1January 2007

EditorEditorEditorEditorEditorBrian Rogers

27 Paige CloseWatlington

King’s LynnNorfolk

PE33 0TQTel/Fax:- 01553 813090

e-mail:- editor@nscc.co.uk

TTTTTrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade Advertisingrade AdvertisingAdrian Leggett

RosevilleWestwood Lane

NormandyGuildford

SurreyGU3 2JG

Tel:- 07773 967333between 09:00 - 18:00

01483 810102 eveningse-mail:- sales@nscc.co.uk

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContentsEvents.........................................2Membership Update..................4Diary Dates................................5Messages From Margate............7Ninco News..............................11Shipment From Spain..............13Fly On The Wall......................17H:O World...............................20Kits ‘N’ Bobs............................23Dutch Trio Track.....................25Collectors’ Guide - Diablo.......30Ebay Watch..............................33Swapmeet Reports...................35Bits & Pieces.............................37Ninco Reviews.........................39SCX Reviews...........................43Kit Review................................47Angus Rally Stage....................49Adverts.....................................53

NNNNNOOOOO. 298 J. 298 J. 298 J. 298 J. 298 JANUANUANUANUANUARYARYARYARYARY 2007 2007 2007 2007 2007

Christmas PChristmas PChristmas PChristmas PChristmas Pastastastastast

I was just 10 years old in 1958 and my family was not particularlywell-off so my main Christmas present that year was a Dinky

double-deck car transporter. I immediately loaded it up with aselection of racing cars and set off to an imaginary Grand Prix - yeseven at that young age I was obsessed with Formula One racing!

I had a school friend whose family was seriously wealthy and,that year, he invited me over for tea on Boxing Day. On arrival hetook me through to the ‘parlour’ to play with his presents and it wasthere I saw my very first Scalextric set. Although the new toy hadbeen introduced at the previous year’s Toy Fair it was not reallywidely available till 1958 and my friend had received one of the veryearly sets.

I could say I was instantly hooked and a lifelong obsession startedon that day, but I would be lying! I didn’t actually have a set of myown till 1979 although I never forgot that first experience. In truth,early Scalextric was rubbish; the rubber track had no grip, the carswere tinplate toys and completely uncontrollable by the simple on/off bell push controller of the day. We played with it until thebatteries ran flat after an hour then moved on to his new HornbyDublo train set for the rest of the afternoon - I told you his familywere rich!

Despite the poor quality of that early product and variousfinancial crises over the years, Scalextric is still here, thriving underthe present management and celebrating its 50th Anniversary year- an amazing achievement for a toy plastic car game. Fred Francismust have got something right all those years ago - Happy BirthdayScalextric, live long and prosper.

Till next month

Brian

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I had a horrible thought that I would havenothing to write about at all this month but,true to form, Hornby have finished off the

year with some superb releases.With Sport, Standard and Digital versions

counted separately I have added 96 new cars tothe list of cars released in 2006. Not quite asmany as last year but still an impressive total.Surely something for everyone this year.

C2761 Jaguar XKRS Cytosport No6C2761 Jaguar XKRS Cytosport No6C2761 Jaguar XKRS Cytosport No6C2761 Jaguar XKRS Cytosport No6C2761 Jaguar XKRS Cytosport No6For those of you who liked the RocketsportsXKRS you will not be disappointed with thesuperb new Cytosport version. Finished in aneye catching silver with bold yellow stripes andsills this car really looks great. I wonder if we willget the third car this year which should be white.

C2725 WC2725 WC2725 WC2725 WC2725 Williams 2006 No9illiams 2006 No9illiams 2006 No9illiams 2006 No9illiams 2006 No9C2726 WC2726 WC2726 WC2726 WC2726 Williams 2006 No10illiams 2006 No10illiams 2006 No10illiams 2006 No10illiams 2006 No10

The two 2006 liveried Williams F1 show theusual attention to detail we now expect. Theyare beautifully finished in a rich metallic blue

and white with some tiny details. They use thesame mould as last year’s cars with the exceptionof the front wing. This has lost two tiny wingletson either end plate which most people won’teven notice.

C2751 Ferrari F1 No5C2751 Ferrari F1 No5C2751 Ferrari F1 No5C2751 Ferrari F1 No5C2751 Ferrari F1 No5Schumacher may not have won the Formula1Championship in 2006 but this is a fitting releaseto remember him by. Of course this is thenumber 5 2006 car but without the benefit ofthe new style rear wing.

C2770A Ferrari 330/P4 / LimitedC2770A Ferrari 330/P4 / LimitedC2770A Ferrari 330/P4 / LimitedC2770A Ferrari 330/P4 / LimitedC2770A Ferrari 330/P4 / LimitedEdition with C2771A Ferrari 330/P4Edition with C2771A Ferrari 330/P4Edition with C2771A Ferrari 330/P4Edition with C2771A Ferrari 330/P4Edition with C2771A Ferrari 330/P4

No3 and C2772A Ferrari 330/P4No3 and C2772A Ferrari 330/P4No3 and C2772A Ferrari 330/P4No3 and C2772A Ferrari 330/P4No3 and C2772A Ferrari 330/P4No4No4No4No4No4

For collectors of historic sportscars this twinpack will be the highlight of the year. Itcelebrates the 1967 Monza race in the WorldSportscar Championship where the P4s camefirst and second driven by Amon/Bandini(number 3) and Parkes/Scarfiotti (number 4)respectively. With no works Ford team in this ➳

3January 2007

race there was just one Chaparral to give theFerraris a race although in the end a Porsche910 took third place. To read more about therace find a secondhand copy of Motorsportfrom June 1967 or visit http://www.imca-slotracing.com/1967-PART1.htm - a veryinteresting web site containing both slot and 1:1racing information.

Visually identical to the previous P4 releasesin plain red with big white roundels these carslook gorgeous. Add to that the Sport packagingfinished appropriately in red and you have avery collectable item. It is a limited edition of5000 worldwide.

C2715 Honda F1 No12C2715 Honda F1 No12C2715 Honda F1 No12C2715 Honda F1 No12C2715 Honda F1 No12C2716 Honda F1 No11C2716 Honda F1 No11C2716 Honda F1 No11C2716 Honda F1 No11C2716 Honda F1 No11

The new Hondas really show how detailed slotcars are at this time. There are so many detailsto the bodywork with tiny winglets everywhereand the complex aerodynamics reproduced soaccurately. Use of the small motor has allowedthe body shape to be very true to life and fromthe outside it is hard to see how a motor hasbeen fitted at all.

The other details that will delight are thedetailed helmet designs. Jenson’s (C2715 #12) isespecially good. This development was allowedbecause the licence deal with Honda was for thecomplete product, not just for the car. Let’s hopeother licence deals follow the same path in thefuture.

C2749 Subaru Impreza WRC WC2749 Subaru Impreza WRC WC2749 Subaru Impreza WRC WC2749 Subaru Impreza WRC WC2749 Subaru Impreza WRC Worksorksorksorksorks20062006200620062006

The arrival of the 2006 Subaru was a surpriseas it had previously been reported that the carwould be delayed until early 2007. This too is abrand new mould representing the car driven bySolberg in the 2006 Argentinian round of theWRC. As with the real car, the rear is much likethe previous version but the front is verydifferent and there are various aerials and detailson the roof.

Like the Peugeot 307 the Impreza has afront mounted sidewinder motor driving thefront wheels directly with rubber band drivetaken to the rear wheels. With weight to thefront but four wheel drive the car should handle

4

well and not easily de-slot. Let me know howyou think it behaves on the track and whetheryou like the characteristics or not.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwww.scale.scale.scale.scale.scalextric.co.ukxtric.co.ukxtric.co.ukxtric.co.ukxtric.co.ukThe Scalextric website has had a makeover in avery fetching shade of blue. More cosmetic thancontent it is still difficult to find anything useful.Who agrees? Let me know and I’ll lobby themarketing department. The Service sheetswhich were recently updated have vanished orare too difficult to find. These did allude to twonew models as yet confirmed – A C2788Peugeot 307 and a C2805 Mini Cooper from aset C1194. More information as and when itbecomes available.

PPPPPaperworkaperworkaperworkaperworkaperworkTwo new items of paperwork are available fromyour local retailer. The first is an A5 bookletentitled “Welcome To The Digital Age”. Thetitle is misleading as it is a full mini-cataloguewith details of all sets, cars and accessories in a36 page booklet. Intriguingly it is Issue 12,presumably a successor to the concertina ‘RaceFor Real’ leaflet Issue 11. Best of all – it’s free.

Secondly we have a fold out leafletapproximately 200mm square. This is entitledThe Classic Collection and shows details of thecurrent Classic Grand Prix, Rally and Le Mansranges. It is rather nice but quite hard to find.

There is also a DVD that has been sent toretailers to promote the features and benefits ofthe Digital system.

Coming SoonComing SoonComing SoonComing SoonComing SoonAs usual at this time of the year Hornby aretight-lipped about the 2007 range until the UKToyfair and Catalogue are released in the newyear. However, I can reveal that there is somenew branding, which might involve some newboxes. The 50th birthday will be celebrated witha book available separately (see Amazonalready) and in a twin pack with two veryinteresting cars.

CompetitionCompetitionCompetitionCompetitionCompetitionHave you ever wondered what it would be liketo be part of the Hornby design team andstruggle with the decisions that they have tomake? Now you have the opportunity to designa Scalextric set to your own specifications.Hornby are offering an exciting prize to thedesigner of the best set and you have until theend of February to submit your ideas on theform included with this Journal. If you need newcars or liveries designed you need to specify thisin the cars section and likewise for accessories.You need to name the set, describe it briefly andgive your reasoning behind it. The set need notbe a race circuit – what about rally, rally cross,drag, etc. It can be modern or historic, based onfact or totally imaginary. It might be to fit aspecific space or might be ready for a club to use.All these decisions are yours to consider andmake. However, you must consider the retailprice. What would people pay for your set?Think about current set prices for an idea ofwhat you get for your money. You can entermore than one design if you wish.

As an idea here is my design:Set Name: Le Mans 2007Description: A miniature Le Mans circuit inDigital with three Aston Martin DBR9sReason: To celebrate the 1-2-3 victory at LeMans 2007 by the Works Aston Martin DBR9sand the leading privateer. – Ever the optimist!Price: £250Cars: Three DBR9s – the two 2007 works carsand the Scuderia Italia privateer. These are allnew liveries to existing cars.Accessories: none specifically. ➳

5January 2007

Track Design: A big track needing a 3m x 2mspace resembling Le Mans with three straightlane changes and two curved ones and a singlelane pit lane.

The entries will be assessed by a panel ofjudges in the Hornby product design team andmyself. The winner will be the design weconsider to have been best thought out andhaving a real chance of making production.So get started and send me your designs as soonas possible.

StopStopStopStopStop-Press-Press-Press-Press-Press2007 R2007 R2007 R2007 R2007 Releaseseleaseseleaseseleaseseleases

Just as I finished compiling this month’s report,Hornby published their planned releases for2007. As always, it remains to be seen whetherthey all reach the shops this year but it iscertainly an interesting potential line-up.

SetsC1194 Inner City Speed X1C1195 GT Pursuit X2C1196 Rally Pro Championship X2C1198 Pole Position X3C1199 Street Pursuit X3C1200 Ultimate Endurance X4C1203 Scalextric StartC1206 Speed RivalsC1197 Digital Driver (digital)C1201 Digital Super GT (digital)C1202 World Championship (digital)

Limited Edition Car PacksC2782A Ferrari 375 50th Anniversary, withbookC2783A Mercedes McLaren 722 Edition +Mercedes 300 SLR

Standard CarsC2799 Ferrari 312TC2800 McLaren M23C2803 Ferrari 375 Classic F1C2806 McLaren F1 AlonsoC2813 McLaren F1 De La RosaC2784 Maserati MC12C2785 Jaguar XKRS

C2786 Porsche 911 GT3RC2787 Ferrari P4 yellowC2790 Aston Martin DBR9C2795 Dodge Viper GTSRC2798 Ford Escort MK1C2801 Nissan SkylineC2804 Ferrari F430 (detailed)C2807 Mini Cooper classicC2809 Audi R10 Diesel Le MansC2812 Porsche LMP2 Le MansC2814 Mercedes 300 SLR FangioC2753 Mercedes McLaren blackC2762 Seat LeonC2773 BMW MiniC2788 Peugeot 307C2789 Subaru Impreza WRC, The SUNC2802 Ford Focus WRCC2805 BMW Mini Cooper (one piece body)C2796 Chevy CamaroC2797 Ford MustangC2791 Ford Fusion NASCAR # 1C2792 Ford Fusion NASCAR # 2C2793 Chevrolet NASCAR # 1C2794 Chevrolet NASCAR # 2

Digital CarsC2665D Porsche 911C2715D BAR Honda F1C2806D McLaren F1

Digital Plug CarsC2774 Ford MustangC2804 Ferrari F430 GTRC2808 Range Rover Police (drift)C2809 Audi R10 Diesel Le MansC2811 Chaparral 2FC2812 Porsche LMP2 Le MansC2819 Range Rover street versionC2810 Lamborghini GallardoC2822 Ferrari F430 GTR (drift)

Seasons GreetingsSeasons GreetingsSeasons GreetingsSeasons GreetingsSeasons GreetingsBy the time you read this, Christmas will havepassed and the New Year well and truly begunso I hope you had a good holiday and I wish youan exciting and fruitful Scalextric-collecting yearahead. ■

6

To get the New Year off to a great start,Ninco announce a new livery of one ofthe most collectable body styles in their

range - the McLaren F1 GTR. This model isentitled “Zuhai” (50435) after the Chinesecircuit where it is reported to have finished first- the only time it appeared in this livery. Next up,the Volkswagen Touareg “Duvel” (50381) is onoffer. Only the second livery of this model, itmakes a welcome addition to the Raid categoryafter first appearing in last year’s catalogue.

