather obviously, a large market potential waiting to be tapped. NASCAR racing has always been a huge spectator sport in the USA but, for the rest of the World, the final decades of the 20th century began to see widely available   broadcasting of NASCAR races. Our awareness of the cars and drivers grew with such manufacturer names as Pontiac, Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford and drivers Earnhardt and Gordon – and, I’m sure for many fans, this list would more-or-less be endless. Drivers and cars were deeply associated with commercial branding such as Dupont, Valvoline, Kellogg’s, etc. so one’s allegiance may be with a driver, car or brand. Would SCALEXTRIC find a fruitful market? The answer was ‘YES’ but it wouldn’t be an easy road for Hornby Hobbies even though the commercial feedback from the USA and European retailers suggested that NASCAR slot cars would be good for 32nd scale racing.

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From 1997 to 1999, SCALEXTRIC released the Ford Thunderbird and Chevrolet Monte Carlo in a one-piece body format and generic chassis with stronger ‘down-force’ magnets. They were not particularly refined or accurate, indeed they used the F1 front hubs and tyres from the ‘Team’ single-seat range, but they did provide a racing theme that had not been available before. The well-known brand names were there; Ford, Chevrolet, Valvoline, Kellogg’s, Kodak, Exide and their drivers. There were already different versions of the same ‘C’ number which caught the interest of the serious collectors with the Kellogg’s chicken ‘looking left’ or ‘right’ on the famous number ‘5’ car of Terry Labonte. With as many as fifty-plus cars on the famous US ovals and road courses, SCALEXTRIC would find it impossible to meet demand so plain black and white versions were also released to allow racing or modelling enthusiasts to decorate their own cars with 1/32nd scale waterslide decals. There were some car liveries that never made it to market including the one that everyone wanted – Dale Earnhardt’s famous No.3 Goodwrench sponsored car! Due to licensing issues the car was never released and the plain black or white issues were eagerly seized to allow fans to decorate their own ‘Intimidator’ car livery. Business-to-business activity had also begun with a ‘BRYAN’ #30 sponsored car which was sold in sets in the USA by the sponsor and team. This red and black liveried SCALEXTRIC car is very hard to find. Other proposed liveries included sponsors such as PEPSI and CARTOON NETWORK amongst others. This first clutch of NASCAR cars were part tampo-printed and came with an additional sticker sheet. This was partly due to keeping the cost of dozens of tampo-print operations down to a minimum so that the car could be recognized with a basic livery and a single sponsor decoration and with an accompanying sticker sheet with the many minor sponsor logos. They were robust and colourful cars though they may not have survived this initial arrival to the slot car market-place if it hadn’t have been for the arrival of a new slot car manufacturer called FLY. This new manufacturer from Spain raised the bar in terms of design, handling and decoration. SCALEXTRIC had to respond. They did, quickly!

1999: The on-coming ‘Tide’.
SCALEXTRIC released the FORD TAURUS and PONTIAC GRAND PRIX and, this time, the car was much more detailed with a driver pan and driver, NASCAR wheel hubs and a switch-over to full tampo printing and stronger bar magnets. For the NASCAR fan, and with nearly twenty different liveries issued during the next two years, the favourite cars were on the grid with liveries from McDonalds, Valvoline, Home Depot, DeWalt, Exide, Tide and others. If this wasn’t enough to feed the insatiable appetite for US stock cars then there were a further re-liveries of these cars each year.

2001: Not enough?
The 1999 TAURUS model was replaced with the 2001-shape TAURUS car with a further ten liveries but now with a full driver interior and a side-winder motor configuration. The side-winder chassis layout was another foray in to the unknown as Scalextric were normally ‘in-line’.

For the collector, the Pfizer #6 car is difficult to find. The CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO, released in 1999 spawned an incredible fourteen liveries with STP #43 and LYCOS #10 being particularly hard to find now.
There were multiple versions to collect if following the driver, the sponsor or the car brand. The most prolific liveries are of Tide, Exide and Valvoline. Plain white models were released with the introduction of every model release to offer the option of decorating cars – replicating the real-world liveries or one’s own creations.

