Conference terri::cars_uk

    My friendly model supplier has just started stocking the Spanish (we
    think) alternative to Scalextric called SCX.
    
    I have the catalogue, so if anyone is interested please contact me.
    
    Interestingly, their Formula 1 Ferrari does have the Digital logo on
    the nose, unlike the Scalextric (Hornby) version which is missing this
    transfer.
    
    They also do limited edition cars. He has one certificated model of a
    Ferrari F40 finished in a white racing liver, as well as the regular
    red ones.
    
    JohnK.

	A couple of years ago my wife bought me an AFX slot
	car set (I'd said that I'd always wanted one as a kid
	but never got one).  The cars are small (about the same
	size as matchbox cars) and I've got around 30' of track.
	It's pretty good fun (my 4 year old daughter joins in), however
	the track is prone to getting dirty and losing contact	
	with the cars, so careful cleaning is required.

	A friend of mine converted his loft to hold is Scalectrix
	to hold his collection of 50 cars and 150' of track.  In
	my last job, we moved offices and the day we left there
	was a large room empty, so we all brought bits of Scalectrix
	in and had a ball.

	Dave

	

    
    Had a Scalextric party a few years back. Split people into groups and
    they all chipped in together to buy a car or two and a few bits of
    track. Had a great time playing silly drinking games depending where
    the cars finshed. Needless to say there were less and less finishers as
    the evening progressed.
    
    Had so much track that the infield was in the living room then it ran
    into the hall, had a massive straight to the kitchen, some high speed
    banking and a straight all the way back to the living room. I set up a
    video camera in the kitchen connected to the TV so that the competitors
    could watch their cars 'out in the country'.
    
    I won with my F1 Benetton due to an extra magnet stuck on the front to
    aid down force (it had some much 'downforce' the brushes were wearing
    out after every race). Funniest moment was when a friends F1 Camel
    Lotus snapped its 'Gearbox' (the little white cog on the axle). You
    could hear the motor revving away as he 'floored' it only to see it
    gradually slow down along the back staright. (just like the real
    thing!!)
    
    
    POL.  
        

    
    
    Ok , What slot racing are you on about ??????
    
    
    Are we talking real slot racing or scalextric or don't we know???
    
    
    How serious about racing are you????
    
    
    Is it just for fun?????
    
    
    Having possed all the questions I'll try and fill in the blanks.
    
    Real slot racing is brass chassis, mega quick motors and sponge tyres
    on ali rims. Its not the cheapest way to do it as the cars are
    generally scratch built and some of the components cost real money. The
    track is normally plywood painted black with the slots cust with a
    roowter ( not to be mistaken with router) , along the edge of the slot
    self adhesive copper strips are laid to provide the power, somewhere a
    12v dc feed will be connected to the copper. There are a good number of
    clubs that race this kind of car , very enthusiatic , very competative
    very fast.
    
    There are a good number of clubs who race Scalextric, some to a lesser
    or greater degree than the slot car clubs. Mostly using standard
    scalextric cars, a large proportion of which use spainish made cars ,
    now called SCX. All race in classes, F1, group C , touring cars etc
    etc. All have national race meetings, some international. 
    
    
    Is that the sort of reason that the original note was put in???  I
    personally don't race, anymore that is. But I do still have a large'ish
    collection of scalextric cars ( there's money in them toy cars )
    ranging from a D type Jaguar ( well an XKSS they called a D type ) to 
    a Jordan Ford. I do however still keep in contact with people at the
    club I used to go to , there are more important things than playing 
    with toy cars. If anyone is real intrested in that kind of thing, I
    don't have any idea where clubs are or that kind of thing, but I can
    find that sort of thing out.  The biggest problem with it all is that 
    the space required is quite large , and of course storage is a problem
    too. The clubs I do know of have large tracks, 30-40 meters round. Most
    of thw clubs are very friendly as a majority of the people involved are
    keen on motor sport and cars in general.
    
    Garry
    
    

    When I were a lad... the Scalextric (or is it Scalectrix) to have was
    the Vanwall, in BRG. I can't add anything of value here though, I
    "lost" my Scalextric in 1968; a "friend" borrowed it and I never saw it
    again.
    
    Laurie.

    
    I've got a Scalextric-like set in my parents loft made by a French
    company (I think). It's a simple oval with two cross overs and the cars
    are a Mercedes 300SLR and a Jaguar D-Type.
    
    Maybe I should revive it, if daughters are a good enough excuse to play
    with it. :^)
    
    Mark

    Hey Mark, I've got a son! Bung it over!
    
    Wasn't there a miniature one around years ago, Minic or something like
    that?
    
    Laurie.

    All of you guys with original Scalextric stuff from a few years back,
    take care of it as its collectable and worth some dosh.
    
    Roy

	Well, even my two year old son is useful, he fetches the cars
	when they have come off...

	Dave

    I used to have a Minic motorway set. This was not your usual racing set
    but used scaled down versions of cars. (I can't remember the exact
    types but I'm sure there was a mini van in there somewhere). It also
    had a London Transport Bus (with bus stops!) and a very slow moving
    truck that you put some oil in an element to give it some diesel smoke
    (and an awful smell!). It was good fun!
    
    I think my mum sold it too an antique shop about 15 years ago <sniff> :-(

    I had a Minic set when I were a lad...
    
    I had a London Transport Fire Engine, and a Black Police Daimler 250,
    both complete fith flashing blue lights, and also a White Austin Healy
    3000 and a red porsche 911.
    
    I modified the Porsche to make it go faster by enlarging the rear wheel
    arches with my Mums scissors and fitting bigger tyres from a Matchbox
    car.  I seem to remember that this upset the handling more than
    somewhat.
    
    Them were the days...
    