Three other cars due for release early thisyear are those outlined in last month’s edition;the totally new Ford Focus WRC, Austin Healey3000 and the fantastic Ferrari F50 kit.

WWWWWorld Cup Rorld Cup Rorld Cup Rorld Cup Rorld Cup ResultsesultsesultsesultsesultsAt the end of 2006 Ninco held their secondWorld Cup GT alongside the Verona Toy Fairin Italy. Teams from all over the world competed

on a massive sixteen lane circuit using the NincoMosler MT900R. This event was announced inthe June issue of the Journal but, to my surprise,only two individuals from the UK showed anyinterest in attending! With places limited to justsixteen finalists, only one place could be offeredto a UK team.

It was hoped to hold the British qualifyinground at Slot Rally GB but due to only one teamshowing interest, they automatically qualified asthe only entrant! Alongside the UK, teams linedup from Argentina, Belgium, Holland, Italy,Spain, Portugal and the United States ofAmerica. As the host country, Italian teamsmade up half of the grid with Spain representedby two teams.

The event was a tremendous success withthe Spanish Team Mas Slot taking 1st placecompleting 1499 laps during six hours of closelycontested racing. Teams Ninco Italia and ➳

Now that’Now that’Now that’Now that’Now that’s what I call a multi-lane trs what I call a multi-lane trs what I call a multi-lane trs what I call a multi-lane trs what I call a multi-lane trackackackackack

7January 2007

BRT Italia took 2nd and 3rd places respectivelywith just 12 laps separating the top three. Atrophy sponsored by MiniAuto Slot magazinewas presented to Davide Ferri of the Mondoslotteam for achieving fastest lap of the competition:a blisteringly fast lap of 11.919 seconds. Welldone to all the teams who took part… and comeon Britain, let’s show a bit more enthusiasm forthis year!

2006 R2006 R2006 R2006 R2006 ReviewevieweviewevieweviewFor me, 2006 was an extremely busy year. Notonly was work taking me overseas far morefrequently than previous years but I had theNinco NSCC Club Mégane project to lookafter! Unless you have been involved with a

project like this, it is difficult to fully appreciatethe amount of time and effort required to stayon top of things - and this is just for a fewhundred of one car. During the same period,Ninco released over 30 different cars, most ofwhich were manufactured in thousands ratherthan hundreds!

Of the dozen categories of cars offered byNinco, the GT saw the most releases with a totalof fifteen, including three totally new models;the Ferrari 360, the Mosler MT900R and theNissan 350Z. The Rally group saw sevenadditions including the new Mitsubishi Lancerand Subaru Impreza WRC cars, both fitted withall-round interchangeable suspension. Somegreat liveries were produced during 2006, mostnotably the Toyota “Zent”, Mosler “Gulf ” andof course the Mégane “NSCC”!!

The year finished with the release of thelong awaited N-Digital system. Initial reactionsshow that it has been well worth the wait and welook forward to the continued evolution ofdigital track throughout 2007. ■

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Greats, Fakes and Copies, this about sumsup the final month of the year with onenew release in SCX form, some newly

arrived specials and some info on copies!

New RNew RNew RNew RNew Releaseseleaseseleaseseleaseseleases62120 Ferrari 500 G62120 Ferrari 500 G62120 Ferrari 500 G62120 Ferrari 500 G62120 Ferrari 500 GTS MaranelloTS MaranelloTS MaranelloTS MaranelloTS Maranello

Based on the 2003 FIA GT Championshipentry as driven by Italian Fabio Babini. Mainlya red body with bold yellow flashes over the

doors. A massive rear spoiler to assist the backend. All the normal SCX features, lights, 2WDetc. etc. A great looking model, very long, wideand low.

TTTTThe Greatshe Greatshe Greatshe Greatshe GreatsAltaya Carlos Sainz LimitedAltaya Carlos Sainz LimitedAltaya Carlos Sainz LimitedAltaya Carlos Sainz LimitedAltaya Carlos Sainz Limited

EditionEditionEditionEditionEditionThis is a Spanish only Scalextric (Tecnitoys)limited edition of 3000 Renault 5 Turbos basedon the Tour De Corse rally from 1985. Nothingtoo special then? Very similar to the Rallye DeEspanya collection? Well, yes to all the above

except that each of the 3000 cars have beenindividually signed by Carlos Sainz himself.Needless to say the cars sold out very quickly inSpain. Each comes in a nice presentation box(the same style as the Audi Quattro) a certificateand a red baseball cap. Not the cheapest modelto get hold of RRP €75. How popular is MrSainz in Spain! ➳

9January 2007

Not falling into the greats, but one to lookout for. Last month I told you about the Seat1430 made for the Spanish Toy shop Poly. Wellit now transpires that there are two versions ofthis car, Ref 6236. Basically the tampo printingon the roof is either forward or rear facing. Noidea on the numbers of rear facing ones madebut, let’s be honest, it’s unlikely this is a mistake!

FakFakFakFakFakesesesesesSeveral months ago I was made aware of abrand of slot car called ‘Jiada’ marketing the‘Wallop 1:32 Scale Racing System’. The first setI saw in the flesh was a Formula One set whichis an exact copy of the SCX system, track, cars,controllers even the box is the same. The onlydifferences (apart from a lack of quality) are thegraphics – no corporate logos on the cars forexample, Jaguar becomes ‘JHADA’ , Kimi

becomes ‘KIND’ the sponsor Orange becomes‘Ornate’ and Subaru becomes ‘SUAVITY’????Even the reference numbers are the same asSCX. Basically this is a direct copy of licensedproduct. Of course I asked Tecnitoys what theyknew about it, but not too surprisingly little wassaid.

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At first the only sets available were the F1sets and some were finding their way intosupermarkets in Spain and onwards via eBay tothe UK. It now appears that all the cars shownon the rear of the set box are now available, sixF1 cars, four DTMs and two Rally cars. Keepan eye out for them, but don’t pay too much!Generally speaking the cars on their own sell forjust £7 each - new.

CopiesCopiesCopiesCopiesCopiesAgain in a similar vein, but not quite so brazenare another new manufacture called ‘OpenSlot’who have recently come on the scene in Spainselling Rally Sets and F1 sets for around £20.00.Yes - £20 for a simple oval, transformer,controllers and two cars. The track is basicallya direct SCX copy, but the cars are a mixture ofcopies. The bodies themselves look very, verycrude copies from Diecast cars, the figures aredirect copies of SCX, as are the guide flags. Thechassis looks like a Carrera copy with a curvedrecess in the base (like their digital cars). Don’t

expect top quality, these care are exceedinglycheap. Again no corporate sponsors’ logosappear on anything.

How the Chinese factories are allowed tomake these copies – who knows, but I wouldimagine steps are being taken to stamp themout. Remember the USSR Scalextric cars? I’mnot aware of either of the copies being availablein the UK, but please let me know if you docome across them.

That’s it for now, might have some 2007release info next month. ■

11January 2007

Another bumper month with 10 models intotal to report on, including two carswhich make up the latest historic team

set. Also, there is news of two limited editionswhich were previously unannounced and almostslipped under the radar. Finally, for all you truckfans out there, Fly have now released the first oftheir lightweight truck racing series.

RRRRRecent Recent Recent Recent Recent ReleaseseleaseseleaseseleaseseleasesLola T70 Mk.3B, white #6 (C96)Lola T70 Mk.3B, white #6 (C96)Lola T70 Mk.3B, white #6 (C96)Lola T70 Mk.3B, white #6 (C96)Lola T70 Mk.3B, white #6 (C96)

Painted in white with a blue band across thenose and driven by Antonio Carlos Avallonecompeting in the 300km Tarumá in 1971. Thisrace formed part of a 25 race Latin series which

started in January and finished in Decembervisiting circuits all around Brazil, includingBuenos Aires and Interlagos.

Chevrolet Corvette C5R “Chevrolet Corvette C5R “Chevrolet Corvette C5R “Chevrolet Corvette C5R “Chevrolet Corvette C5R “VVVVValeo”aleo”aleo”aleo”aleo”#72 (A133)#72 (A133)#72 (A133)#72 (A133)#72 (A133)

Decorated in blue and yellow which is modelledon the car that took part at the 24hr Le Mansin 2006. Driven by Luc Alphand, PatriceGoueslard and Jérôme Policand, finishing 7th

overall after completing 346 laps.

PPPPPorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 GT1 evo, whiteT1 evo, whiteT1 evo, whiteT1 evo, whiteT1 evo, white(A521) Grand Am 2003(A521) Grand Am 2003(A521) Grand Am 2003(A521) Grand Am 2003(A521) Grand Am 2003

Although the car is mainly white it has verycolourful graphics in luminous green and light➳

12

blue. The wheels complete the attractiveappearance as the front ones are royal blue,whereas the rears are yellow. Driven by GunnarJeannette, Kyle Petty and Paul Newman.

Lister Storm “Datasonix” (A2009)Lister Storm “Datasonix” (A2009)Lister Storm “Datasonix” (A2009)Lister Storm “Datasonix” (A2009)Lister Storm “Datasonix” (A2009)The penultimate car in the 10th Anniversarycollection. This is a re-issue of the previouslyreleased (A101) car, which competed at Le Mansin 1995. Due to the livery, the anniversary logois positioned in the centre of the bonnet asopposed to the left hand front wing of theprevious releases.

PPPPPorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 Gorsche 911 GT1 98 “Martini”T1 98 “Martini”T1 98 “Martini”T1 98 “Martini”T1 98 “Martini”(Fly 115), evo 3 racing(Fly 115), evo 3 racing(Fly 115), evo 3 racing(Fly 115), evo 3 racing(Fly 115), evo 3 racing

A bit of a stealth car this one, being decoratedin matt black with the familiar “Martini” redand blue stripes. It is fitted with the usual sprungmotor mount cradle, racing motor and weightsaving features etc.

Sisu TSisu TSisu TSisu TSisu Truck, white (Fly 200),ruck, white (Fly 200),ruck, white (Fly 200),ruck, white (Fly 200),ruck, white (Fly 200),racing seriesracing seriesracing seriesracing seriesracing series

Although branded as a racing truck, it doesn’tunfortunately come fitted with the excellentsprung motor mount, as fitted to the latest evocar series. However, it does have a new chassisfitted with a Fly racing motor. The wheels andtyres are as per any standard range truck. To

save weight the body is made of lightweightplastic and includes a flat Lexan interior.

Garage FrancorchampsGarage FrancorchampsGarage FrancorchampsGarage FrancorchampsGarage FrancorchampsAnother recent release is the latest Ferrari teamset (Team 14), which is a representation of thefamous Belgian privateer racing team “ÉcurieFrancorchamps”. Also known as “ÉquipeNationale Belge”, the team was formed in 1952by Jacques Swaters and has had a continuingrelationship with Ferrari ever since. The first carthey took delivery of was a yellow Ferrari 500 F2which gave them their first Grand Prix victory.Despite this they competed the majority of thetime in sports and GT races. Apparently, whenthey picked up the 500 F2 from the factory atMaranello, it was driven 1000km overnightback to Belgium, without lights, road equipmentor insurance! A feature of this team is that theircars are mostly painted in yellow, or have ayellow stripe on them.

The two cars which make up the set are aFerrari 365 GTB/4 “Daytona” and a Ferrari250 GTO. The 365 is painted entirely in yellow,whereas the 250 is silver with a yellow striperunning across the bonnet. Although the boxdoes not give any indication of the races the carscompeted in, my research has found that the 365(race #34) took part in the 24hr Le Mans racein 1973, was driven by Jean-Claude Andruet

13January 2007

and Richard Bond, finishing 20th overall aftercompleting 271 laps. According to the platetampoed on the bonnet and boot, the 250 GTO(race #172) competed in the 13th Tour de FranceAutomobile. This is the first version of the 250GTO from Fly to include a co-driver, whoincidentally is holding some very detailed pacenotes. The complete set is mounted into a cigarshaped box which has a leather look finish to it.

Limited EditionsLimited EditionsLimited EditionsLimited EditionsLimited EditionsThere were a couple of unannounced limitededitions released at the tail end of last year, bothof which almost slipped under the radar.Although information on them is a little sketchy,I have managed to piece something together.

PPPPPorsche 911 SC (Rorsche 911 SC (Rorsche 911 SC (Rorsche 911 SC (Rorsche 911 SC (Red) #1 (E931),ed) #1 (E931),ed) #1 (E931),ed) #1 (E931),ed) #1 (E931),Rally Classic – 54Rally Classic – 54Rally Classic – 54Rally Classic – 54Rally Classic – 54ththththth Rally Costa Rally Costa Rally Costa Rally Costa Rally Costa

Brava 2006Brava 2006Brava 2006Brava 2006Brava 2006Thank you to our eBay correspondent StephenLangford for alerting me to this one. Limited to500 units and already at a premium price oneBay. It appears this model was made forSpanish shops only, but as always with these cars

they do pop up on various international eBayauctions. A quick search of the internet provedthis point. The backing card is yellow on the faceside, but white on the reverse. A definitecollectable of the future.