2005: ‘Tide’ floods the market.
Other slot-car brands couldn’t let Scalextric have the pie all to themselves and quite predictably slot car manufacturers SCX and Carrera released NASCAR cars over the coming years very successfully at first. It wasn’t too long before the market was saturated with 1/32nd scale slot cars and all three manufacturers were struggling to sell through and bargains were available for slot fans.

C2286

On track, driver Jimmie Johnson was challenging Jeff Gordon for the championships and the Lowes #48 and Dupont #24 became a CHEVROLET staple in the SCALEXTRIC range – and the final pickings in a decreasing market affecting the hobby in general. The 2005-shape TAURUS was released with only a further two liveries.

As with many sports such as F1, there is a ‘silly season’ in NASCAR when drivers, teams, sponsors and manufacturers end and begin new contracts. This presents problems for all merchandisers in the form of licensing with huge corporations involved in NASCAR, legal machinations can over-run. This can have a domino effect reaching down to the comparatively small minnows in the pond. Toy and model manufacturers may have worked on models and decoration over the Winter on the assumption that the teams would continue as per the prior year. Minor sponsor changes can be accommodated but sometimes mid-season changes can scupper plans as happened with the 2005 Chevy Monte Carlo teams of National Guard, Kellogg’s and US Army (C2892 and C2895) which were announced in the catalogue but were not released.

2008: …and now a drought!
Having had such a good run with releasing these cars in recent years the slot car manufacturers were finding it difficult to sell the remaining stocks around the World. Carrera and SCX jumped out of the game. Collectors and racers enjoyed a bonanza for nearly a decade and after a two-year drought of new releases from SCALEXTRIC, demand for the cars was still evident and, surprisingly, a final model was released in 2008 in the form of the CHEVROLET IMPALA.
The model was released in the form of the ‘Car of Tomorrow’ (COT) shape CHEVROLET IMPALA with nine releases. Familiar names, sponsors and car numbers appeared; such as Gordon, Johnson, and brand names Kellogg’s, Lowes, Dupont and National Guard.

2009: Ending the race with Earnhardt Jnr.
Perhaps, the most notable and quite coincidental name to appear in final batch of releases is the famous racing family name of Earnhardt. Son of Dale Earnhardt (Snr), Dale Earnhardt Jnr drove the #88 IMPALA with the National Guard livery. The car of father Dale (Snr) was the first livery proposed for release back in 1997 but was cancelled at the beginning of the bountiful decade of NASCAR releases.

C3003

2011: The final flag:
Amongst the final SCALEXTRIC NASCAR models issued featured as part of the PRO PERFORMANCE kit range. The kit provided a plain white IMPALA body, glass, chassis, driver tub, driver and all the running gear, motor, wiring and guide blade parts to complete the kit with, of course, the option to decorate as required.

2012: Return to the garage:
From the first NASCAR releases, credit has to go to SCALEXTRIC USA who were principally involved, naturally, in recognising the demand for decorated and plain white cars. Since NASCAR grids in the real world were huge, not every fan was going to be catered for even though SCALEXTRIC released over 50 liveries plus many variations during the period. Plain white cars were popular for replicating cars by modelling with spray painting and water slide decals. Many NASCAR liveries (real world) were one-off decorations. In fact, it is common, not only in NASCAR, but from F1 downwards, cars will often have sponsor and decoration changes from one race to the next whether they are minor sponsor amendments or complete livery changes. Using the plain white-bodied releases, slot-racing fans can decorate a car body in a very specific livery such as STAR WARS, SUPERMAN, SCOOBY-DOO or from an incredibly wide selection of alternative water-slide decals available around the World.
For now, with no slot car manufacturers producing NASCAR car, fans will have to be satisfied with creating water-slide creations, collectors can finally complete their collection and racers & clubs will have to be satisfied with the diminishing availability of models and liveries. Racing NASCAR slot cars is great fun as they are generally very robust models whilst collecting the models gives a very colourful presentation to display of the famous drivers, cars and brands. Sadly, though, not Earnhardt #3!