    
    John

    I guess with scissors you would get quite a RUF Porsche,
    
    	Rik

    RE: .11
    
    Cor! I bet you wish you still had those cars...
    
    Laurie.

    I used to do Scalextric, had about a 100' of track layed out in a
    circuit with Moutain climbs and a 25' straight leading into a high
    speed banking, followed by 'the broken down bridge' (remember that)
    
    It was great fun but maintaining a good connection all the way round,
    even with the booster cables, was difficult.
    
    I had (have?) the Scalextric 'Goldfinger' set:
    
    1 Aston martin DB5 with ejector seat and pop-up rear armour plate(if
    rear shunted)
    1 drop-top Mercedez persuit car which had a guy leaning out firing, and
    if rear shunted a spring catch flipped the cvar off the track
    1 special piece of track which had a plastic bolder which when the DB5
    passed, flipped a switch and the bad guy was ejected
    
    Those were the days. I keep promising I'll get it all working again.
    maybe now I will

    I had a Minic I thought it was brilliant....those were the days!!!
    Richard
    f

    I really wish I hadn't read this topic.
    I just know I'm going to spend this weekend trying to rescue all the
    bits of Scalextric that I gave to my little brother and trying to get
    some of the cars going again.
    I started off with the Mini Cooper set it was fairly fast but if you
    didn't take sharp corners just right the mini's could end up the other
    side of the room !
    Then I had a Mclearan F1 and a JPS, much faster ! but prone to
    overheating.
    Finally my brother got a pair of 911's probably the quickest cars
    around any track we could create, and we got pretty creative especially
    when it came to bending the track so it would fit together.
    I always wanted one of those crossroads.. anyone know of anywhere in
    Reading or Basingstoke that sells pieces of track ?
    
    Jason.
    

    Beatties in the Mall (reading) sell a wide selection of Scalextric
    goodies, also try the model shop under Chatham St. Car Park next door
    to D.E.S.  There's also a pretty good model shop near Crowthorne BR
    station next to Pearmains (Vauxhall dealer).
    
    
    Nev.

    
    I'm pretty sure there is a Beatties in Basingstoke also, in the market
    square near Martines.
    
    The fastest car I've got at the moment is the F1 Camel Lotus (the one
    that snapped the gearbox in an earlier note). I replaced the axle gear
    with a cog from a Sierra Cossie (too slow and just can't corner) and
    stuck on an extra magnet at the front. The Camel and the Benetton
    really do stick to the track like sh*t to a blanket with the extra
    magnets, though they do both reach a point where they run out of
    downforce and don't so much as slide round a corner as fly off Patrese
    style.
    
    The group C cars are great for power sliding round corners. I've got a
    Jag XJR8, Rothmans Porsche 962 and the Merc C9 (in Silver Arrows
    livery).
    
    All this talk has got me itching for another party. Anybody
    interested??
    
    
    POL.

    Guess who had a large Scalextric set whose Mother gave to "Charity,
    mate"" when he was off at poly, some years ago.
    
    :^(
    
    Greg

    Well I've still got my set, and it is well used.  My list of cars is as
    follows :-
    
    	Scalextric :
    
    		Pug 205 GTi		-	SRS model.  Unbelievable
    		F40                     -	Not yet run.
    		Diablo                  -       Not Yet run.
    		F1 Benneton             -	Quick, handles well
    						(mangatraction),
    		F1 Williams             -	Quick, handles well
    		                        -	(magnatraction)
    		Audi Qauttro            -	No grip, but great fun in
    						power slides
    		Porsche 911             -	even less grip than the
    						Audi
    
    	Airfix
    
    		Ford GT40		-	Useless compared to
    						scalextric cars
    		Ferrari GTO             -	as above
    
    
    
    I also still have an original Tri-ang 4 lane F1 set with cars, track,
    barriers, throttles etc. all boxed.  *NO-ONE* will be selling that !
    
    
    Shaun.
    

    Well done to thge person that started this topic...
    
    I used to have a Minic road way complete with afore-mentioned vehicles.
    I had it all set up with my Hornby railway. This included a raised
    section of road which acted as a loading ramp for driving vehicles onto
    a special flatbed railway carriage.
    
    The flatbed had a slot/groove running along the centre of the trailer.
    The idea was you backed the train and carriage upto the loading ramp;
    once the trailer was fully backed up it effectively became an extension
    of the roadway. There was a slight drawback... the connector which was
    supposed to carry power to the trailer invariably did not make a
    'clean' connection which meant you had to have just enough speed to
    drive onto the trailer correctly... not enuff', front wheels barely
    make it onto the trailer; too much speed (and the trailer connection to
    the roadway was 'clean'; and the car takes off into the horizon...
    the London bus usually fell off to one side.
    
    I still have all this gear somehwere in my mum's house... also have two
    Scalextric single-seater Jaguar racing cars, one in yellow and the
    other in British Racing Green; the track was shorted when my puppy (at
    the time) decided to see what happened if it rained on the track.
    
    Reargards,
    
    Stephen                                                                  
    

    Re: Shops....
    
    The one under the Chatham Stree Car Park went bust.
    
    The reason I started this with regard to CSX was their catalogue
    includes several items that used to be in the Scalextric range but have
    been deleted for several years.
    
    Examples include the Le Mans start trackwork and, very importantly,
    track borders for *all* three radii of curved trackwork, which stop
    that rear whell dropping off the inner edge of curves.
    
    JohnK

    
    Le Mans start trackwork.
    
    Do you mean it lines the car up at right (or nearly) angles to the
    track and then drives them out onto the circuit? Sounds neat, if so.
    
    Matk

    On the subject of whacky track, anyone remeber when Scalextric did:-
    
    1) Broken down hump back bridge - you had to jump over the gap !!!
    