BMW M1 “BMW M1 “BMW M1 “BMW M1 “BMW M1 “JägermeisterJägermeisterJägermeisterJägermeisterJägermeister” #31” #31” #31” #31” #31(E1303), DRT 1982, driven by Kurt(E1303), DRT 1982, driven by Kurt(E1303), DRT 1982, driven by Kurt(E1303), DRT 1982, driven by Kurt(E1303), DRT 1982, driven by Kurt

KonigKonigKonigKonigKonig.....Once again it appears this model was also madefor Spanish shops only, but a limited number ofthem turned up in Germany and other remoteplaces. Although this model is limited to 1500units there are two different versions to collect.The most common version is mounted onto aplinth which has the details of the car as usualand the name of the Spanish shop added, whichreads “Edicion Especial – La Estacion delHobby”. The other harder to find version justhas the name of the car, race and driver. Thelatter are the ones which ended up in Germanyetc. The “Estacion del Hobby” version includesa backing collector card, whereas the otherversion has no collector card. Despite thedifference on the plinth the model itself isidentical. ■

14

Amongst my birthday presents late lastyear I was touched to find that my betterhalf, always one to indulge me in my

hobby, had cut out a picture of the latest chassisfrom BSRT. The implication was, if I purchasedsaid chassis (the G-Jet as covered in last month’scolumn) that she would cover the cost. Neverone to look a gift horse in the mouth I quicklyplaced an order for one. Maybe the $50 pricetag puts people off when re-makes of 70s‘magnetless’ chassis can be purchased for aquarter of that, even though the newcomer ismassively more engineered and not really a toy,but such considerations slid off my radar onceit was somebody else’s money being spent!

My partner’s generosity landed me a veryswish looking piece of kit, complete with shinypieces of brass fitted in place of the tractionmagnets, a beautifully engineered weight fittedto the front and upgraded electricals, wheels,tyres and gears. I removed the body posts as Iwanted to run a hard body as opposed to thesuggested (but not supplied) Lexan one. I thenfitted a standard Tomy clip (the BSRT cars areheavily based on the Tomy SG+ design andmany dimensions match) so that I could use oneof their best bodies, the Jaguar XJR9, completewith politically incorrect Silk Cut logos. Withthe car tweaked and oiled, I then waited untilthe final EAHORC race meet to run it ratherthan dust off my home track. The thinking herewas to see how valid BSRT’s stipulation that12V power should be used with these cars on atrack much larger than anything the chassis

would encounter on home soil. For some strangereason 95% of home tracks (even permanentones) in the USA and virtually all club trackscould be fitted on a set of tables or boards in anarea 8’ x 20’ whereas here in the UK manytracks are 150’-230’ long and fill rooms. So theplan was to drive the car on standard UK powersettings (18V and 1amp) and see if the G-Jetwould thrive or die. No doubt the carefullythought out ballast would help the car performand it shows the level of faith people in the knowhave in BSRT in that I never considered for asecond that it would be slower than the non-magnet cars of the past, more how fast would itbe compared to the SG+.

A huge factor in this thinking was the tyres,being as they were neither silicone nor spongebut a combination of both. Such tyres have beenthe backbone of the US racing scene for manyyears, a sponge tyre that deforms easily underload and hugs the road; they are machine coatedin a very thin layer of silicone which givesawesome grip as it heats up. In the end it turnedout that 18V was a little rich for the G-Jet but Ifound, and so did others, that the car was happyon 15V and 16V, whilst a tad tame on 12 volts.No doubt this reflects the aforementioneddifference between UK and US race layouts.The G-Jet was comfortable turning laps around7 seconds, nearly 1.5s better than a modernremake of the 70s ‘pancake’ designs but twoseconds slower than a SG+ it is based on. Thatmay sound a lot but, considering that the car hasno traction magnets, everyone was impressed.

15January 2007

Certainly the car did not lack for power,something that always blighted the pancakecars, and would be less of a handful on a trackwired for brakes. Overall then a very impressive,if pricey, piece of kit. One nice touch with theG-Jet is that the tyres are black. This mightsound a given, but in the US scene it just doesnot work like that, colour being used to denotecompound type or diameter. BSRT decidedthat, quite rightly, the absence of tractionmagnets meant only one size and compoundwould be needed and therefore a more accuratetyre colour could be used. Certainly that colourissue has put UK racers off in the past (alongwith the cost at $10-$12 a pair) and it has to besaid the G-Jet defiantly scored well with me inthe looks departments as it raced round.

The Skytronic 660190 power unit, asmentioned last month, has come in handy, as ithas enough extra power, on its highest setting,over standard 16V units to make runningWizzard chassis (see May 2006 Column) at theirproper speed a viable option as well as makingrunning any kind of H:O chassis on our largerclub tracks less prone to one lane or area beingdown on power. The 12V setting may come inhandy in the future and for those of you whorace 1/32nd scale at home and are thinking ofdabbling with H:O, this robust unit would be agood purchase. The unit is quite large and heavy,and has a lab quality feel too it, even though itlooks more like a toy unit. Even the 9V and 15Vsettings could be useful, such as in introducingyounger children to the delights of 1/32nd scaleand H:O scale respectively without smearingyour prized cars all over the walls! This powerunit can be purchased from Tait (http://taitcomponents.co.uk or phone 0141 564 1234)and their internal part number for the unit is101047. Cost is around £10 + postage per unit.I have four of the units wired up ready to be usedat any EAHORC track that does not havededicated and regulated power supplies. £50 tostandardize this element of the racing was agood investment in my opinion.

2006 was quite a year for new cars and assuch the release of two new F1s from Mattelalmost went unnoticed. This situation is not

helped by the fact that Mattel do not publish the‘event’ in any way, they merely update one oftheir sets with zero fanfare.

The latest incarnation updates the WilliamsF1 car to the 2005 colour scheme and theFerrari to a generic Michael Schumacherscheme. The latter is a big disappointment as itdoes not particularly look like any recent Ferrarialthough the #1 on the nose clearly suggests2005. By contrast the Williams looks fantastic,a good representation of the actual car withclear colours and sharp lines, with the vibrancyof the silver divider lines being particularlyimpressive.

If 2006 was a good year for H:O releasesthen 2007 should be a positive bonanza. Life-Like already have a new set listed on theirwebsite (‘’Downtown Drifters” at $80) as well asa Honda Civic ‘’SI 2006” listed for June at $20plus of course the increased NASCARcommitment under their new owners which Itouched on back in October. This should seemodels of Juan Montoya’s Dodge (and possiblya Jacques Villeneuve Fusion?), as well as themuch anticipated Red Bull and Cat Toyotas. ➳

16

With Chevy and Dodge both changing modelsthis year for at least some races, the varietywithin Nascar has never been higher and Life-Like have already shown willing to keep pace.With Autoworld due to release perhaps 25 cars,three sets and an all new chassis this year, plus

the usual one or two cars expected from Tomyand Mattel, and Scalextric confirming there willbe new cars from them, it should be a good timeto be into H:O. I leave you with a picture ofwhat I think must be the first H:O scale F1 carwith an accurate wheelbase. More on this nextmonth. ■

17January 2007

As I sit here, before Christmas, it feelsstrange putting together my first Kits‘N’ Bobs for the New Year, however the

holiday period promises to be a busy one with allkinds of new slot goodies. First up, the boys atPenelope Pitlane have now released theirproduction versions of the Aston MartinDBR4/250 and Bugatti 251, a full review willfollow just as soon as I have them finished. Alsofrom our new companies comes TRRC’s thirdrelease in the form of the standard tail 1934Auto Union A type. Next up expect the 1938Delahaye 145 early in the New Year.

Last month I told you about the MMKAston Martin Project 214 and the CobraDaytona, well that was a little premature butthey are now in stock here in the UK. Similarlya car that has finally arrived here after some waitis the MRRC Chaparral 2F as a single car, withthe number 4 Nurburgring and a number 66limited edition. (Despite the famous number 66

being associated with Chaparral the 2F neverraced with the number). A new body kit fromOCAR/World Classics is the Team Surtees LolaT70 MKIII (not the previous MKIIIB) as itappeared at the 1967 Le Mans trials weekend,with Daytona American International Racingand BOAC Brands Hatch versions both with alower tail end.

To follow these in the New Year expect tosee OCAR bring us a Pegaso, Mercedes 300SL,Lotus Elan Modsport, Triumph Spitfire LeMans Coupe, an Alfasud and a De TomasoPanterra LM. I have managed to finish theReinecke Pontiac Ventura and Buick Apollothanks to help from Artin North America andSlot Car World based in Texas who kindlyprovided the Artin Stocker complete chassis forthese two cars. These are versatile low costchassis and they do a wide boy version ideal fordirt car projects, while the Artin Stockers areideal for use with Slotcars4U’s new range of ➳

Kits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsKits ‘N’ BobsA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releasesA round up of recent kit and resin releases

By Phil Insull

MMK’MMK’MMK’MMK’MMK’s new Aston Mars new Aston Mars new Aston Mars new Aston Mars new Aston Martin Ptin Ptin Ptin Ptin Project 214 and Carroject 214 and Carroject 214 and Carroject 214 and Carroject 214 and Cartrix BRM P25 Jo Bonniertrix BRM P25 Jo Bonniertrix BRM P25 Jo Bonniertrix BRM P25 Jo Bonniertrix BRM P25 Jo Bonnier

18

Slot.It FSlot.It FSlot.It FSlot.It FSlot.It Ferrerrerrerrerrari 312PB and MRRari 312PB and MRRari 312PB and MRRari 312PB and MRRari 312PB and MRRC ChaparrC ChaparrC ChaparrC ChaparrC Chaparral 2Fal 2Fal 2Fal 2Fal 2F

TTTTTeam Slot’eam Slot’eam Slot’eam Slot’eam Slot’s Clarion Audi Quattro A2, Reineckes Clarion Audi Quattro A2, Reineckes Clarion Audi Quattro A2, Reineckes Clarion Audi Quattro A2, Reineckes Clarion Audi Quattro A2, Reinecke

Motor SporMotor SporMotor SporMotor SporMotor Sport Pt Pt Pt Pt Pontiac Vontiac Vontiac Vontiac Vontiac Venturenturenturenturentura and Buick Apolloa and Buick Apolloa and Buick Apolloa and Buick Apolloa and Buick Apollo

with Arwith Arwith Arwith Arwith Artin Stocker chassistin Stocker chassistin Stocker chassistin Stocker chassistin Stocker chassis.....

modern Nascar decals to go with their excellentNascar Darkside and TransAm ones. For detailscheck out www.slotcarworld.com or e-mail:scw@centex.net

Super quality resin specialists, Slot Classicsof Spain, have announced their next release ofa Ferrari TR59/60, the 1960 Le Mans winningcar of Frere and Gendebien and, in order to tryand prevent the kind of profiteering that hasoccurred in the past with speculators snappingup the 300 units and selling them on for upwardsof double to genuine collectors who hadn’tmanaged to get one, they have committed to alarger run of 500 units so that genuine collectorscan buy direct from them at the recommendedretail price. They are also planning a 1951 LeMans version of the Lancia Aurelia B20 and a1961 Tourist Trophy Rob Walker version of theFerrari 250SWB. Over the pond and BeardogRacing are almost ready with their 1967 Eaglebody kits, these should be available in the NewYear via UK agents A.B. Slot but pre-orderbecause they should go like hot cakes.

More modern cars now but sticking withresin, Le Mans Miniatures have released the2002 Le Mans winning Audi R8 and are aboutto do the 2003 Bentley Speed 8s in both readyto run and pre-painted kit form; our goodfriends at MRE are taking pre-orders on these.Finishing with resin, Proto Slot’s web site hasnews of three new versions of their Can-AmLola T70 together with one of my all timefavourites, the Can-Am Porsche 917/30 Sunocothe incredible “Panzer” as driven by the late,great Mark Donohue, sadly at this time I can’tfind out if these are destined for the UK.

Onto our plastic round up starting withSlot.It’s new Ferrari 312PB available in readydecorated kit form, as either the 1972 WatkinsGlen, Andretti/Ickx or Petersen/Schenken cars.These kits are very easy to put together andcome with a standard sidewinder set up, but thechassis do allow for the new angle winder Slot.Itgears and pinions to be used instead (availableseparately). Also here is the Hydro-Aluminiumversion of the Porsche 962C as raced at LeMans in 1989 and a bit of Slot.It news is therelease planned mid 2007 of a new controller,with multiple adjustment settings and promisedat a reasonable price.

From our friends at Team Slot comesanother new livery in the form of the Clarionsponsored Audi Quattro A2 as driven by PerEklund. Spirit have introduced a range of twinpacks with two Renault Five bodies and onechassis so you can interchange them, they willalso be adding the Peugeot 406 silhouette carsand a BMW 2002 Alpina to their upcoming 406coupés. Just in time for the WolverhamptonEarly bird Grand Prix is the latest in Cartrix’sClassic Grand Prix series, the 1959 DutchGrand Prix winning BRM P25 of Jo Bonnier. Asnormal this comes wrapped in a soft cloth on aPerspex plinth in a presentation tin, although beaware that the BRM is too wide for scale andwill only be allowed to run as an unmodifiedRTR car. Final word goes to Revell Monogramwho managed to release their Trabant in twoliveries just before Christmas, pictures to follownext month. ■

19January 2007

At the swapmeet in Milton Keynes,February last year, I drove some laps ofthe portable Slot Rally GB track. The

zooming sound, coming from the gears of theScalextric Subaru, impressed me enormously.This was very different to driving on the normalbumpy plastic track pieces.