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“Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide 8th Edition” book, with over 700 pages, is available from the Internet. Search online!

BENTLEY 4.5 Litre – ‘Well I’ll be blowed, a RED one?!’

BENTLEY 4.5 Litre – ‘Well I’ll be blowed, a RED one?!’

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Let’s do the history first! We all know, don’t we, that any Bentley is a high value prestigious vehicle aimed at high society. Well, they were but that didn’t excuse them from being (ab)used on the race track. Bentley had a 3 litre model and a 6.5 litre model. The 6.5 litre model had the potential to win but needed something extra. W.O. Bentley didn’t approve of forced induction systems but, nonetheless, Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin made five blower Bentley’s for the Le Mans race. Two cylinders were removed from the 6.5 litre engine reducing it to 4.5 litres (or thereabouts) and a supercharger, otherwise known as a ‘blower’, was fitted to the front. Fifty-five copies were made by Bentley to comply with Le Mans homologation rules. Tim Birkin was one of a small group of racing enthusiasts, to later be known as the ‘Bentley Boys’, who would go on to help the team see the Bentley 4.5L ‘blower’ cars to victory at Le Mans over a winning streak from 1927 to 1931. The rest is history, including the sale of Bentley Motors to Rolls-Royce during the 1930’s financial recession post Wall Street. The racing successes made this car a famous British icon carried in the hearts and minds of a growing public awareness of motor sport.

When collecting Scalextric cars one will undoubtedly come across the between-the-Wars Bentley or the current Continental GT3 cars. Both handsome beasts and certainly both are monsters on the race track. Not to everyone’s taste but they can’t be ignored as Scalextric models as there are standard issues and some very, very rare pre-production   models as well as very, very rare fully decorated models.

Bentley 4.5 Litre

In 1962, catalogue 3 displayed the new Scalextric 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre race car complete with a blower in front of the famous radiator grill. Referenced as C64, it was available in black or green. There are some quite delicate parts to the design of the model. The headlamp stalks, the four mudguards and the fan-tail exhaust would very likely be the first components to break or go missing. Pretty much the same as the real race car! Today, a second-hand in a far worse state than this can be found but the fun is in the chase for a nice boxed and unspoilt model. They can be found, at a price usually, but they were produced in goodness knows how many thousands in green but the black Bentley is the hardest to find. The black version was only released once, hence the rarity of this livery.
A Scalextric Set was the place to begin one’s fascination with electric model car racing and Scalextric were quick to also release a Bentley set. Referenced ‘V3’ and named ‘Vintage Motor Racing’, the set contained both black and green Bentleys.

The second Scalextric factory, located in Calais, France was also producing the entire Scalextric range as fast as it could to meet the incredibly high market demand during the 1960s. Tooling moulds were often shared between the UK and French factories. In France, the Bentley was issued in the green livery as well as a lower number of black versions. These can be identified by the light brown tonneau covers (grey for the UK) over the rear seats and red spoked wheels (black for the UK). The underpan may be embossed, using an interchangeable insert inside the steel mould, as ‘Made in England’, ‘Made in France’ or simply a blank space where the ‘Origin’ stamp wasn’t available ((or forgotten!).

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The more common green variant was also released in 1982 (C305) as part of the ‘Vintage Collection’ series, a little know release in 1986 (C839 but identical to 1982 C305) and then again in 1992 as part of a ‘Power & Glory’ collectable range following a TV programme called ‘The Power and the Glory’’.
A dark blue version was released in 1995 (C242), and in Spain as H242 under Scalextric’s Superslot brand created for the Spanish and Mexican markets, as part of another collectable range called ‘Racing Classics’. Why blue? As far as I know, it didn’t reflect any of the full-size race cars but at least it was something other than ‘another green one’! The guide blade, motor and entire underpan evolved as the decades rolled past. A complete specification of each model is in the ‘Ultimate Guide’ book.
Note: On a black Bentley, beware of replacement mudguards or head lamp stalks painted black!