    2) Blow-out track. This was a piece of track with a pair of
    hand-controls leading off. The idea was that when your openent was over
    that section you pressed the button and a lever popped up on the track
    and they flew-off - jolly sporting though it never really worked that
    well.
    
    3) Special smoking oil which made a rubber -burn effect when you revved
    the car whilst held down on a particular spot. 
    
    4) I'm out of touch with current types of car but I remember when you
    could get motor-bike and sidecar combinations. memory says they really
    flew.

    
    I also have the electronic lap counter which is about as reliable as
    this years Ferrari.
    
    POL.

    What I always wanted was the Hill climb set they did which went un the
    stairs.  One lane of track ran up the stairs with a complete circle at
    the top for the car to turn round and come back down.
    
    
    Shaun.

    Scalextric also do "Turtle"s vehicles. Three individuals on skateboards
    plus some other vehicles.
    
    These have sold appallingly due to being late to market (Hornby missed
    the craze window!).
    
    I bet they become collectors items in the years to come!
    
    JK

    My lap counter a Bloody magic.  They are computer based, I wrote the
    original software. It gives lap time , scale speed etc etc.
    
    	Magic.....
    
    
    Garry

    Do they still make Scalextric then? Is it as good as it used to be, in
    terms of quality, I mean?
    
    Laurie.

Anybody have one of the steerable cars?

It had a controller with a steering wheel on as well.

The steering wheel actually changed the position of the car on the track.
You could thus zoom along to the left of the slot or the right, depending how
you positioned the steering wheel.

It worked by reversing the DC to the track and hence the motor of the car,
whilst a neat bit of mechanics ensured that the drive to the wheels was
always forward, irrespective of the direction the motor turned.

There was then some additional mechanics off the motor which drove a lead
screw along which the guide shoe ran.

They only made a couple of cars. My brother had, I think, an Aston Martin
in British Racing Green. The cars weren't the fastest but really stuck to the 
track, largely due to the extar weight and slicks on the back.

Wish I still had my set....

-Mike-

    Well I found my old track, unfortunately younger brothers aren't very
    reliable and it's in quite a bad state. Does anyone know Where I can
    get spare brushes for the cars - all ours are worn through.
    I went into Beatties (sp?) on Saturday and was shocked by the prices of
    the cars - about 25 pounds - ouch. Is this really the going rate ?
    
    
    Jason.

    
    My car was definately blue and the four wheels were at the 
    back although only two of them were driven by the motor.
    
    JN.

    
    The 4 wheels at the back 6 wheeler was a March (and Williams did one
    too, but Scalextric never made a model of it).
    
    Mark

    
    Who made mine then Mark ? It was definately for Scalextric
    and it was a good stock car too.
    
    If I was neck and neck with another car just before coming into
    bend and I was on the inside I fouind that I could increase my 
    speed quickly which would flick the back end out and de-rail the
    other car.
    
    JN.

    
    re: .40,.43,.44...
    
    Yeah, I remember the March (or whatever it was), still got it packed 
    away somewhere.  It came with the first set I was bought, also there
    was a Black Lotus if I remember correctly (the 400 or 500 set was it?)
    
    Chris.

    
    Jeff,
    
    I meant that Scalextric never made a model of the Williams. I suspect
    that yours IS a Scalextric model of the March.
    
    Mark

    
    Righto Mark.
    
    After reading the notes in this topic I know what I want for
    Christmas.
    
    JN.

    Thanks for the info, when I went in at the weekend I was just looking
    at the cars themselves I didn't notice the spares etc...
    
    Jason.
    

    I was unfortunate when I was a lad, as I didn't have a Scalectric set,
    but I did have a Matchbox Motorway! Does anyone else remember the big
    orange figure of eight track. This system had two slots, but instead of
    having an electrical contact running along the slot, the slots
    contained a long spring which went the full length of the track. At
    each side of the track was a Power House which contained a DC motor and
    a large cog which drove the spring around the track. Standard Matchbox 
    toy cars were then attached to the spring with a plastic pin which was
    stuck to the under side of the car with metallic tape. The cars then 
    whizzed around the track when power was applied. You could either use
    just two cars and have a race, with both springs moving in the same
    direction, or have a Motorway effect with lots of cars on the track and
    the springs moving in opposite directions.
    It was good fun and I had a Service station to go with the track,
    however I always wanted a Scalectric. I will probably get one using my 
    two boys as an excuse!
    
    
                          	Graham                       

    
    I remember the Matchbox sets ... anyone remember the Airfix sets with
    Ackerman steering?

    Doesn't this bring back memories, I also had the spring driven Matchbox
    set.
    
    Simon

    
    I never had the eletric matchbox as mentioned in -2, but I did have
    a matchbox set which was just long lengths of yellow plastic which
    clipped together and relied on gravity, it was called Superwheels or
    something simular, living in a three story house the stairs produced
    quite a reasonable turn of speed for the loop. ;-)
    
    Also I destroyed my scalectrix set by arranging for the cars to meet
    the 9:15 from London, curtesy of Hornby, if only I known that keeping
    both would've proberbly bought me a 'real' car now.
    
    How much would a Scalectrix kit with say 30 meters of track and 2 cars
    cost now. Also do they have more than 2 lanes now, I seem to remember
    one manufacturer produced a 4 lane track.
    
    

Scaletrix in the 60's had at least a four lane capability.

Dave.

>                     <<< Note 1942.54 by UFHIS::GVIPOND >>>
    
>    a matchbox set which was just long lengths of yellow plastic which
>    clipped together and relied on gravity, it was called Superwheels or

    Matchbox Superfast I think it was called. Lots of yellow straights
    joined together by little bits of red plastic. The loops were made of a
    more flexible blue plastic. If you could get the cars up to sufficient
    speed, you could put the loop pieces together (i.e. one loop of twice
    the circumference). Hours of fun, but I always wanted Scalextric like
    my brother.