On the way back home to Holland, Idecided to build my own MDF race track - nota modern sterile circuit, but a public road track,as used from the 1950s until the 1970s.

But where could it be built? Roger Gillhamshowed me the way in his 6th edition Scalextricbook - a tip-up construction on the garage wall.

My garage wall is about five metres in lengthso two pieces of 2.44m x 1.22m MDF sheetscould just be used.

First I sketched a track on paper, 10 timessmaller than it would eventually be and Idiscovered that three lanes were the maximumpossible for these table dimensions.

The lanes are all about 17mtrs in length butI made the inner one a little bit longer than theother two. It is a mistake to suppose that theshortest track is also the fastest!

In this way, I hoped to get some fluctuationof speed on different places on the circuit foreach slot. This would be nice for close racing,and changing the places during a lap.

To tip up the table, it should be light so Ichose a lightweight construction, like the wingof an aeroplane. On the hinge side the trackshould be thick and at the front it should be thin.In this way, the gravity point would move towardthe hinges.

I started with 10mm vertical multiplexstrips, on which the 8mm MDF track was boltedand glued. The slots were cut with a pendulumsaw, with two blades soldered to each other toget a 3mm gap.

SceneryScenerySceneryScenerySceneryWhen the track was ready, I decided to makesome scenery. The total maximum height of19cm was the biggest restriction. Otherwise, Icould not use the garage for my car.

With a small hand drill, I cut the stones intothe MDF walls.

In the neighbourhood of the ruin, somestones of the original road surface are visiblefrom underneath the damaged tarmac. With thesame small drill, I made the gutters and thedrain covers on the roadsides. To avoid crashinginto the walls, the wheels of the cars, first meetthe borders of the kerbstones. So, if you go toofar sideways, the impact on these kerbstones willbe big, and you will lose a lot of time. Preciseand neat driving is an advantage. ➳

Dutch TDutch TDutch TDutch TDutch Trio Trio Trio Trio Trio TrackrackrackrackrackBy Hub Habets

OvOvOvOvOverererererall view of the Tall view of the Tall view of the Tall view of the Tall view of the Trio Trio Trio Trio Trio Trrrrrackackackackack

20

On each outside edge of the track, I madea different scenic item. I searched for pictures ofpicnic tables on the internet. I then made onefrom small strips of wood.

On the next corner I made a fence, withhinges, made from small bent nails and rings cutfrom the insulation of an electrical wire.

The trees and bushes are all hand made. Iused several techniques. Trees are made fromsisal rope or copper wire in combination withsteel wool. Thereafter, they got a black paintspray and some glue to hold the grit from themodel train shop.

The bushes are made from painted steelwool, with glue and grit from the model trainshop on top.

On modern tracks, they are out of time. Soon this circuit, they are necessary to representthe right time feeling: I am talking about balesof straw.

They are very easy to make yourself. Firstyou have to saw little blocks of wood. After thisyou have to cut small pieces of sisal rope withscissors . Glue them on the blocks, drill two holesin it, and finish the bales with some sewingthread. The wooden blocks guarantee the rightshape of the bales.

Painting some tarmac repair places on thetrack in another colour gives a special effect andthe white lines on each side of the road providethe finishing touch.

Electrical itemsElectrical itemsElectrical itemsElectrical itemsElectrical itemsFinally the copper tape was put in place and thewires underneath the table were soldered. Threeelectronic controllers with brakes and drivingdirection switches are used to give enoughpossibilities to race enjoyably in both directions.The transformers are placed on a removableshelf. Within five minutes the track can be setup and ready to race.

Lancia 037 parLancia 037 parLancia 037 parLancia 037 parLancia 037 partytytytyty, passing the spectators at the picnic table, passing the spectators at the picnic table, passing the spectators at the picnic table, passing the spectators at the picnic table, passing the spectators at the picnic table

21January 2007

Driving at full speed alongside the walls (abovDriving at full speed alongside the walls (abovDriving at full speed alongside the walls (abovDriving at full speed alongside the walls (abovDriving at full speed alongside the walls (above)e)e)e)e)

(Below) Thr(Below) Thr(Below) Thr(Below) Thr(Below) Three decades of ree decades of ree decades of ree decades of ree decades of rallysporallysporallysporallysporallysport driving through the hairpin leftt driving through the hairpin leftt driving through the hairpin leftt driving through the hairpin leftt driving through the hairpin left

22

Some classic PSome classic PSome classic PSome classic PSome classic Porsches and Jorsches and Jorsches and Jorsches and Jorsches and Jaguars passing the ruinaguars passing the ruinaguars passing the ruinaguars passing the ruinaguars passing the ruin

The 1600 cars sliding along the gutter and a drThe 1600 cars sliding along the gutter and a drThe 1600 cars sliding along the gutter and a drThe 1600 cars sliding along the gutter and a drThe 1600 cars sliding along the gutter and a drain covain covain covain covain covererererer

23January 2007

ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusionCreating your own track is not only a challenge, butit gives you also a lot of satisfaction. I hope youenjoy the pictures of the finished result.

I still love the zooming of the slot cars, like atMilton Keynes, but now at home! ■

(Below) Spectators watching the r(Below) Spectators watching the r(Below) Spectators watching the r(Below) Spectators watching the r(Below) Spectators watching the race at Ruinace at Ruinace at Ruinace at Ruinace at Ruin

BendBendBendBendBend

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) Sitting on a bank, watching the cars ine) Sitting on a bank, watching the cars ine) Sitting on a bank, watching the cars ine) Sitting on a bank, watching the cars ine) Sitting on a bank, watching the cars in

the twilightthe twilightthe twilightthe twilightthe twilight

(Abov(Abov(Abov(Abov(Above) Exiting Ruin Bend in the darknesse) Exiting Ruin Bend in the darknesse) Exiting Ruin Bend in the darknesse) Exiting Ruin Bend in the darknesse) Exiting Ruin Bend in the darkness

24

In 1963 Ferruccio Lamborghini founded afactory to make the perfect car. Popularrumour has it that he was unhappy with the

products of another well known local GT carmanufacturer. Whatever his reasons, heprogressed from being a successful manufacturerof tractors and air-conditioning equipment tocreate the world’s most exotic cars. Theseincluded landmark cars like the bewitchingMiura, the awesome Countach, the elegantEspada and the original 350 and 400 models aswell as the Islero, Jarama, the imposing LM002“off-road” car and the Urraco, Silhouette andJalpa V8 engined cars.

The Diablo was launched in 1990 and overthe next 11 years 11 versions were built witheach one progressively more powerful, faster andmore outrageous.

The original Diablo was followed by the VT,the SE30, the Roadster, the SV, the SV Roadster,the SVR, the GT, the GTR, the 6.0 litre and the6.0 SE. Always a phenomenally powerful car theSE30 had a mid mounted, fuel injected, 5,707cc,48 valve, DOHC, 60 V12 engine drivingthrough a 5 speed Lamborghini box with rearwheel drive. The engine produced 540bhp@7100rpm giving a theoretical 207 mph/335kmh top speed. 2,634 Diablos of all types werebuilt.

The Scalextric Diablo was first seen inCatalogue 32 of 1991 and the first cars, C127and C411, were released in the middle of thatyear priced at £23.87. Always quite a popularmodel, it remained in the catalogues until 1999when it finally left the catalogues and price lists.However, a few specials were made after thisdate and are amongst the most collectableDiablos.

As Diablos were not regularly raced ininternational competition, most of Hornby’sreleases are road going versions with a notableexception being an attractive Valvoline livery(C2192). A pro-celeb race series did support afew races on the F1 calendar at one stage.

Only one major change was made to themoulds during the six year run and this was theaddition of a rear wing. C283, the black set car,marks the change over and versions wereproduced both with and without the wing.

Most Diablos are quite easy to collectalthough there are some interesting versions tofind. The well known Barcelona model shopPalau commissioned a pair of Diablos in white(C361) and brown (C360) in 1996 and 500 weremade of each.

A Brief Collectors’ GuideA Brief Collectors’ GuideA Brief Collectors’ GuideA Brief Collectors’ GuideA Brief Collectors’ Guide- Lamborghini Diablo- Lamborghini Diablo- Lamborghini Diablo- Lamborghini Diablo- Lamborghini Diablo

By Rob Smith

PPPPPalau Diablosalau Diablosalau Diablosalau Diablosalau DiablosThe rThe rThe rThe rThe real thingeal thingeal thingeal thingeal thing

25January 2007

AbovAbovAbovAbovAbove - 1st De - 1st De - 1st De - 1st De - 1st Dealers’ Range Pealers’ Range Pealers’ Range Pealers’ Range Pealers’ Range Prrrrresentation caresentation caresentation caresentation caresentation car

and 1999 NSCC/Hornby Wand 1999 NSCC/Hornby Wand 1999 NSCC/Hornby Wand 1999 NSCC/Hornby Wand 1999 NSCC/Hornby Weekend veekend veekend veekend veekend versionersionersionersionersion

Below - ‘Crystal Classics’ Diablo produced forBelow - ‘Crystal Classics’ Diablo produced forBelow - ‘Crystal Classics’ Diablo produced forBelow - ‘Crystal Classics’ Diablo produced forBelow - ‘Crystal Classics’ Diablo produced for

Brooklands evBrooklands evBrooklands evBrooklands evBrooklands event in 2000ent in 2000ent in 2000ent in 2000ent in 2000

26

The 1st Range Presentation car Hornbyproduced in 1998 was a Diablo. Only 300 wereproduced and the gold paint crystallised to givean unusual effect. Metallic paint was still in itsinfancy for Hornby at this time.

In 1999 Hornby produced the rarest Diabloversion for the annual NSCC/Hornby weekendand just 48 were produced. Beautifully sprayedblack, rather than just black plastic, it featuresthe NSCC laurel wreath logo on the bonnet andsides and came with a certificate. There is no Creference for this car.

Jeff Davies commissioned a transparentDiablo to celebrate an event at Brooklands in2000. This was mounted on a transparent baseand was known as a Crystal Classic. Only 100of these were produced and each is numberedin marker pen on the base. There is no Creference for this car.

Also in 2000 a clear Diablo was given awayat the International Sales Conference. It came

on a clear plinth printed “International SalesConference 2000” but, as it’s the only one Idon’t have, I am not sure what printing, if any,appears on the car itself or how many weremade – perhaps someone can elucidate further.There is no C reference for this car either.

There are a number of oddities known toexist too. Plain, untampoed bodies exist in somenumbers for both versions of C283 but thetampo printing was only a small bonnet badgeanyway. There are a couple of untampoedcrystal classics cars without the “B” logo anddate on the bonnet known. A couple of palegreen, unpainted versions of C452 are known.An interesting prototype is a non metallic greenversion with small round holes where the largerectangular rear wing mountings would later be– presumably part of the mould modificationprocess.

What others are out there within theNSCC? Please let me know if you have othervariations to add to the list. ■

Reference Description Date NumberC127 Lamborghini Diablo - Yellow, no wing 1991C411 Lamborghini Diablo - Red, no wing 1991C283 Lamborghini Diablo - Black , Only in set C770 Road Racing 1992C283 Lamborghini Diablo - Black with wing 1994C451 Lamborghini Diablo Red 1994 18C452 Lamborghini Diablo Green 1994C360 Lamborghini Diablo Palau No 4 Car - Brown 1996 4C361 Lamborghini Diablo Palau No 3 Car - White 1996 3C582 Lamborghini Diablo Blue 1996 12

C2003 Lamborghini Diablo "Ceric" - Black and orange 1997 16C2069 Gold Diablo 1 of 300 1998 Range Presentation 1998C2093 Lamborghini Diablo Teng Tools - Red 1998 10

Lamborghini Diablo NSCC - Black, gold NSCC logos 1999C2192 Lamborghini Diablo Valvoline 1999 188C2193 Diablo SV - Orange 1999F2223 Lamborghini Diablo - Senna, Yellow and green 1999 19F2224 Lamborghini Diablo - Senna, White and blue 1999 18

Crystal Classics Diablo 2000International Sales Conference 2000 2000

27January 2007

Happy New Year to you all. I would liketo kick off this year by reminding youthat this report is covering December

offerings on eBay up to Christmas only. Thoseof you who have had perhaps a bit of extra timeover the holiday period to look at eBay and havemaybe seen some interesting items couldperhaps start a New Year resolution to send inthe details to me - after you have got yourbargain of course! Anyway, thanks again tothose who have sent in some information for thisreport which means people are reading myramblings out there!

There has again in the past month been afair amount of discussion on SlotForum aboutthe state of the slot market if you want adifferent take to this report, but I think the viewsare generally in the same direction as the way Isee eBay going, which is relative bargains to behad for those prepared to search and wait.However there is still plenty of interest inanything unusual or rare and many a sellercontinues to seduce the buyer with the magic“R” word in their listing and is often wellrewarded. However there seem to be a lot ofcheap Scalextric ex-set cars starting to flood onto the market that is perhaps suppressing pricesas well.