For something different turn to the pre-production and other factory prepared models such as the chromed Bentleys giving to guests to the factory, to race competition winners or for other special occasions. It had always been quite normal for Scalextric to use the technique of chrome-plating components such as bumpers and lights to provide a rather unusual prize or gift of a car completely chromed and, usually, mounted on a wooden plinth with a plaque marking the occasion. Chromed Bentley’s are interesting items especially if the provenance of the plaque or story from the recipient accompanies the model.
Pre-production models are very rare but they do turn up. Models in white, blue and red have been seen and are photographed in the ‘Scalextric – Ultimate Guide, 8th Edition’ (see page 398). There are only two recorded models of the red car. One of these and had been painted green when it was produced at the factory and decorated as a display example for its forthcoming release in to the Scalextric range and had remained undiscovered for thirty years before it was realised.

These Bentley models were presented in a variety of boxes from the original card light blue with black & white chequer, the French version of this has a striking pink to one end of the box. The Power & Glory, Vintage and Classic collectable ranges have raised backing cards with attractive graphics.

Bentley Continental GT3

Coming up to date, 2012 saw the introduction of the Bentley Continental GT3 to the race tracks of the world – a welcome return for the famous Le Mans winning brand name. The 4 litre, V8, twin-turbo, 550bhp GT3 race cars are still being developed for racing after 120 podiums and 45 race wins. Pretty impressive.

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Scalextric began with the fully detailed white and green Works liveried car (C3514) and the ‘super-resistant’ ‘Generation Bentley’ team car (C3515) in 2012. All GT3 Bentleys are fitted with a DPR chassis. Since 2012 the white/black M-Sport (C3595), a green No85 (C3713), white ALD No84 (C3714), a white 60th Anniversary celebration (C3813A), a red/black ALD No84 and a blue ‘ONLYWATCH’ No84 cars have been released. Perhaps a few more will follow these.

A Bentley race Set was released with ‘road’ versions of the car. The Set, C1349 Bentley GT3 Racers, contained a black/red car and a black/white car. Both cars had no other decoration and might, perhaps, be typical of ‘play things’ the rich and famous might commission direct from the Bentley factory!

Once again, an anomaly has been thrown up with a particular model. C3515, the Generation Bentley car, should have a white body with blue, silver and grey Union Jack flag on the roof and flanks. A few incorrectly decorated pre-production samples were released by Scalextric to the collector’s market via various fund-raising and marketing events in the UK. These variants have a silver body instead of white.
More variants include GT3 Bentleys used for testing decoration techniques. About ten bodies were sprayed and painted in several techniques to create some interesting designs at the Margate factory. A number of these samples were issued as prizes or samples for feedback. There are only two known body types, one of which was only part of the engineering process when it was discovered that early pre-production samples have two air-jack connectors on the rear boot valance instead of the eventual (and correct) single connector. Tooling differences can be interesting to collectors.
Finally, just as there was a very rare plain red 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre there is also a very rare plain red Bentley Continental GT3 out there somewhere.
The GT3 cars come in three packaging styles; blue base, grey base and card boxes.

Which to collect, then? Both super-cars of their days, the Bentley range of Scalextric cars is a definitive and achievable collection if sticking to the mass produced standard range and enough to fill a very presentable and modest display cabinet. On the other hand, where thee fun is in the chase, seeking the rarer 4.5 litres or GT3 cars will be an enormous challenge. The cars described here are NOT a definitive list. There are at least twelve 1929 Bentley 4.5 Litre variations and twenty-four GT3 variants! Whichever the preference, they are probably a ‘must have’ in most collections.

References: Ultimate Guide, 8th Edition,
Bentley 4.5litre: pages 82, 393, 398, 411.
Bentley Continental GT3: Page 82.

If you believe you have a yet unrecorded variant and seek confirmation of its authenticity, please contact me at slotcarportal.com.