    Andy

    re .55
    
    I believe you can get even up to six lanes... I'm sure I've seen 3
    different radii of curve, in the catalog.

    
    6 lanes?????? I raced in Paris a few years ago in a 24Hrs even on a 8
    lane circuit. It's still possible to do , but using a standard 6 lane
    track and then add a 7 and 8 lane using track made in spain . I think
    the curves used are called super out bends. Most club tracks are 6
    lane.
    
    	Garry

    
    What happens if your car leaves the track can you replace it or are
    you out of the race for good ?
    
    I'm jealous, I assume they had it indoors so did they simulate night 
    driving by turning down the lights ?
    
    ounds Great  

    I had a Mattel Hot Wheels set which was for the cars that had little
    electric engines and that were charged up from a mains charger. A full
    charge used to keep a car going for about 2-3 minutes.
    
    The track itself was a straight forward oval loop (now there's a
    contradiction in terms); the track was wide enough to take three cars
    abreast of each other; the track also had slightly raised 'grooves'
    along its length... these grooves plus the raised sides of the track
    were the only 'steering' mechanisms provided for the cars.
    
    The cars' motors were started by a sliding switch on their underside;
    it was possible to start four cars at any one time and the way that
    this was done was to place all four cars in a starting grid which 
    was set off to one side of the main race track. This starting grid had
    one big switch, which controlled four small 'fingers' on the grid itself;
    so you placed the four cars on the starting grid, pressed the big
    switch, the four 'fingers' slide across and pushed the sliding switches
    on the undersides of the cars... et voila the race is on.
    
    The cars would career onto the track, into each other, hit the far side
    of the track, which would turn the cars to face down the track and off
    they go. As the cars travelled round the track (especially on the
    banked curves) they would change grooves, ram each other, etc. 
    
    Although you had no control over the cars whilst they were racing I
    thought the Hot Wheels set up was incredibly like the real thing...
    especially at startup. 
    
    You'd always get one or two cars that would lose their charge quicker 
    than the rest and so these cars would then take on the role of mobile 
    chicanes.
    
    The other thing I used to like to do was start off four cars, then set
    up a second (and a third) set of four, wait till the first set of cars
    are nearly round a full lap and try and start the new set of cars just
    as the first set get round to the start again. Stock car racing at its
    best. And yes it was possible to have 12 cars racing at the same time.
    
    Enuff already...
    
    Reargards,
    
    Stephen

    
    Yep, I remember Hot Wheels.
    
    The majority of Hot Wheels were actually much like the Matchbox tracks
    mentioned earlier. I had a set like that with a little motorway
    services  building which had two wheels which were powered by an
    electric motor which would propel the cars around the track. The cars
    didn't have a motor of their own.
    
    They DID also do the FAT TRACK sets with the cars with electric motors,
    as described in .60 and I had one of those two. The Ferrari 512S I had
    knocks around in my parent's lounge for local kids to play with when
    they come to visit.
    
    Mark

    
    re: acouple back. 
    
    
    	Yeh it was indoors, but no lights. It's a problem unless you have
    ifrared bins. The track was about 50 mtrs round so the furthest point
    was miles away and a struggle to see in light when the eyes start
    getting tired. As for off's , they have marshalls to pop you back on ,
    but if its a biggie, it's back to the tool box for a rebuild. I think 
    every thing exept the chassis and bodywork were replacable. The french
    take it very very serious, in fact they were as passionate about it as
    Le Mans.
    
       Garry 

I used to go to a club in Bristol where they had a track which was 
a scale model of Brands Hatch. Made from plywood/hardboard, it had
6 or 8 lanes ...

You turned up with your hand built cars, plugged in your hand controller
and away you went.

There was a model shop in Bristol which specialised in these cars. You
buy the clear plastic body, make the chassis from piano wire and copper/
brass tubing soldered together, add the electric motor, wheels etc etc
and thats it.

It was the 60s equivalent of these petrol motor powered 4 wheel drive
radio controlled model cars of today ... 

    Just some extra info ---
    
    	Best cars currently around (in my opinion) -
    
    		SRS2 (Spanish Scalextric)  Jaguar XJR14
    		SRS2    "         "	   Mazda 787B (Le MAns winner 1991)
    
    	I've had these two 'rockets' about 1 month, and they beat anything
    else that I've got which includes -
    
    		Diablos, F40's, 962's, Lotus, Williams, Jag XJR8, Celica,
    Cosworth etc..
    
    	If anybody wants serious speed + handling, I recommend these two
    models.. They have recently appeared in BEATIES (approx 24 quid).
    
    	The Mazda is also available in blue and white..
    
    And for those of you who used to collect Scalextric years ago..
    
    Anyone with a Dehavilland Bugatti ???? (keep it ..it is worth approx
    500 pound).
    
    A guy called Steve De-Havilland who knows EVERYTHING about Scalextric 
    commisioned this car years ago which Scalextric put into production (I
    think less than 20 remain ??).
    
    For anyone whose interested   -  Steve De-Havilland runs an outfit
    called - Model Car Marketing (MCM) based near Wokingham. He is also
    linked very closely with Model Motors of Bourne End (Marlow), and in my
    opinion can supply all you need as far as Scalextric is concerned.  
    
    
    Also a recommendation for true enthusiasts -- Get the Scalextric
    videos..a lot of good info on these.
    
    
    Just as a matter of interest...... Anybody rememner last years
    Scalextric catelogue (i think it was last year).. There are details of
    the F1 Mclaren and Tyrell either on the cover or inside.. Well thee
    Tyrell came out in different livery and is readily avaialable. BUT the 
    Mclaren NEVER got officially released because Mclaren have had serious
    issues with ALL model manaufacturers (Apart from Tamiya) over
    licensing.
    