December saw the number of listings fallinitially in the UK from the highs of Novemberbut then boosted significantly by a couple of 10pBIN (Buy It Now) listing days at the start of themonth. This saw some 3000 extra listings beingmade as sellers tried to cash in on the extraChristmas demand. As we neared Christmas theeffect of these days wore off. A few big sellersscaling down their sales operations meantending with around 3500 to 4000 listings. It hasbeen a mixed bag from a selling and buyingpoint of view, with many newbie “slot” buyersoften willing to pay a bit more to get what they

wanted and more than the rest of us wouldusually pay. However, as I mentioned last monthwith the advent of some auctions appearingwith just Bidder 1, Bidder 2 etc now rather thanbuyers’ IDs, it can be difficult to prove this is thecase. Incidentally, this hidden ID way of biddingstill does not seem to happen on all auctions, soI am not sure if it is something the seller can setup or not. Personally from a buyer’s point ofview I remain a little sceptical on this move as Ialways try and do a bit of homework onanything that is more unusual if I am trying toacquire that item for myself. With blank bidderIDs the process could easily be abused in favourof the seller I feel.

Back to higher prices then. I have beenkeeping a closer eye on set prices in the pastmonth where I feel this was perhaps moreevident. One example was a Super Stox set,admittedly in VGC, but would you pay £72 plus£15 P&P with the cardboard tunnel missing?Probably not I guess. Similarly a Porsche Turboset in excellent condition made £50, but I stillhave not worked out how the only personbidding met the reserve and jumped the biddingup by £5 to win this item. Strange that one!

Again this month, the importance ofspelling correctly and having the item in the bestcondition was illustrated by the Scalextric RallyeInternationale set in excellent condition whichsold quickly for £40 BIN, whereas a Scaleletric(!)Rallye International in not quite as goodcondition fetched only £6.10 (and no I did notwin that one!).

Digital Get Set?Digital Get Set?Digital Get Set?Digital Get Set?Digital Get Set?It seems that Scalextric digital sets seem to beappealing more to the public this year which wasconfirmed by my local retailer late in Decemberwho had rather been caught out by demand thisyear compared to analogue sets. ➳

28

One of the big sellers on eBay has beenbreaking and assembling sets as well as chippingnon digital produced cars to produce some setsspecially made to fit on an 8 x 4 feet board.(2440 x 1220 mm for those of our overseasmembers working metrically!) With BIN pricesof sets from £200 to just under £700, most havebeen selling well, apart from those above the£500 mark as buyers seem prepared to pay outfor all the necessary gear in one go. Thereshould have been some happy “kids” thisChristmas but I suspect a few could have beenwell over normal school age! There are alsomore digital cars being listed in both new and,surprisingly perhaps, lightly used models.

Rarities?Rarities?Rarities?Rarities?Rarities?An interesting XR3i rarity attracted a bit moreinterest than the normal sky blue STP Skytravelwould normally do this month as it was in green.Enquiries have revealed that it has not beenrepainted but is in a shade of green that nonormal production of any car of any era hasused before. The model was checked for fadingand appeared to be the same colour inside andout as well as all over the car. MIB it went for£77.

People selling off their collections alwaysprovide a good opportunity to compare prices ofcertain models at that point in time, particularlyfor some harder to find models. For all youNinco McLaren F1 sports car fans, a whole setlisted individually and ending on a Thursdaynight made interesting reading price wise. Lack£25, A Day Off £38, Jacadi unsold at £30, TagHuer set car white £30, Fina £56.49, UenoClinic £38, Franck Muller £56.55, Tag Huersilver £41.01 and £54, Gulf no 34 £51, Gulfno 33 £51, Road car £31.06, SOK unsold at£30 and Harrods £45.

On to something that can genuinely bedescribed as rare - a C69 Ferrari in Yellow. At€7000 BIN from you know who, (Geronimo)this is more than I have ever paid for a real carlet alone a model. Next highest individual carfrom him was a red Scalextric Alpine ref 090114which at time of writing remained unsold evenat a more modest €2800.

RRRRRecent Pricesecent Pricesecent Pricesecent Pricesecent PricesOn to prices then as listed and spelt on UK eBayunless stated, with the time and auction endingday.

Scalextric Wolf F1 car New boxed Ultra Rare!!!£22.99 (Sun afternoon)Vintage 1960’s Set 50 complete and withtransformer £18.99 (Sun evening)#1 Triang Scalextric Vintage 1960s Plastic Signboards £65 (Set of 11 different named Teamname boards for Pit buildings. Friday afternoon)Scalextric Ferrari 330 P4 spec. ed. From TopGear £237 (A little steep maybe but then this isa factory snow covered version of the standardP4. Reportedly only 25 were produced andgiven away to journalists. Does this mark thestart of snow limited editions for 2007 maybe?Auction ended Friday mid day)Mega Rare Teamslot Audi Quattro #10 of 75£21.01 (number 10 of 75 unused Sun night)NINCO RENAULT MEGANE NSCC!!!nofly,no scx,no scalextric £132 (Supposedly a preproduction sample shown to NSCC but withoutany limited edition card and more likely a testbody made up. Sold on Friday night)80’s C676 Ford Escort XR3i Scalextric Box Set£26 (VGC ending Sun night)SCALEXTRIC SLOT CAR MOTOR BIKETYPHOON MM/B1$AU285 (Australian issuein green with yellow rider. Broken belt andpassengers head missing ending Thurs morning)SCALEXTRIC BATIMENT D’ENTREECMM/A 233 CIRCUIT AN. 1963 €233.50(near MB red roofed entrance building onFrench eBay ending Sat afternoon)

For those new or rejoining members who donot have my details and would like to send incorrespondence please email me at:

stevelangford66@googlemail.com

Lastly for those with an interest in personalregistrations for their car make sure you readabout my lucky purchase elsewhere in thejournal. Brian was pleased when I told him! ■

29January 2007

Dudley SwapmeetDudley SwapmeetDudley SwapmeetDudley SwapmeetDudley Swapmeet2929292929ththththth October 2006 October 2006 October 2006 October 2006 October 2006

So, it was a new day, and a new venue, with aSwapmeet returning to the West Midlands aftera gap of more years than most can remember.In fact many current members may not evenhave been around when there was a meet in thearea.

So why Dudley and why the premises ofBlack Country Auctions? Well I’d like to say itwas due to global warming, or some kind ofmystical interplanetary intervention, but sadlynot, it was just a chance conversation on a wetmid week November day, between two long timeslot car enthusiasts (or nutcases as my wife callsus!), namely Phil Aston (the proprietor of theafore mentioned auction company) and myself.I had bemoaned the fact to Phil that we weregoing to lose the Newark venue and he kindlyoffered the use of his premises in Dudley. It wasthat simple!

So now we had a venue, but let me say,trying to organise a Swapmeet is complexenough, without trying to do one miles fromwhere you live. It has to be said that Steve(Cannon) and I could not have put this event onwithout the great help of Phil and his son, Chris.Gents, a big thank you to you both.

The MeetThe MeetThe MeetThe MeetThe MeetThe weekend started for Steve and myself, bytravelling over to Dudley on the Saturdayafternoon, arriving around tea time to set up thevenue, known as “Baylies Hall”. The nowAuction House, actually started its life as aschool in the early part of the 20th Century. Themeet itself was to take place in what appearedto be the old hall, and a smaller room to the rear.Baylies Hall has great character, with superbnatural light, and despite not being the biggestof venues, lends itself perfectly to hold aSwapmeet.

During the course of the evening we werejoined by Mark Scale, who had travelled upfrom Sandown Park Toy Fair, and RobertLearmouth, who had made the journey up fromSouthampton. The setting out of the tablesproved challenging, we had very good table salesand it was a major task to fit everyone in towhere they wanted to be and with whom theywanted to be - but we managed it! Well doneSteve, “the logistics man”

So, with tables set and everything prepared,we retired to a nearby Travel Lodge (along withbar and restaurant) to debate the meet that layahead. The conversation centred around theapparent decline in meets over the years, as theonslaught of the World Wide Web appears togather pace apparently unabated.

It was a concern to those present thatevening that this now ancient media, namelySwapmeets, for buying / selling / swapping ofall things slot should not wither and die underthe intense glare of the slick, faceless, media ofthe internet. The consensus was that it has itsplace but so too does the Swapmeet. The abilityto see what you buy, swap, or haggle for, (allunder the umbrella of the NSCC) should not beunderestimated. It certainly gives NSCCmembers a safeguard for quality that does notexist elsewhere for acquiring slot merchandise.Despite these concerns, there was an air ofexpectation about the day that was to follow.

The Sunday morning started very early, allsignposts were out and we waited for the tableholders to arrive. For the record I won the sweepstake on who would be first there, it was PhilUnderwood (thanks Phil I owe you a drinkmate!). By eight thirty the place was hummingand this set the tone for the day. There was anumber of brand new stall holders, along witha good percentage of the stalwart traders, whichhas to be good for the event. As usual, there ➳

Swapmeet RSwapmeet RSwapmeet RSwapmeet RSwapmeet Reports -eports -eports -eports -eports -Dudley and OrpingtonDudley and OrpingtonDudley and OrpingtonDudley and OrpingtonDudley and Orpington

By Roger Barker

30

was some super stuff on display, not least a type59 Bugatti, a Bond Set, and a superb yellow C68Aston, to name just a few items. Oh to have abottomless pit of cash!

There was a break in proceedings for thestallholders at around 9:30am when breakfastarrived. For those of you who have not been toan event organised by Steve and myself, we liketo provide the stall holders with a bacon cob anda hot drink as a thank you for coming. Thisyear’s offering was provided by the pub nextdoor and I am not joking when I say there musthave been a shortage of bacon in the WestMidlands that morning along with bread cobs(or baps, depending where you are in thecountry), as these were BIGGEST bacon buttiesI have ever seen, they drew gasps of amazementfrom those present. Make a mental note to booka table next year to sample one!

So, having satisfied the hunger pangs of thestallholders, it was time for the customers tosatisfy their hunger for the “world of slot”. Itappears that the West Midlands liked having anevent back in their area, as well over a hundredpeople came through the door and they stayed,spent, swapped and sold all day! In fact therewere deals happening until half an hour afterthe event had officially closed!

Most table holders reported above averageto very good days, some in fact went as far as tosay excellent. All appeared to be very positiveabout the day which I can tell you is always arelief to the organisers!

Will this event happen next year? Theanswer has to be yes. Will it be at the same timeof year, possibly not. We are looking to arrangeit for the first week in December, so as not toclash with Brian Walter’s Stortford event. Ipersonally think it would be great to have aproper Christmas meet - that may mean mincepies instead of bacon butties folks! Those whowish to travel the night before would be madevery welcome. Maybe we could have an NSCCChristmas dinner the night before. Now there’sa thought!

Orpington SwapmeetOrpington SwapmeetOrpington SwapmeetOrpington SwapmeetOrpington Swapmeet25th November 200625th November 200625th November 200625th November 200625th November 2006

Back in my guise of slot traveller, I had thepleasure of standing at Phil Smiths’ Orpingtonmeet recently and it could only be described asSUPERB! The event has, from its inception,always been a very friendly and well run affair.The venue is ideal for the purpose, the locationin the south is in the catchment of the majorityof the “Slot World”, the Crofton Halls aremodern, warm and very user friendly, not tomention the excellent on site catering. (Mrs Sdeserves the mention!).

From the start this event has always had theright ingredients, but it has taken time and efforton Phil’s part to establish itself as a leadinglocation on the slot map. Due to the distancesinvolved and my body’s reluctance to wake itselfat some unearthly hour of the morning to makethe three and a half hour journey down toOrpington, I decided that it would be a goodidea to travel down the night before. Good ideanumber one! Those who read my articles maybe seeing a pattern emerging! In company withmy trusted friend Steve we made the rain soakedjourney down on Friday evening and checked into a Premier Lodge about a half hour fromOrpington. Cold lager and a sizeable mixed grillset me up for a good night’s sleep and the day tofollow.

Next morning we travelled from the hotel intorrential rain, and arrived at the halls to see anumber of traders taking shelter from theelements. Enter stage left Phil and entourage,and, as if by pre arrangement, the rain stoppedand we were bathed in late November sunshine.The signs were looking good, I personally wasnot disappointed! We bundled our wares into thehall and commenced a day of swapping, buying,and selling. As usual I did more buying thanselling, but that is what these days are all about- and no eBay commission to pay either!

The day did have a continental flavour to it,not least my dear friend Marcel, with whatappeared to be the World’s supply of ‘slightseconds’! I kept shaking my head in disbelief atthe sheer volume of cars he had and, like manyothers on the day, did my best to keep as many

31January 2007

as possible on these shores! This event carried onthe impression I had got from Dudley, that therewas a real “feel good” factor around, somethingI had not sensed in Swapmeet circles for sometime. Maybe it was just personal, I don’t know,but having spoken to others there they too, byand large, shared the feeling that it was a goodday. Phil had been, I believe, fully booked andhad even had to open up the stage area toaccommodate stallholders. I also understandthat he had record numbers through the door.Those who attended were not shy to spend theirmoney or do swaps. It was very pleasing to seeand experience.