“Scalextric – The Ultimate Guide 8th Edition” book, with over 700 pages, is available from the Internet. Search online!

C0139 Brabham BT49 pre-production.

Always interesting to see a Scalextric car before the livery is applied. Collecting plain coloured cars is a popular theme for collectors. Here’s C0139 before the dark blue Parmalat decoration was applied. It was not released as a plain white car. The trend for plain white cars has been quite common in the 21st century but very unusual before then, making this Brabham an interesting item.

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Margate Scalextric Swap Meet 16/7/17

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‘MARGATE SCALEXTRIC OPEN-DAY AND SWAPMEET’
Venue: Bay Point Sports Club, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9L.
Date: Sunday 16th July 2017
Time 10am to 4pm for the public. (2:30pm for traders)

Tables: 3m @ £25, 1.8m @ £20

Contact: Adrian 07464 992000

* The event celebrates the 60th Anniversary of SCALEXTRIC, is aimed at attracting local people as well as collectors and racers. With a rich history of Scalextric in the area we hope that many ex-Scalextric employees will visit.

* Track layouts for the public to try out.

* Trade and enthusiasts stalls for swapping, selling, buying.

* Club and Magazine stands.

* Advertised on local radio, papers and social media.

* Ample parking, easy loading access and a large sports field with table/bench areas. Access for the disabled.

* Full amenities with all-day breakfast, cooked lunch, coffee, tea, a bar, a restaurant, rest rooms and ‘break-out’ rest areas.

* Film show of the history of Scalextric in cinema room.

* The venue, with easy access via Calais-Dover, is geographically central to Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam, Aachen, Manchester, Swansea, Plymouth and Hull.

* The venue is 15 miles from Dover, 5 miles from the Hornby/Scalextric Visitor Centre and old factory.

Please SHARE & LIKE this information and image in your social media and local communities.

Any questions, please ask.

IFSCC – International Federation of Slot Car Clubs

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/625331374313276/

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SLOT CAR CLUBS            

The International Federation of Slot Car Clubs (IFSCC) has been created by the NSCC (UK) and the SLN (Dutch) clubs out of a desire to bring together slot car clubs and enthusiasts from across the world.

The International Federation of Slot Car Clubs is an international body that brings slot car clubs together in order to co operate and collectively represent the interests of the member clubs, be they clubs focused primarily on collecting slot cars or on racing slot cars.

The International Federation of Slot Car Clubs exists as an independent organisation in order to represent the member clubs in the spirit of fraternity and as a conduit for information and influence.

The Federation is a partnership that brings a collective voice to the manufacturers on behalf of member clubs. It will promote the hobby across the world acting as a conduit for information between member clubs, manufacturers, dealers and other stakeholders.

What are the goals of the IFSCC?

  • To create an international partnership of slot car clubs that represents the interests of the members clubs when dealing with other stakeholders in the slot car world.
  • To provide a collect voice when dealing with manufacturers, retailers, traders and the local, national and international media on behalf of the member clubs.
  • To work together in order to share information and knowledge on slot cars both amongst member clubs, manufacturers and other stake holders.
  • To act as a conduit for information to member clubs and also as resource for related information both to and from other stake holders.
  • To raise awareness amongst manufacturers and retailers of the needs of members clubs both individually and collectively.
  • To provide a collective voice when advising manufactures on all their products.
  • To provide a collective voice for requesting and negotiating the production of specific products and limited editions from the various slot car manufactures on behalf of member clubs.
  • To promote the hobby as widely as possible particularly with a view to encouraging young people to become involved in slot cars either as collectors or racers.

What will the IFSCC not do?

It will not exist to provide rules or governance for slot car racing nor will it in any way effect the independence of member clubs.

How can Clubs join the IFSCC?

Established slot car clubs will be able to join for the sum of £15 UK pounds or the equivalent sum in euros or other international currency. This will cover administration, web site and other costs.

Membership will be administered on behalf of the IFSCC by the NSCC and the SLN.