    However a batch of Mclarens (not sure how many) got shipped to Spain.
    Some british traders have now brought some of these models back to the
    UK and are now available for purchase at select locations..
    
    I saw one at the weekend for 45 quid and almost bought it..the feeling
    being that in a few months it well be valued at over 100.....
    
    
    Rob
    
    
    
    

    
    
    Did anyone catch the Scaleextric advert on the TV over the 
    weekend ?
    
    It featured none other than our Nigel Mansell and a young lad
    having a race against each other. Guess what the cars were ?
    
    An F1 Ferrari and an F1 Maclaren. The question I asked was "when
    did Mansell make this advert ?" Was he with Ferrari ? If so then
    they've taken some time releasing the advert as I've never seen it
    before.
    
    Anyone know ?
    
    JN.

    
    
    Rob, 
    
    
    	Your right about Steve Dehaviland, but he's about the strangest
    bloke I ever met. If anyone is that intrested, join the scalextric
    collectors club. Steve does lots of stuff but he's expensive and there's
    another guy Neil someone or the other who has better contacts than
    Steve.  He's very Vocal , but not the only person who knows lots about
    scalextric, there is another guy who has had 2 books published on the
    subject and I know 100% that he was at one time an offical tester for
    scalextric. 
    
    	At the other end of the scale the biggest dummy as far a scalextric
    	has got to be a chap named Cola. He's one of the top johnnies at
	Hornby , he a dence as they come. When the Cosworth sierra came out
    	some people I know when to the toy fair where is was first shown,
	looked at, and told Cola it was crap with the floating front axles,
    	they told him how to change it etc etc, Ignored then as if they
        were stupid. 2 years later the car was changed to what they had
        suggested. Also 2 years ago at the British GP (scalextric) in
        London, one of the Lines brothers turned up with Cola, and several
    	of hornby's design engineers.Probably trying to pickup a few tips
        on how to make the cars better, but I bet the reason they didn't
        stay long was because 90% at a minimun of the cars were spanish.
    
    	It amazes me how it keeps going. Hornby really don't have a clue,
    	they ran in to trouble when they produced the Benneton, it wasn't
    	approved by Benneton, the XJR8 with Jaguar and Twr. And one that
        you may not have seen is the McLaren honda, Honda, Mclaren and I
        think even Fisa wanted a slice of that. The club I go on and off
    	is thought to be the best scalextric club in the country, it runs
    	the British GP most years. They will not allow anyone associated
    	with the club to become a tester, probably because they don't want
        to hear what's wrong with the cars. It staggering that all the cars
        I can remember since maybe the RS200 that came from spain , have 
    	been good, some better than others. The only semi turkey's were the M3
    	and the Jordan. I'd have to think hard of a car produced in the Uk
        what and not pressed in spain, that was a match for a spanish car.   
    
    
    	Me thinks the secretary of the collectors club live in Basingstoke,
    	His name is Malcolm Parker and he live somewhere around brigton 
    	hill area. That's assuming he still is, or was he the newsletter
        bod. whatever!
    
    	Next big international meeting I know about is the French Gp in 
    	Paris, around easter, if that does not happen then after that its
    	the British GP which this year is possibly going to be at 
        Silverstone or Brands Hatch. 
    
    
    	Happy hunting
    
    	Garry

    
    A correction to my previous note. The advert I saw was not for
    scalextric. I cannot remember what it was actually called now
    but the cars were definately smaller.
    
    JN.

It's an old ad Jeff, just not shown much.

Dave.

    
    I won't worry about it too much then Dave. I was really looking
    for some controversy like Mansell refusing to do the ad with a
    Williams car or what Renault/Williams would think of him doing
    the ad with Maclaren and Ferrari cars while maybe still under
    contract. We know how petty these people can be.
    
    Never mind.
    
    JN.

    RE .1
    
    The limited edition White F40 is referred to as the 'Tetra Pak' F40
    (due to its livery). There are two versions - the one with the transfer
    decals with SCALEXTRIC on and the one without the SCALEXTRIC logo. The
    one without the logo has the certificate and is limited to 2000 pieces
    I believe.
    
    As far as other F40s go -
    
    	there is a red racing version with logos (race number 40 driver
    							Mr J. alesi)
    
    	similar model as above but in yellow (race number 41)
    
    	The two white 'Tetra Pak' versions as mentioned above..
    
    	a red roadgoing version normally supplied in a set with a black
    	diablo but is available as a separate item at some dealers.
    
    	There may be other F40's anyone know ?
    
    	Also.....
    
    	As well as the cars that are boxed as SCX or SRS or SRS2 which are
    	spanish, there are also spanish imports which are boxed almost
    	identically to normal scalextric cars ,except that instead of
        saying SCALEXTRIC on the label (in the plastic window display) it
        says - SUPERSLOT. The other giveaway is the spanish writing on the 
    	end of the box ;-)
    
    	Rob

    
    I was reading a junkmail last night from one of the local department
    stores, it showed all the 'nice' things to buy for christmas and they
    had a 'Superslot' autobahnrehnen, pack. It looked very tacky though, is
    Superslot the local (German) name for Scalextric ?
    
    re all this 'The Cossie doesn't handle as well as the 4 wheel drive
    Audi' talk, your pulling my leg right ?
                                                      
    

    
    re <<< Note 1942.71 by UFHIS::GVIPOND >>>
    
    >all this 'The Cossie doesn't handle as well as the 4 wheel drive
    >Audi' talk, your pulling my leg right ?
    