Speaking to Phil late in the day when he wastrying to get us out of the hall, he remarked thatpeople were still trading long after the doors hadofficially closed, this has to be a good sign! Thisevent has a quite unique feel and flavour to it. Itcertainly is realising its true potential as a slotevent in the calendar and fully justifies Phil’sbelief in the project. I know now he has regulardates with the Halls so he can further promotethe meet on his many travels and who knowswhat other international travellers he may temptto these shores to what is becoming the Capital’spremier slot show. ■

NSCC/Hornby WNSCC/Hornby WNSCC/Hornby WNSCC/Hornby WNSCC/Hornby Weekeekeekeekeekendendendendend20072007200720072007

Following on from the well received 2006 eventI am pleased to announce that we will beholding another weekend with Hornby in 2007.The dates are the 24th and 25th March 2007 atthe Kent International hotel by the RamsgateMarina.

Once again it is open to just 47 members toenjoy a weekend of camaraderie and theopportunity to discuss racing and collectingScalextric with Hornby’s management team.There will be a light hearted race championship,displays of collectable cars, Q&A sessions withHornby, a quiz and a dinner. Of course, thereis also the limited edition car ONLY available tothe attendees.

As usual, preference will be given to thosewho have not attended before. The event isusually oversubscribed and to take part in thedraw you must get your applications to me bypost or email by Friday 9th February 2007. I willinform you of your successful application assoon as I can after that date.

If you need more information, please giveme a call.

Rob Smith

My other car is......My other car is......My other car is......My other car is......My other car is......December saw the release of the new “07” platenumbers from the DVLA that can be used onroad vehicles in the UK registered from March2007. For those that do not know you can,through the DVLA website, choose your owncombination of letters and numbers - for a priceof course. You then have to ring up and hopeyou get through as some of these combinationsare very attractive and are often snapped up bydealers who re-sell them at inflated prices. Somewith special interest, spelling out words, are onlyavailable through specialist DVLA auctions.

Fortunately for me there can’t be manyScalextric fans at the DVLA and the numberdealers as I was lucky to get through and get myinitials (Steve Langford) on the “07” plate withthe letters CAR to produce what I hope will bea most apt number plate for me of SL07 CARat a reasonable price. With one of Pendle’s “Myother car is a Scalextric” stickers to go in theback window my only problem now is waitingand saving up for a new car to put this on, as wellas getting that “T” no sorry I mean “7” justright on the plate! Our editor had also had hiseye on this one and sent me a very rude emailwhen he realised I had beaten him to it!

Steve Langford

32

I have been delighted to see the plethora ofJapanese GT models and liveries appearingover the last couple of years, as I think the

JGTC/ Super GT offers a distinctive differenceto the GT models we have been seeing over thelast few years. The liveries, colour schemes,visual approach to the graphic treatments andsponsors are all distinct to the series, and theyhave been most welcome.

The SeriesThe SeriesThe SeriesThe SeriesThe SeriesIn 1994, the JGTC - All-Japan Grand TouringCar Championship - began and the prime aimof the founders was to provide exciting and

spectacular versions of GT models that the fansrecognised, enhanced beyond standard saloonspecification, saluting the great days of Groupfive and GT1 endurance racing. The races wereand continue to be, exciting, close, hard topredict the winners and no team or drivermonopolises them by the look of past results.Wheel-to-wheel battles and unpredictable raceoutcomes provided a natural platform forbuilding its audience base. It has also seen aninflux of European drivers taking part. Its cachéis enduring. The fan reaction was instant, andeuphoric. A smash hit and it continues to thisday. ➳

50427 Ninco Nissan 350z50427 Ninco Nissan 350z50427 Ninco Nissan 350z50427 Ninco Nissan 350z50427 Ninco Nissan 350zG’zoG’zoG’zoG’zoG’zox Japanese Super Gx Japanese Super Gx Japanese Super Gx Japanese Super Gx Japanese Super GTTTTT

By Kevin MylerBy Kevin MylerBy Kevin MylerBy Kevin MylerBy Kevin Myler

33January 2007

My first sighting of a Japanese GT Car wasof the Toyota Castrol Supra, and I am amazedthat no plastic slot car manufacturer was braveenough to set the ball rolling earlier but still, herewe are, and what we have is good.

Hornby and Ninco have followed Cartrix’slead in going down this route and have providedsome of the more welcome contemporary carreleases in the last 3-4 years.

We are so used to getting the classic cars ofour dreams now from all the makers (and longmay it continue), but I think quite often weforget the quality of the more up to date modelsreleased.

This is the latest in Ninco’s editions of theNissan 350Z, the car that was the championshipwinner in 2005, and this delightfully vibrantvariant came 8th in the driver’s championshipthat year, and 6th in the team’s cup, from theHasemi Motor Sport Corporation driven byToshihiro Kaneishi and Erik Comas, in GZOXlivery.

Ninco beat Hornby to getting this model outfirst in 2006, and this is the first livery that isdifferent to those produced by bothmanufacturers. They both came out with theperhaps predictable, but excellent blue Calsonicand red /silver Xanavi liveries, so this one is areal treat, and hopefully will signal an endeavourto give us some of the more radical anddistinctive liveries we have seen in the JGTC/Super GT.

The RThe RThe RThe RThe Real Thingeal Thingeal Thingeal Thingeal ThingBase Model: Nissan Fairlady Z Type-EChassis Type: Z33Length x Width: 4625 mm x 1940 mmWeight: 1080 kgWheelbase: 2650mmTrack F: 1640mm x R: 1620mmTransmission: 6-speed sequential (Transaxle)Clutch: 5.5" Carbon Triple PlateSuspension: F&R: Double WishboneBrake: F&R: Ventilated DiskTyres: Bridgestone F: 330/40R18 R: 330/40R18Wheel: Enkei F:13.0Jx18 R:13.0Jx18

The ModelThe ModelThe ModelThe ModelThe ModelChassis: Plastic Injection Moulded Length: 141mm Width: 63,75mm Height: 37,8mm Motor : NC5 angle winder “Speeder”Front axle: 53,5mm Front tyre: slicks 20x10 Rear axle: 53,5mm Rear tyre: slicks 20x10

The DetailThe DetailThe DetailThe DetailThe DetailThe tampo printing on this car is superb- crispand accurate when seen next to photos of thereal model. The sample I was kindly offered totest didn’t have a single fault on it.

The colour scheme is that of the 2005 car,which has subsequently changed from the liverywe have on this model, and I think the oneNinco has produced is exellent. Surely it wasn’tthat long ago we were at the mercy of howaccurate the sticker applicator was at the factory,in order to get a decent model, not just fromNinco, but from several other manufacturers?

Tampo printing now is just expected to beaccurate, but I still breathe a massive sigh ofrelief when a car I receive through the post hasall its markings spot on, and in the right place.

A high gloss black base is enhanced by thesilver, black and dayglo orange livery,contrasting well with the polished gold effecthubs, chunky and aggressive, with the nowstandard chrome brake discs. Very “ Tiger”effect in appearance. Silver adorns the roof andrear bodywork. A large “3” is on the roof,reminiscent of the Corvette C5R from the 1999Le Mans, that Fly issued.

34

Is it me, or are Japanese graphics on racecars the most dynamic, be it lettering, colourcombinations and shapes and curves? I love theclassic Jägermeister, Martini, Red Bull and Gulfcars we see but, after that, the rest of the worldhas some catching up to do, aesthetically, withJapanese graphics on cars.

Underneath, it has the single roundel buttonmagnet that has been commonly used inpreviously issued Ninco cars in the last 3-4 years,including the JGTC issues.

The body has that detailed, accurate but no-fuss attitude to detailing that Ninco havecultivated for some time - no metal etchingplates here. Front winglets are sturdy looking,and we have the customary yellow tow hooks atthe front and the rear- good detail but notoverboard, what is needed for character, but notsuperfluous.

The interior has all the information youneed, the usual GT driver figure and justenough detail to allow you to race without toomuch worry about potential damage. It’s a verysturdy, compact arrangement with nonethelesssufficient detail to keep up with the rapidly risinglevel of detailing we have come to expect fromcontemporary slot car manufacturers. We, asconsumers, are spoilt rotten now and I wonderwhere slot car detailing will end.

The performanceThe performanceThe performanceThe performanceThe performanceWhen I drove it for the first few test laps, I wasimmediately impressed at the smoothness of theride- the underside of the car has a very low, flatattitude and the performance benefits greatlyfrom this.

It is a very quiet runner too. I am the sort ofhome racer that likes to make the minimumadjustments to a box fresh car, to get the truthfrom it. Little or no oil needed here.

The Scalextric Sport track used had amixture of tight and fast corners, linked by aseries of s curves and a long straight, to not onlysee it perform at top speed but to see its reactiongoing into, and coming out of high speed curves.

Good downforce was aided by the forwardsiting of the magnet in the underpan but not atthe risk of creating a robot car- the NC5 gavesmooth, responsive but powerful performance.I am not a wooden track racer but, for the homecircuit racer that I am, it is more than enough.I just don’t want to go to the day where we justsit back and press the throttle to full, à là H:Oscale and hold on. I’m delighted to say this cargives fast but controllable performance that stillneeds the driver to use the throttle to get themost out of the Nissan.

Straight line speed and stability was topnotch, but the drifts I got coming out of thecurves were a bonus, and the slicks give justenough grip to allow the driver, and not therobot, to come out of you. The longer I drovethis car, it felt I had driven it for ages. Still keptsharp, and start up was as crisp as ever, aftermany, many laps! The car was given a real goingover, and I was impressed by the level of wear onthe slicks, and the sturdy and sure-footed level ofresponse and stability in and out of bends andthrough the curves.

Long may Ninco and all the othermanufacturers give us the type of aggressive,spectacular, and distinctive cars that thefounders of the real life JGTC made as theircornerstone. This model only adds to the lustreof the range, and is highly recommended. ■

35January 2007

Firstly a thank you to Brian for supplyingthe car for review. I’ll keep this shortand try to answer a question or two.

The car arrives and the finish is excellent.Good detail although the occupants faces mayget painted in at a later date. The small roofspoiler looks good. It is also a different hue ofblue to the Red Bull Lancer which is good.

Is it different?Is it different?Is it different?Is it different?Is it different?This model is the first Subaru with the ProShocksuspension and it works well. It is different to theLancer in that it only has one drive belt andyellow (hard) springs on the shocks rather thanthe medium blue. It also has all the fittings forthe yet to be released light kit.

Important bitImportant bitImportant bitImportant bitImportant bitHow does it go Mister?How does it go Mister?How does it go Mister?How does it go Mister?How does it go Mister?

Very well it has to be said. Straight from the box(apart from removing the magnet) it ransmoothly, no bouncing on my Ninco circuit. Infact it lapped within a tenth of my Lancer, whichhas trued tyres, with my friend Mark providingthe input to the second lane. Swapping cars over

Ninco Subaru WRC RallyNinco Subaru WRC RallyNinco Subaru WRC RallyNinco Subaru WRC RallyNinco Subaru WRC RallyArgentina ’06Argentina ’06Argentina ’06Argentina ’06Argentina ’06

by Phil Uptonby Phil Uptonby Phil Uptonby Phil Uptonby Phil Upton

the same story unfolded, basically there wasnothing in it.

It was taken to Woking’s large wooden trackwhere anything out of true is massively high-lighted and, surprisingly, it ran absolutelyexcellently throughout the meeting and for 15minutes constant use afterwards by various clubmembers. So much so the club is consideringrunning a box standard class next year.

Back home and now, with the Ninco Dunesection installed in the middle of the mainstraight, more running. Here the stiff springstold a tale over the softer Lancer. Several offtrack trips into the trees needed more care overthe bumps!

RRRRResult?esult?esult?esult?esult?Well I think a good new model. Works well, wellfinished and more importantly all still in onepiece despite the crashes. Personally I think thatNinco could have supplied it with two belts tokeep the WRC cast the same but overall thumbsup.

Next it is off to the Wye Valley Stages forsome more competition! ■

36

Well, there I was standing at a dealer’stable at the Dudley swapmeetadmiring the new SCX Suzuki and

thinking, “Can I afford just one more car?”when the bloke standing next to me picked it upand bought it! Ah well I thought, just savedmyself a few quid and I can put my son’s moneyback in his “secret” hiding place before he getsback from rugby training!!

Then, would you believe it, our esteemededitor Brian emailed me the next day to say thatGareth (Mr Epsom 2005/6) Jex had one readyfor me to do a review on if I wished. Go on then,I just had to wait for Gareth to come back froma business trip abroad so that he could post it tome.

A week later and the postman drops off saidcar. First impressions, unusually not good. Thiscar looked like it had been in a rally already. Thedisplay box was cracked, I suspect the tripthrough the postal service did this (unless Garethfound it hard to give up a rally car!?). The twoaerials on the roof were bent over throughalmost 90°, the air intake on the roof has beenstuck on about 1mm above it and the co-driver’swindscreen wiper is miles away from thewindscreen. Sadly, things really didn’t improveonce I opened the box for a closer look. The sideglass on both sides of the car is not flush. Thereis about a 1mm gap that runs from the C-pillar

at the rear of the car all along the top side of theglass between the roof and glass all the way tothe front, across the top of the windscreen andback down the other side to the end at the otherC-pillar. You can even view the driver’s helmetthrough the gap. One of the front lights and oneof the rear light lenses are also a poor fit. To topit all, one of the little spring front guide pick upsdrops down on full lock and jams the guideblade. The car hasn’t even turned a wheel on thetrack yet and it’s not looking good. Have SCXemployed some BL workers from the early 1970son the production line?