Who has the federation been created for?

Membership is available to properly constituted clubs. No individual membership is allowed. Any slot car club would be eligible for membership whether it is primarily focused on collecting slot cars or on racing slot cars.

For further information contact: Martin Baines on 01274 510245/07798 518035

email: chairman@nscc.co.uk  or Thera Brok (SLN)  email: twbrok@kpnplanet.nl.

Update on National Holidays Rover 3500 & Coach!

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In October this year, the National Holidays Coach was auctioned. The story of the coach and the previously reported Rover 3500 becomes clearer with the following auction description for the coach;
Description: Scalextric Plaxton Paramount P3500 Coach – produced by Scalextric for National Holidays Travel Company, this coach was produced by Scalextric along with a Rover 3500 both in white with “National Holidays” branding, the crude finish on this coach is down to the production being out sourced by Scalextric and not up to the usual high production standards by Scalextric, this set would have been contained in what would have been a plain brown lift off lid box with track, transformer and other related items, this set was produced to be distributed throughout the National Holidays offices and high street travel agents within the UK for advertising purposes to appear in shop windows etc and various conventions, with various provenance from minutes of a National Holidays management meeting dated October 1982 stating there would be 50 Scalextric layouts for points of sale distributed around the UK and also noted that we have concluded discussions with Scalextric who are providing us with an exhibition stand for the ABTA Convention at Canne, we have also accepted their offer to produce at an extremely reasonable cost – a moving point of sale display for travel agency windows, also our point of sale material developed in conjunction with Scalextric is now nearly ready for supplying to travel agents – there will be a total of 50 sets and they will moved around agencies on a regular basis, this example uses the Leyland Roadtrain modified truck chassis with track guide and motor with rear axle assembly, finished in white with metallic grey windows and black painted window outlines, front and rear painted lights with “National Holidays” branding to sides and rear, construction is resin moulded body with plasticard style chassis and underside construction – rare and unusual item, requires some cleaning and displays really well. Also within this lot comes the Minutes relating to the Scalextric Coach from the National Holidays management meeting dated Thursday 14th October 1982. Overall condition is Good Plus to Excellent.

Ford Sierra XR4i version not released

Catalogue 25 showed C333 and C334 as new releases for 1984, but these two cars in blue and yellow liveries were never released. The 2-door Sierra had the early separating pillar on the rear side-windows of the full-size car but, in the real world, the all-conquering Ford XR4i used in Touring car races around the world had the later full length rear side wondow. Perhaps this is the reason Ford didn’t give permission for this model to be launched in favour of the alternative SCALEXTRIC Ford Sierra we are now familiar with.

Below: A factory hand-made early Ford Sierra XR4i with the extra side-window pillar.

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C2161 Williams FW20, Type 3

Sometimes a tampo operation is missed out simply because the ink ran out during the tampo print production run. Several dozen may have passed through the run before, if at all, it was noticed that the ink plate well was dry. Even if noticed the production official may have turned a blind eye rather than re-run dozens or hundreds through the tampo print machine again.

However, many productions runs of cars for Sets did have reduced printing operations on them to reduce cost. Given that Paul Atkin’s and Adrian Leggett‘s cars have both been identified, I think we’ll classify this as a variant. So, in any event it is a factory variation, with the Castrol logo missing from the front edge of the side pods. C2161W Type 3 is now recorded.
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C239 Honda Motorbike variant

The yellow C239 Honda Motorbike & Sidecar has been identified in two production versions. One has a strong yellow base colour shell whilst the other has a translucent yellow body. The bodies would have been produced in two seperate production batches. Each production run starts with a quantity of clear plastic granules and a small fraction of colour dye granules to create the final yellow colour. Two production runs with different amounts of coloured dye would have been required to create body shells of different hues.
C239 variants are now recorded as Type 1 dark yellow, Type 2 light yellow.
“Thank you” to the eagle-eyes of Scalextric specialist Mark Scale of Scale Models for spotting this one.
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