    Nope, the Cossie is an absolute dog. It has a very high centre of
    gravity and it doesn't have a front axle so the front wheels catch the
    body work which further de-stabilises it. Never raced the Audi so I
    can't vouch for it.
    
    I prefer the F1 cars, the fat rear tyres giving loads of grip. (I
    wonder if they'll scale them down for the new regulations!!!). When I
    first got the Benetton F1 it was impossible to slide it round corners.
    It just stuck as if it was on rails, though there was a point where it
    would run out of downforce and just flip over.
    
    POL. 

    
    >	 had a 'Superslot' autobahnrehnen, pack. It looked very tacky
    >    though, is  Superslot the local (German) name for Scalextric ?
    
    
    I guess SUPERSLOT can be used fairly genericly here. My guess is that
    this is nothing to do with Scalextric. The 'SUPERSLOT' that I mentioned
    in my earlier note is definitely Scalextric - the logos are in
    identical style to the Scalextric style.
    
    Rob

    re .70
    
    Correction to one of my earlier notes -
    
    	Red racing F40 is race number 60.
    	Yellow racing F40 is racenumber 59.
    
    Also with regards to earlier discussions on 6 wheeler cars -
    
    Blue or green March 240 6 wheeler (4 wheels at rear). The earlier
    versions of this car carried ROTHMANS cigarette advertising which was
    later dropped for just the 'MARCH' logo.
    
    There is also a 6 wheel Tyrell ( this time with 4 wheels at the front) 
    which originated from Spain.
    
    Rob

    
    
    Some tips.
    
    
    	Most scalextric cars build in the uk, except those make in spain
    and assemble in the UK , are crap. But there are ways of making most of
    them go better. Probably the first area to look at is tyres. Normal
    superslicks are about as flat as a mountain, even some of the better
    tyres have ridges, others the tyre is far too big and therefore put the
    chassis miles up in the air. The best thing to do with tyres is using 
    something like an electric drill , spin the tyre on a hub, better still
    a lathe with a purpose made arbor, and sand the tyres so they are 1.
    flat accross the width 2. round , 3. so that the outside diameter is
    3/4". In addition its a good idea to clean the tyres too, everybody has
    different ideas about what to use, lighter petrol, thinners,Stain
    devil, strange smelling brews, printing rubber roller restorer, What
    ever don't use Goop. Thats the stuff that brass chassis boys use, it
    makes a mess of the track.
    
    Next thing to have a go at is the wheel bearings, the old brass
    bearings are the best, better than those stupid plastic ones. Not so 
    easy to get these days, but anyone with a lathe can make them. They
    only need to be the same shape as the grey plastic bearings with 3/32"
    hole through the middle. It makes the backend  more solid and also
    the wheels should run true. While on that , is the rear axle true,
    sometimes not too good. What you can do is swap the axle for either
    3/32 silver steel or better still a 3/32 drill blank.
    
    Most of that is ok for club racing but at home who cares, so onto the
    bits you can't touch for club racing. The Engine!!!!!! Theres bundles
    of things you can do with the spanish can motor, the sort that come in
    SRS ( black motor ) or the normal silver motor. Lubing came make a
    big difference, especially when the com and the brushes have worn in.
    Lubricants are abit like with tyres , what do you use. At one time it was
    lighter fuel, WD40 is good , or Connect duck oil. There are other
    things but a little squirt every now and then makes the engine run
    better, and faster. The little fully enclosed engine that comes with
    most english cars these day are not much good for anything other than
    straight line speed. If after that ,its still not fast enough, there are
    a few more things you can do with the spanish cans or the older Johnson
    motor in old english cars. With the spanish cans you can put a Parama
    16d armature in ( balanced or not ), most good Parama stockist with
    keep them or get them. That will make an srs car go like doodoo off a
    greased stick, not forgetting the lubing.  But if you feel that it
    could do with being a bit better stopping and maybe a bit faster ,
    then we are talking money but the last thing you can do is change the
    standard magnets for Cobalt magnets.  There's other stuff like changing
    the motor timing, fitting brakes to the circuit, adding weight to keep
    the car down, changing the plastic hubs to metal etc etc etc etc etc.
    
    Chassis strightness might be a problem and very easy to sort out. If
    the chassis is a bit wonky, strip the car down , put it in boiling
    water for a short time , when it come out the plastic chassis should be
    plyable, it can now be twisted back into shape.
    
    
    Have fun,
    
    
    Garry

What is lubing?

Other performance tips;

	Manual armature rewind with thicker wire (don't forget to bake in epoxy 
	and then balance).

	Shim the magnets if there's space between them and the armature.

	Ensure there is adequate pressure on the brushes.

Dave.

    
    Lubricating!!!!! or Lew bing
    
    I think I used something like swg 32 or maybe 38 for a rewind, damed
    fast. Make sure you use coated wire!!!!!
     
    I found the best thin for taking up the gap between the magnet
    and armature was tinfoil. 
    
    Lubricate the can end bearings too!!! I found lps40 fusing oil rather 
    good for that. 
    
    And another thing, every now and then clean the engine out. Use
    something like electralube or someother type of electrical/switch
    cleaner. Just give the engine internals a liberal sqirt to wash all
    the doodoo out.
    
    
    And finally , if you are building a track at home that is down to stay
    , Nail it down !!!!! I found the best way to nail the track was between
    the rails.  Every inch or so there is a plastic bit, pop a small pin 
    through that rather than along the edge of the track. It pulls the
    track flatter that if you nail the edge, that tends to let the middle
    of the track bow up.
    
    
    Garry 
    
    
    
    	       
    

re .75

All garry's tips for improving the chasis are valid. Making sure the wheels 
are round and concentric with the axel which in turn is running good bearings
is sensible. Where I would differ is to use Phosphur Bronze rather than
Brass for the bearing. This is harder wearing.