I have to admit (with regret) that this isprobably the worst finished car I have seen fora very long while from any of the majormanufacturers but has this put me off ? Notreally, I am disappointed with the fit and finishbut this is probably just my bad luck. I doubt ifall cars are like this and the odd imperfection isnot the end of the world unless you happen tobe one of the rivet counters when perhapsperfection is everything.

OK, moans out of the way, what do I thinkof this new mould and model in general? As ithappens, on the morning that the Suzukiarrived I also saw the real thing drive past at ajunction so from my first look at the model andthe full size car my general impression is that thecar looks to be to the right size and scale.

The model itself is based on the 2006Suzuki MotorSport car as driven by Guy Wilkesand Phil Pugh, both from the UK and enteredinto last year’s JWRC championship. The modeland decals are based on the fourth round (28-30April) 2006 Rally Argentina which Wilkes wonwith the sister car in third spot. A quick look atthe website’s own pictures show what a excellentjob SCX has done of reproducing the liveryfrom this race right down to the detailing ofboth of the drivers’ helmets. If you check out ➳

SCX 62160 Suzuki SwiftSCX 62160 Suzuki SwiftSCX 62160 Suzuki SwiftSCX 62160 Suzuki SwiftSCX 62160 Suzuki Swift88630 Rally Chrono P88630 Rally Chrono P88630 Rally Chrono P88630 Rally Chrono P88630 Rally Chrono Packackackackack

By Mark HattonBy Mark HattonBy Mark HattonBy Mark HattonBy Mark Hatton

37January 2007

the web address (www.suzukisport-europe.com)as found on the A-pillar of the car you will finda link to all their exploits from this year.

Back to the model now and what I really likeis the nice overall bright yellow of the car, thegrilles in the bonnet and the neat Suzuki “S” inthe front grill. This really helps to set the car off,as do all the decals which to my eyes look verycrisp with no bleed evident on any of them.What look like the water washer nozzles havebeen picked out perfectly with two black spots ofpaint as well as the front bonnet catches beingof even better detail picked out in silver on theraised plastic of the body shell. The wingmirrors have a silver finish on them to makethem look like glass and the tampo printing upthe A-pillar on both sides with the Suzuki Sportweb page address looks great. The driver andco-driver’s names and nationality can also befound just in front of the wing mirrors and youcan read them, but you may well find you needa magnifying glass for this one. Moving round tothe rear there are two more finely picked outsilver quick release catches for the boot, the boothandle is crisply picked out in the mould, theboot spoiler is firmly attached and you can evenmake out the European Union stars on thenumber plate. The whole of the tampo printingand the new mould is really first class and not tobe faulted in my opinion.

On to the inside of the car. If youremember, at the start of my review I said thecar looked like it had completed a rally already?Well, by the eyes on stalks look of the driver andco-driver it certainly looks like they have just

come off the back of a barrel roll or two! Bothdriver and co-driver are all in yellow with whitegloves and seatbelts. They also have painted onmicrophones as well as additional detailing toboth crash helmets which is a nice touch as wellas being accurate from the pictures I viewedfrom the Suzuki MotorSport web page of therace. The tops of the seats also have wraparound wings around the helmets, a rather largegear stick can be seen sticking vertically up frombetween the two pilots as well as a bit of roll cagebut that’s it. The rest of the inside is just blackwith no additional detailing unless you count theco-driver’s pace notes, which must be in braillebecause I certainly cannot see them! Maybe thisaccounts for the wild look and the finish of thecar then!?

The underpan has nice detailing of bits ofsuspension, chassis and the exhaust sticking outthe back. The motor fitted is a two wheel driveRX41 with the standard screw in SCX typemagnet fixed behind the motor. Two screws atthe front and one at the rear and the body andchassis comes apart easily. Sadly no undersidepainting that has been seen on many recentSCX rally cars. I also like the rally muddy, snoweffect, etc that SCX produce on some of theirmodels. I personally would like to see one ofthese effects on all of their rally cars as well asthe underside detailing as, if you drive your rallycar hard, then you are going to see the undersidea few times!

As for the lights, well SCX has stuck to theirtried and tested solution of two copper metalstrips either side of the chassis from the frontspring pick ups to the motor cradle. There are

38

then two copper strips that hang down from thetop shell which take power to the two smallPCBs that contain the very bright neon LEDs.The front LEDs are certainly bright and,combined with the excellently modelled frontheadlights, look great for a bit of night rallying.Not quite so good at the rear as, though theLEDs are nice and bright, the light can also beviewed through the shell as well as the rear lightclusters.

As for the wheels and tyres, well surprisinglythe tyres are slicks and not the rally ribbed type.The hubs are a nice eleven spoke silver designwith what look like very big BF Goodrich logoson them. They still look good but I wonder howlong they will last on the track with a bit ofrough and tumble?

The mesh of the rear gear and motor pinionis nice and tight with virtually no movement inthe rear axle. The motor gearing feels typically“notchy” like all new SCX motors when yougive the wheels a little spin. This will loosen upnicely after a few month’s wear, typical SCXmotor characteristics. Surprisingly, there is noapparent lubrication of any of the gearing ormotor so I will sort that out before I move ontothe track test.

Rally Chrono P Rally Chrono P Rally Chrono P Rally Chrono P Rally Chrono PackackackackackOn with the track test and as a bonus a reviewof the new Rally Chrono Pack. As it was mybirthday (14 again!) I decided that the betterhalf had better invest in this item for me so itseemed only fitting for a rally car to be the firston track.

OK, small test track assembled, all cabledup, magnet in and.... away we twitch! Well that’sall that happened. Cables all checked, carchecked, all OK but every time I tried it the carjust twitched, the read-out started to run then nopower and the read-out had three lines on it.Tried a new transformer and hand throttle, nochange. Looked at the track and took thestandard power base out. All fine now so back tothe test.

As I thought before I started, the Suzuki waspretty much stuck to the track until grip was

exceeded and the car just shot off at the nextavailable corner onto the laminate and into thedistance to a skidding halt. The Suzuki is norocket ship with the RX41 motor but there is abit of pull in the motor and SCX motors nearlyalways get much better and smoother with use.

Now magnet out and off we go again,literally as usual, as several laps with a magnetin and the first corner saw me slide under mydaughter’s bed! Back on track, settle down,recalibrate finger and brain and the timessteadily drop. What’s the difference? Well, insimple terms just over a second a lap slower withthe magnet out but also much more rewardingas I try to power out of corners to see if I canget a double “beep” from the chronometer to letme know that that’s my fastest lap. The slicktyres seem to have plenty of grip and are not tookeen to slide but if you put too much in thebackend lets go quite quickly and if you’re in theloop then you’re off. If you can get it just rightthen you can get the Suzuki to power into thecorner on three wheels as the inside rear wheeljust lifts as you pitch the car into the corner,great fun!

Overall it’s very steady if a little slow withthe magnet in but take the magnet out, it doesn’tget much faster but is more rewarding to getright and getting the wheel to lift in the corneris a bonus.

So what about this Rally Chrono pack? Foryour money you get a start ramp with a built intimer, a couple of buttons and some chequeredposts with start banners to join it all up. Easy tosort, no need for instructions for this. You also ➳

39January 2007

get two loops, a special piece of track and shortstraight that takes it from the ramp to blend intothe main track. Now for the important bit, whatyou don’t get: a transformer and hand throttle.If you haven’t got these then you will bedisappointed as the set will not work.

To complete the track setup then plug in thetransformer, hand throttle and a small jack plugfrom the special track piece into the back of thechronometer base. This cable is for the tracksensor as the car completes each lap.

Now a quick read of the short and simplemulti lingual instructions to find out what thebuttons do. Set your laps: 1, 5, 10, 15 or 20,place your car on the ramp, press the “mode”button, the unit starts a beeping countdown aswell as four LEDs on the unit lighting up one ata time with the beeps until all four LEDs are onand then out with all the LEDs and power isapplied to the track at the same time. As youthen come round to complete a lap you eitherget a beep, or two beeps if it’s your fastest lap todate. The display will also show your last lap fortwo seconds and then go back to tell you howmany laps you have left. Trying to watch thisand your car will probably see you off the track,but you will probably miss it as you aren’tlooking! Once your laps are up, a final long beepfrom the unit as you pass the track sensor andthe power is cut.

The unit will now display your overall timefor X amount of laps. You can also check outyour fastest lap and your average lap times down

to hundredths of a second by pressing the“select” button. I won’t bore you with quotingthe instructions but it is very easy. Reset your caron the ramp, one button press and away you goagain with the same parameters for another setof laps. It all worked fine for me and is easyenough for a young child to use. You may wishto set up the laps for them to start, show themwhich button to press and then that’s it.

Minus points, well you can’t store any timesso you will need to write them down if you wishto keep them. If you spin off at the first cornerthen you can’t just reset the unit, a real pain. Youhave a couple of options; turn the power off andreset everything again or just run your car overthe sensor until the unit times out and startagain. It would be a good idea if the instructionstold you NOT to include a standard power basein your layout, but you know this now so youshouldn’t have the same problem! However,other people may well think they have a faultyunit and just try to return it. The main problem,which I mentioned earlier, is that if you don’talready have a SCX transformer and handthrottle you’ll be stuck before you even start.One of the dealers (Pendle Slot Racing) sell theset plus some add on track, transformer andhand throttle so that may well be the way forsome people.

That’s it then, so in summary: the littleSuzuki is a cracking little car to peddle round thetrack and I just wish that SCX et al would domore of these cars instead of yet another Subaru!The model looks spot on to me compared to thereal thing, SCX just need to make sure that thequality control does not slip, as my example is farfrom perfect. Would I buy one, well as I said atthe start of the article, I was just about to so theanswer must be yes!

The Rally Chrono Pack was purchased withmy wife’s money and, apart from some minorniggles mentioned above, I have enjoyed playingwith it and look forward to sorting out severalcars for my son and I to do battle with once Ihave sorted out a bigger and more challengingtrack for us to zip round. Timing has never beeneasier. ■

40

Recent newcomers to the slot market inthe UK are Tertre Rouge RacingCompany aka TRRC. I have been

fortunate enough to get my hands on the firstthree releases - the Bentley Embiricos, AlfaRomeo P3 Streamliner and Auto Union A typeStreamliner. These are resin body kits from acompany whose aim is to offer slot enthusiastscars from pre-1940. Along with these body kitsTRRC also produce alloy slot wheels and insertsthat represent the wire wheels used during the1930s, which will take available ‘Classic’ rubberfrom Scalextric, Ninco, or Ortmann.

The Embiricos Bentley was based on the4.25 chassis with a streamlined, light weightcoachwork designed in 1938 by a Parisiandentist called Paulin and made by Frenchcoachbuilders Pourtout for Greek banker AndreEmbiricos. Sadly the car did not appear at LeMans in 1939, despite being entered, but didreappear a decade later in the hands of Englishprivateers Hay and Wisdom to score a creditablesixth place finish. The car returned in 1950when it could only manage 14th in the hands ofHay and Hunter, while 1951 saw it finish againon its final appearance, this time 22nd in thehands of Hay and Clarke.

The two Grand Prix machines are bothfrom the 1934 Avusrennen, the Alfa Romeo P3Tipo B streamliner entered by Enzo Ferrari wasvictorious for young rising star Guy Moll on thefrightening banked circuit at Avus. Oppositionwas reduced following the decision by Mercedes-Benz to withdraw their entries after practiceproblems which left the Auto Union A typestreamliners to carry the flag for Germany.However, team leader Hans Stuck was forced toretire while well in the lead at two-thirdsdistance leaving Moll to lead home ScuderiaFerrari team mate Achille Varzi, with the AutoUnion of August Momberger the highest placedGerman entry in third place.

All three kits arrived as unpainted resinshells, with required interior and Lexan glasspieces for the Bentley and, for the GP cars, withresin drivers, exhausts, steering wheel, and in thecase of the Alfa additional streamline fairings. Ialso ordered three sets of wheels and inserts plusOrtmann tyres to go with the kits. The firstconsideration was what to use for chassis/poweretc. It was a huge stroke of luck that thePenelope Pitlane guys introduced me to theirFJ1 brass chassis. I was able to use slightlymodified versions for both the Bentley and theAlfa, the chassis being nice and narrow whenfitted with the Scalextric Moto GP motor. Bothwere completed with Slot.It deep flag guides,axles and gears. The modifications on theBentley required a new back mounting post tobe bonded into place in front of the originalmoulded post and the thinning out of the shellwith a Dremel to provide plenty of room for therear wheels under the spats. The Alfa simplyrequired mounting posts to be screwed to thechassis, bonded into the underside of the shelland a bit of thinning with the Dremmel to takesome weight out of the shell. The Auto Unionhowever required more thought, the FJ1 chassis,narrow as it is, was a little too wide at the rearto fit the Auto Union so I decided to make my➳

TRRC BentleyTRRC BentleyTRRC BentleyTRRC BentleyTRRC Bentley, Alfa and, Alfa and, Alfa and, Alfa and, Alfa andAuto UnionAuto UnionAuto UnionAuto UnionAuto Union

By Phil InsullBy Phil InsullBy Phil InsullBy Phil InsullBy Phil Insull

The Embiricos BentleyThe Embiricos BentleyThe Embiricos BentleyThe Embiricos BentleyThe Embiricos Bentley

41January 2007

own from 1mm brass plate, simply cutting out ahole for the Moto GP motor and a rectanglefrom the extreme rear of the chassis to createtwo small ‘horns’ onto which the rear brass axlebearings were soldered and a Slot.It axle andgear fitted. The front axle location was by meansof a simple brass tube soldered in the right place,and the Slot.It guide just ahead through a holein the plate. No body posts with this one as thefront axle tube and rear bearings are just tightenough a fit into the body to ensure it staysfirmly put when in use.