>What you can do is swap the axle for either
>    3/32 silver steel or better still a 3/32 drill blank
Our American friends call silver steel, 'Drill Rod'. I assume by drill blank
you are not refering to High Speed Steel.

Silver steel can easily be found in model engineering outlets and is usually
supplied gound and polished. This gives a very round and smooth finish. The
nearest suppliers to Reading are 
	Millhill Supplies
	Crowmarsh Gifford

Actually today, it is difficult to find imperial diameter silver steel. However,
2mm should be jsut as good.

Oh, by the way, ream the bearings - do not rely on a drilled finish. Drills
wander and do not cut truely circular holes. Reamers will leave a much better
hole. I know they cost more so borrow one from a friend!!

	Dave

    
    I don't think it makes too much difference wether silver steel or a
    drill blank is used. By the way I suspect the american drill rod is 
    what I mean. I have questioned why in the past and the only reason we
    could come up with was that the drill blank was harder. 
    
    I agree that phosphur bronze would be much better, but there are very
    good reasons for not suggesting it. With most of the tweeks , if not
    all are accepted in racing circles. The reason for this is that
    generally it is very difficult to tell the difference between say a
    home turned brass bearing and a 20 year old scalextric one, Phosphur
    would be easy to spot. For modified racing thats different, and
    Phosphur Bronze soak's up oil too!  Having said that , most engine
    tuning is easily spotted and not allowed for most racing. Some of the
    more subtle tuning is difficult to find, certainly without and engine
    strip down.
    
    The size of the rod used for the rear axle is very inportant. Most will
    notice that the centre of the axle is knurled. The crown wheel gear
    will slip unless it is a very tight fit. some of the srs axles a
    slightly bigger. 
    
    
    Garry
    
    

    Though as I detailed earlier I have about 100' of track in myparents
    attic, I never realised people took car racing so seriously.
    
    Did you ever have to take a drug test before a meeting :-)
    
    

    I bought a "mighty metro" set yesterday (for my son honest!)
    but was very dissappointed. The set consisted of a figure 8 with
    banked curves.
    
    I set it all up got the cars working, but had great problems trying to
    get them to go rond the banked curves. They either dropped off or flew
    off or got jammed in the joints. It would have been better with
    normal rather than banked curves.
    
    Anyone else had this problem ?
    
    Roy

    
    Roy - my kids have got one as well (honest !!)
    
    The Metro's are terrible for coming off - they're even worse on flat
    curves.... just slow down a bit before the corners, or better still
    search the car-boot sales for a cheap 'big' set with more track and
    better cars.
    
    Paul
    
    PS - do they do scalextric diesels ? :-)

    
    Yuk !!  banked curves, so its you who uses them. It's amazing that 
    at  swap meets and just about everywhere, banked curves turnup. You 
    can't give them away. Get some real bends.
    
    re: -2
    
    	Yup, toy car racing is that serious. Drug tests is taking it a tad 
    	too far, but drink driving might be more relistic. I have seen a
    	person keel over at a meeting before, and I sure have turned up at
	an international meeting looking and feeling like death warmed up 
    	after a good night on the town. Tempers sometimes run hot and you
    could be forgiven for thinking it was real serious stuff the way some
    of them carry on. But without a question scrutineering is done at every
    big meeting and I have seen cars stripped down if there is any doults
    about the car. I have also seen people disqualified for rule
    infringments.
    
    	There are those who consider themselves numero uno and holding them
    up is closest that most will ever get to suicide. Those guys take it as 
    serious as Mansell or Senna take F1. There are those who don't take it
    quite so serious, after all it's only toy cars. It's serious enough to
    have european championship , and for people to travel from France,
    belguim,holland and germany to compete. This year at the British GP
    there was a guy from AUSTRALIA!!!!!! He had travel all that way to
    compete in the British GP , as well as improve his collection!!!!
    
    
    Garry

    My nipper reckons a mate of his at school has a "Night Driver" or
    somesuch set for sale at the princely sum of 10 quid. He assures me
    it's Scalectrix and not some clone. what is it and is it worth it?
    
    Laurie.

>                    <<< Note 1942.82 by KERNEL::SHELLEYR >>>
>                              -< Scalextric set >-
>
>    I bought a "mighty metro" set yesterday (for my son honest!)
    
    
    	Oh yes, Roy!  What about .37 then:
    
>	KERNEL::SHELLEYR                       8 lines   6-NOV-1992 17:01
>	-----------------------------------------------------------------
>    
>                     If my son ever outgrows his obsession with trains
>    (I'll have to put him in touch with you JK), I intend buying him a
>    set (I never had one as a kid and always wanted one) so I can have a
>    play.
    
    	So you cured his obsession in three weeks then?!!   :-)
    
    	Ian.

re .80

Garry,

Silver steel can be hardened. Indeed, model engineers often use silver steel
for making unusual cutting tools. It is easy to machine. When done, heat to 
bright red, quench and then temper by heating to straw before quenching again. 
Finally for your purposes, polish. 

 >The reason for this is that
 >   generally it is very difficult to tell the difference between say a
 >   home turned brass bearing and a 20 year old scalextric one, Phosphur
 >   would be easy to spot.

Hum! beating the scrutineers.

>    The size of the rod used for the rear axle is very inportant. Most will
>    notice that the centre of the axle is knurled. The crown wheel gear
>    will slip unless it is a very tight fit. some of the srs axles a
>    slightly bigger

I had assumed with all the other modifications you would have cut your own
gears. In which case, the center hole is made to match. 

	Dave

    Re the Scalextric Metro
    
    It is useless (at cornering).
    
    The set I had included one of them and a Quattro, no contest.
    
    I tried putting ballast in the rear of the Metro (a bolt held in with
    some blu-tack) and that improved things a bit (mount it low down).
    