All three cars were hand painted withAcrylic, gun metal for the Bentley, aluminiumsilver for the Auto Union and wine red for theAlfa, the drivers, glass and interiors were fittedand detail painting completed and some chromefoil used to finish off the Auto Union’s filler capsand spine ridge. The three beauties were readyto take to the Wolves’ wood track for a test spin.One thing I did note when loading my box wasthe size of these three. I had a couple of Pre-addGP cars together with a Cartrix Mercedes,Scalextric Maserati 250F and Pink-kar AutoUnion in the box and these all looked a bit smallcompared to the TRRC cars.

Once at the track a check of the dimensionsagainst Mac Pinches and Dave Jones dimensions‘bible’ showed the bodies were pretty much spoton, except the Auto Union’s front wheel fairings

are a shade too wide and could have done withme rubbing them down around 0.5mm on eachside, and a big mistake by me. I had failed toread TRRC’s advice about front wheels. I hadordered all my wheels with the hub, whichmakes the front track too wide for scale, what Ishould have done (and subsequently have) isordered front wheels without the hub and justthe rears with. Once these come I can correctmy blunder and make the cars conform to thecorrect track dimensions. My second buildingmistake also became quickly apparent; 1930scars are fairly tall with very narrow wheels,which means when you push too hard into atight corner they will roll. The best I couldmanage round Wolves’ wood track was a stately12.4 seconds with the Bentley, so back to theworkbench to fit some adhesive lead strips.Fortunately, having a decent ground clearancemeant I could fit quite a bit of lead along theunderside of all three chassis, thus lowering thecentre of gravity considerably. Back to the trackand I’m now doing 9.95 with the Auto Union,10.01 with the Alfa and 10.16 with the Bentley,and I’ve got rid of the tendency to roll and thecars flow nicely on the Ortmann rubber, albeitthe Moto GP motors are a bit peaky when usedwith a standard 45ohm controller.

For comparison I then ran my Alfa 159 withthe FJ1 chassis and same Moto GP motor, axleand guide set up. This model, as per the realthing, has a lower ride height as it showed witha best lap of 9.15 seconds. However my opinionis that what we are looking at here is simply thenature of the beast. These are based on 1930scars and should stand taller than a 50’s car withdifferent handling characteristics as per the realthing. What I do know is the finished item looksgood and with a bit of tweaking will handle verynicely in the manner you would expect from carsof that era and if you get a few of these TRRCcars together you could have some real funreplicating great pre-war races. Well done toTRRC for picking a time period that is sadlyoften overlooked by the slot world. I shalleagerly look forward to your next releases. ■

The Alfa P3 and Auto Union A typeThe Alfa P3 and Auto Union A typeThe Alfa P3 and Auto Union A typeThe Alfa P3 and Auto Union A typeThe Alfa P3 and Auto Union A type

strstrstrstrstreamlinerseamlinerseamlinerseamlinerseamliners

42

Having left my original track at Quornwhen I moved to Dundee, I decidedthat I would build another one for the

1999 Toyota 132 Rally of Great Britain.As my original design was well over 200ft

long and included a massive mountain rangethat would have needed a step ladder to see overit, I thought that I had better scale it down sothat it would not need an articulated truck fortransportation, hence the finished design. Butwith a floor area of 14ft x 8ft it is still quite big.

Unlike the Quorn track this one uses amixture of Plexytrack/SCX track and wood/copper tape to add to the mix of surfaces, butthe principle is still the same, a mixture of fastand slow sections with some easy corners andsome not so easy - more on this later.

Because of transport considerations, Iwanted, if possible, to get the finished track inour A35 van, the track is made up largely of 4ftx 2ft boards on 2inch x 1inch frames with twolonger sections, one 6ft x 1ft for the top roadsection and one 5ft x 2ft for the start of the forestsection.

This time I did transfer my doodles to theboards before I started cutting and I’m pleasedto say that generally it all worked out well. To get

the reverse turns in the forest part I used 4inchradius bends which took quite a bit of cutting,even with my home made radius gauge. ➳

OvOvOvOvOverererererview of the Angus stage. it is approximately 50/50 copper tape and Plexytrview of the Angus stage. it is approximately 50/50 copper tape and Plexytrview of the Angus stage. it is approximately 50/50 copper tape and Plexytrview of the Angus stage. it is approximately 50/50 copper tape and Plexytrview of the Angus stage. it is approximately 50/50 copper tape and Plexytrack.ack.ack.ack.ack.

The original sketches on the boarThe original sketches on the boarThe original sketches on the boarThe original sketches on the boarThe original sketches on the board can bed can bed can bed can bed can be

clearly seen in this picturclearly seen in this picturclearly seen in this picturclearly seen in this picturclearly seen in this picture with the final cute with the final cute with the final cute with the final cute with the final cut

lines also visible.lines also visible.lines also visible.lines also visible.lines also visible.

Angus Rally StageAngus Rally StageAngus Rally StageAngus Rally StageAngus Rally StageBy Alan Slade

43January 2007

Before starting to lay the track and cut theslots I marked out the positions of the ditchesand river and cut these first. I know this is notthe usual way, but the river runs under thePlexytrack and I could not have made itafterwards. But anyway you build roads overrivers, not rivers under roads don’t you?

There are only two long straight sections ofcopper taped track, these being the start (3ft) andthe road section up beside the woodyard (12ft),so these were cut using a circular saw and every-thing else was cut using a router and guide bar.The transition sections between the board andthe Plexytrack were fun to make and it took a bitof experimenting before I managed to get asmooth join. The secret was to continue the slotin the board beyond the join and then fit thewooden ramp and cut the slot in that.

Whilst I had the circular saw handy I alsocut the staging section at the start and the parcfermé at the finish. This way cars could be linedup before the stage starts to save having tocontinually call for the cars and then kept readyfor the next stage when they have finished.

The woodyard is the connecting piecebetween the two road sections and has a varietyof hazards - log piles naturally, but also somerough surfaces and there is usually a tractor ortwo in there as well. If you manage to miss allthese, the final sting in the tail is the very largesolid tree right on the exit ramp!

The road section from the woodyard to theforest is fairly straight forward Plexytrack, butthe hill is not quite in line, so it takes a brave soulwho will attack it hard and actually jump it,

Cars lined up rCars lined up rCars lined up rCars lined up rCars lined up ready for the staready for the staready for the staready for the staready for the start of the stage.t of the stage.t of the stage.t of the stage.t of the stage.

Obviously a club evObviously a club evObviously a club evObviously a club evObviously a club event from the grent from the grent from the grent from the grent from the great veat veat veat veat varietyarietyarietyarietyariety

of cars!of cars!of cars!of cars!of cars!

An ovAn ovAn ovAn ovAn overererererall view of the woodyarall view of the woodyarall view of the woodyarall view of the woodyarall view of the woodyard underd underd underd underd under

construction. The top two sections havconstruction. The top two sections havconstruction. The top two sections havconstruction. The top two sections havconstruction. The top two sections have more more more more moreeeee

log piles and felled trlog piles and felled trlog piles and felled trlog piles and felled trlog piles and felled treeseeseeseesees, whilst the bottom, whilst the bottom, whilst the bottom, whilst the bottom, whilst the bottom

section is vsection is vsection is vsection is vsection is very rough stone.ery rough stone.ery rough stone.ery rough stone.ery rough stone.

It does not pay to be carIt does not pay to be carIt does not pay to be carIt does not pay to be carIt does not pay to be careless on the exit fromeless on the exit fromeless on the exit fromeless on the exit fromeless on the exit from

the woodyarthe woodyarthe woodyarthe woodyarthe woodyard as that trd as that trd as that trd as that trd as that tree will NOT movee will NOT movee will NOT movee will NOT movee will NOT move!e!e!e!e!

44

wooden sections and Plexytrack/SCX track forthe rest of it. The humpback bridge is homemade by forming a half straight over a piece ofplastic piping. It needed some care as the metaltrack sections wanted to buckle and touch andI then had to move them apart so that the ➳

some have and got back in the slot - most are notso fortunate! The track sections do not comeright up to the edge of the boards and I usedshort straights to connect between the boards,cutting the circular lugs off the track sections sothat they would push together. The boards areheld together with over-centre clips or bolts.

The final part of the track was designedpurely to complement the fast sections at thebeginning and hopefully slow the cars down asthey approached the finish which is just beyonda humpback bridge and 90° left. As you can seefrom the pictures it is all turns with the longeststraight being around 3ft, this in a track lengthof around 25ft. Again for this part of the trackI used a router and guide bar to cut out the

The rThe rThe rThe rThe revised forevised forevised forevised forevised forestry section. It is now much easier to get round what was a double hairpin as theestry section. It is now much easier to get round what was a double hairpin as theestry section. It is now much easier to get round what was a double hairpin as theestry section. It is now much easier to get round what was a double hairpin as theestry section. It is now much easier to get round what was a double hairpin as the

cars arcars arcars arcars arcars are carrying a bit of speed with them. The holes in the banks and boare carrying a bit of speed with them. The holes in the banks and boare carrying a bit of speed with them. The holes in the banks and boare carrying a bit of speed with them. The holes in the banks and boare carrying a bit of speed with them. The holes in the banks and board ard ard ard ard are where where where where where tre tre tre tre trees arees arees arees arees areeeee

planted when the stage is in use.planted when the stage is in use.planted when the stage is in use.planted when the stage is in use.planted when the stage is in use.

A TA TA TA TA Toyota weaving between the log pilesoyota weaving between the log pilesoyota weaving between the log pilesoyota weaving between the log pilesoyota weaving between the log piles.....

45January 2007

guide would go through. On reflection it wouldprobably have been easier to make this out ofhardboard and I may still do this one-day.

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed thatthe bridge has only one side wall (a 12mm thickpiece of MDF), this is intentional as the bridgeis under repair and there are cones, barriers andJCBs in the other lane. So you have to take afairly steady approach, but not too steady or youwill get stuck on the top of the bridge.

Having rather a lot of very large trees in ourgarden I did some pruning and these providedthe logs and trees for the stage. Logs and felledtrees / stumps are glued down and the trees arescrewed in place so they will not move when hit,no matter how fast the car is going! It also makesmarshalling interesting. The banks are madefrom painted polystyrene with bits of lichen andmoss and wood chippings over them, so if theyare hit bits do come off and get in the way of thenext car. Other scenery comes from modelrailway shops and courtesy of Britains and someof the grass areas are bits of old green carpet.

Sawdust, bits of sand, gravel and woodchippings are liberally sprinkled everywhere togive variety to the surfaces and make for aninteresting ride. As is normal, the ditches and

river were painted with a matt greeny browncolour to seal them, liberal quantities of varnishwere added to give a watery effect and a fewsmall stones were put onto the river bed.

The track surface for the wooden roadsection is blackboard paint, the woodyard ispainted a variety of matt colours with woodchippings and bits of gravel in the paint and theforest section is grey emulsion with varyingquantities of sharp sand added to the wet paint(i.e. home made Sandtex). Unlike the Quorntrack I did not experience any problems tapingthe track as it is just a straight forward single lanetrack with no crossovers.

When the track was used for the Toyota 132Rally of Great Britain some of the driverscomplained that the forestry section was tootight and they could not get round without help,but as other drivers managed to tackle itsuccessfully I explained that it was all a matterof technique. The same drivers also complainedabout the lack of sides to the track as they hadnothing to lean on!

But anyway on my return home I decided toopen up a bit more forest and change the routeslightly as can be seen in the picture. I also fittedsome hardboard sides on it to make it easier topack for transporting/storage.

A drivA drivA drivA drivA driver’er’er’er’er’s eye view going into the fors eye view going into the fors eye view going into the fors eye view going into the fors eye view going into the forestestestestest

46

As I did for the Quorn stage I’ll take you fora ride around the stage to try to give you an ideaof what it is like, as before the numbers inbrackets are the approximate distances in feetbetween the various parts and the number/letter combination is the next corner/hazard.

START (3) Tarmac 90R; (12) Tarmac 180L through gate onto mud - mind the ditches ;(¼) R /L flick between logs; (1) bear left pastmachinery and more logs; (2) kink R onto roughgravel/stones; (3) opening 180 R ramp veryslippery - CARE TREE! onto road; (4) largehump in road - not straight; (4) 90 R - mindfence & bushes on outside; (5) straight onthrough gate - dip - onto forest track; (1½) longopen R; (1½) 90R; (½) 45L; (½) 45L; (¾) 135Lblind - tight; (¾) 135R blind - tight; (2) 180R -tight into 180L opening v. rough; (1) ramp -straight onto Tarmac; (2) 180L tight; (½) swopto inside of bend 180R - can slide tail out; crossto outside (3) 90R onto humpback bridge sharp- mind roadworks 90L open (1) FINISH.

So there it is a nice simple, but challengingrally stage with a variety of surface changes toadd a bit more interest to it, and yes, it does allfit in the A35 - just! Like the Quorn track, it isstill in existence and gets an occasional outing.■