    Also, the front of the Metro is very high, I even cut away some of
    the plastic where the guide is mounted to lower it.  Not much help.
    
    Get some other cars (more expense).  Magnatraction helps a lot.
    (maybe worth fitting that to the Metro, it's only a magnet after all)
    
    J.R.

    re: .86
    
    Oops, well spotted Ian. 
    
    Anyway, I've taken the set back and got my money back.
    I will review the situation later and buy a better set, possibly
    the "Porsche Power" set.
    
    Roy

    
    Get the Le Mans set with the Porsche 962 and the Mercedes C11.
    
    You can also pick up a Jaguar XJR9 in Castrol or semi-Silk Cut colours and
    someone mentioned a Spanish made XJR-14 (Sounds good!).
    
    Mark

    
    
     Yep...  Get a spanish JAg XJR14 !!!  Then of course you'll need the
    MAZDA so that something will keep up with it.  (see reply .64)
    
    I had Cossies's and F40's and 962's..all good fun , but the fastest and
    so far smoothest of them all are the Jag and Mazda (they are identical 
    mechanics with different body shells).
    
    These are in my opinion the fastest and best road holding cars
    available (unless you do you your own mods).
    
    Please note that the latest SRS2 cars from Spain are far superior to
    the early versions (SRS) which went well, but looked fairly horrendous
    with those small wheels hiding under the bodywork.
    
    Also ....
    
    	Banked curves....More trouble than they're worth, unless you can get
    them permanently set up in the ideal position, to remove kinks etc.
    
    All of my banked curves are now redundant and Gary's right..you find
    loads at Swapmeets..
    
    Finally while on the subject of curves...,,someone talked about the
    number of lanes possible...
    
    If you have the room its possible to build an 8 lane track using
    Scalextric curves.
    
    Rob
    
    
    

    Just out of interest, at what sort of size track do you have to have
    boosters for the power ?
    I vaguely remember reading about them in the catalogues years ago.
    
    
    Jason.

    	Well, Sue (my wife) and I had a look in the toy/model shop in
    Feltham yesterday and bought our joint Christmas present...
    
      a 4-lane World Championship Scalextric set!  We had a go with it
    yesterday, to check it worked :-), but it's now back in it's box 'till
    Christmas. Comes with enough track for a 4-lane 10' x 4' ish figure of
    eight, 4 x F1 cars (2 x Willams-Renault, Camel Lotus & a JPS Lotus - 
    colors at least, don't think they had all the trade-marks), 2 x
    Rev-Start sections (add oil for smoke), 2x Mech Lap counters and 2x
    Chichane sections...
    
    	Have to start going to Car Boot sales to see about adding to the
    collection... Wonder where to put it though, the loft was already 
    converted and is my computer room!
    
    	A question... when you're racing, hope do you cope with the cars
    coming off the track? Driver replaces, all stop or what?

    Does anybody know if TCR is still being made.If so where can I get hold
     of it.I've already got some TCR but the cars are broke.
           thanks Rich.

     I've got loads of the stuff (20 metres + of track, 5+ cars,
     spares, 'obstacles') - interested ?

     I believe they are still in business but have changed the
     design . Yes, you guessed it - no migration path :-( You 
     may still find some of the earlier designed cars in model
     shops and the like.

Paul.

DTN 830-3153.

    
    Wow, what a find! I scoured Easynet some years ago for a slot car
    conference and just couldn't believe there wasn't one. Judging by the
    responses I reckon a dedicated conference is definitely called for!
    What's my interest? Let me explain.....
    
    Christmas 1964. My father was in the British Army and stationed in
    Germany. I got a German slot car set. I was just 14. It was a brand new
    make at the time called STABO CAR. It had actually been christened
    STABO CARERRA but due to conflict with an existing German slot car
    company called Carerra they were forced to blank out the 'ERRA'!
    Although their first batch of formula 1 cars were low quality (at least
    in design) they quickly moved to real high quality stuff, I got a Ford
    GT40 and a Maserati Mistral in '65 and the quality was right up to
    the sterotype German standards. Dare I say better than current
    Scalextric? The cars had metal chassis, steering, chromed bumpers,
    glass lights and were pretty accurate representations. The track is not
    flexible like Sclaextric but was (still is) better quality in light
    grey with embossed 'asphalt' effect. The scale was similar to
    Scalextric. The system was 9 volts.
    
    I currently have about 50' of track including cross-over bridge and
    chicane. Two 9 volt controllers. Two Porsche F1 cars, a broken BRM
    (dropped a dictionary on it!), a Ford GT40 and a Maserati Mistral. It's
    probably not worth much as I have 'customised' the cars a little and
    painted the track (but painted it well). I did this when I was about
    17. Silly me! It's all in working order. In fact I dare not use it now
    for fear of something breaking because spares are a problem.
    
    I last heard of Stabo Car in 1968/69 when they appeared to have
    branched into the big slot car stuff as well. Their range of stuff had
    increased significantly. They seemed to be on the up. However, since
    then not a dicky bird. I have been into several German toy shops in
    recent years and they've never heard of Stabo Car let alone stock
    spares and extra track etc.
    
    So. Anyone else heard of Stabo Car? Has anyone GOT any? Anyone willing
    to sell? Anyone know where I can get spares? Should I be reading
    certain magazines? Are there shops/dealers I should know about who may
    be able to help?
    
    Richard,
    Reading.

    Well my son's 5th birthday is fast approaching and I have an excuse to
    buy a Scalextric set. What do the experts recommend as the best initial
    package(s)? Since I'm currently in Portugal I can probably get some of
    the Spanish bits (SRS?) fairly easily.
    
    Rgds John

Found this in one of the automotive news groups:

-----------------

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