Saturn Likes Slot Cars
April 22nd, 2008OK, This is pretty cool.
Remember the thrill of racing slot cars? That’s how the website copy starts… The Saturn Astra Slot Car game has really very little to do with the car it’s trying to promote. The car is clearly aimed at a younger audienceThe car itself is quite uninteresting looking…like a Ford Focus from maybe 2001 (which was a car I drove for many years, many years ago). But the slot car game itself is a good little time killer game. You can construct your own track, hairpins, chicanes, straightaways and more. Race, challenge your friends.
Obviously their trying to market their cars, but like I said, the games, pretty fun.
Scalextric C2774 Ford Mustang Koni Challenge 2007
April 22nd, 2008History
The Ford Racing Mustang FR500C is a highly tuned race variant of the 2005 Ford Mustang. The car has a 5.0L engine delivering 420hp.
Picture: The No.5 Ford Mustang GT of Ian James and Tom Nastasi leads the cars in the rain enroute to victory in the VIR 200 Grand American Road Racing Grand Am Cup race at Virginia International Raceway, October 8, 2005. The win enabled Ford to claim the 2005 Grand Am Cup Manufacturer’s Championship with drivers Empringham, Nastasi and James.
The Scalextric model
The high detailed car has a full driver interior, finely detailed livery, working head and tail lights and is digital ready. This means that the car can be used on standard Scalextric straight out of the box or converted for use on the Scalextric Digital system in just a few seconds, as you prefer.
Features:
Digital Plug Ready (DPR) – allows conversion for use with our SCALEXTRIC DIGITAL range in 30 seconds using C8515 Digital Plug! Adjustable Magnatraction positions. Quick change guide braid plate. Head lights and Brake lights.
Configuration Dimensions
Motor Mabuchi SP 18k rpm
Side-winder Rear Mounted 2 wheel drive
Gear ratio 11:36
Axle width 58 mm Front 58 mm Rear
Tyre diameter
21(ext),15(int)x 10 mm Front
21(ext), 15(int)x 10 mm Rear
Wheelbase 85 mm
Overall length 146 mm
Magnet 2.5 mm Rectangular
Downforce 230 gm
Weight
Car 93 gm
Case 156 gm
Scale = 1/32
The Ford Racing Mustang FR500C is a highly tuned race variant of the 2005 Ford Mustang. The car has a 5.0L engine delivering 420hp. The No.5 Ford Mustang GT of Ian James and Tom Nastasi led all comers in the rain enroute to victory in the VIR 200 Grand American Road Racing Grand Am Cup race at Virginia International Raceway, October 8, 2005. The win enabled Ford to claim the 2005 Grand Am Cup Manufacturer’s Championship with drivers Empringham, Nastasi and James.
McLaren 2007 Fernando Alonso
April 22nd, 2008History
McLaren cars have been represented in the Scalextric range for nearly 40 years from the M4A of 1969 through M9A, M23 (James Hunt) and then through the highly successful MP4 line from the 1990’s to now with the introduction to the Scalextric range of the McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 race car.
The Scalextric model
The car modeled is that driven by Fernando Alonso, reigning F1 World Champion. Both McLaren drivers, Hamilton and Alonso, are heading the Drivers Championship table and great interest is held in the battle between champion Alonso and rookie driver Hamilton.
An exclusive license arrangement gives the Scalextric fan the benefit of this years McLaren packaging showing the images of the drivers. This is exclusive to Scalextric. The close working relationship we have with McLaren also enabled us to pay particular attention to the special chrome finish on the body which was approved by McLaren.
The McLaren Mercedes is also one of the first cars to benefit from our brand new car packaging case. The new flip-top clear case shows the car to its best advantage on its angled plinth. The display case is ideal for displaying the car. Spare braid plates are attached to the underside of the display case. The case stacks neatly and safely so that columns and rows of cases make a neat and clear display on the shelf. Branding is bold and clear.
Features:
Digital chip installed.
Adjustable Magnatraction positions.
Quick change guide braid plate.
Quick release nose section.
Scalextric 375 Tinplate
April 22nd, 2008Silverstone has a special place in the hearts of Ferrari fans as it was here that, in 1951, Jose Froilan Gonzalez scored the first ever World Championship victory for Scuderia in a Ferrari 375.
This quote catches the excitement:
“To me the grid was Hades and the engines were instruments in a hellish concert. My heart felt as if it would burst. Breathing was difficult. Then, just before I felt I must pass out, the starter’s flag came down. We were away. And what a start it was. The four of us in the front row, trying to lead the pack, accelerated so suddenly that our wheels spun while the cars moved forward in slow motion, leaving behind a cloud of rubber smoke through which the other cars roared, overtaking us like arrows! When our tyres got a grip on the track we found that instead of being pursued we were pursuing, trying desperately to find a gap in the crush of vehicles to catch up the leaders.”
The Scalextric model
The Ferrari 375 was one of the first Scalextric cars ever made. Faithfully reproduced by Scalextric in 2007, the Ferrari 375 features a plastic body to complement the tinplate bodied version in our C2782A 50th Anniversary set. The Ferrari car demonstrates the evolution of Scalextric over the past 50 years. Excellent build quality and attention to detail is to the normal high standard. The quality of the printed decoration is excellent.
You can Pre-order this amazing Vintage Reproduction here: Scalextric 375 Tinplate.
You can check even more Scalextric Historic F1 Cars here
What’s new in the Electric Dreams Store?
April 14th, 2008New Items In Stock
Racer RCR40 Porsche 935 K3, LeMans 1980 - $265.99
Scalextric C2889 Corvette L88 vintage racing - $47.99
Scalextric C2885 Peugeot 307, H. Solberg - $47.99
SCX 62880 Williams F1, Nico Rosberg - $45.99
We all know there are lots of not-so-well designed slot cars on the market. I’m
not talking about the common gripes, such as knurled axles and press-on plastic
wheels, too-delicate wings and mirrors, or guide flags too long, thick, or deep to
fit the slots on some brands of track. Those can be aggravating, certainly, but
what I mean here is cars that have chassis, and sometimes bodies, so ineptly
designed that no amount of aftermarket parts or routine tuning will ever make
them run or handle right (and in some cases, look right). These cars need a
complete redesign. Probably every reader of this article who has been in the slot
car hobby for a while has his list of nominees for a complete makeover.
Not too long ago we heard from a customer who decided to take the car at the
top of his hopeless design list and rebuild it the way he believes it should have been made to
begin with. What’s interesting about his project is that he didn’t go the usual
route of mounting the body on a Slot It HRS chassis or replacing every moving
part on the car with NSR components. Instead, he used production replacement
parts from cars of various manufacturers, along with most of the original chassis,
to create a car that performs a whole world better than it did originally but could
have been produced in volume and sold at a normal retail price. In other words,
his redesign could have been the original design and would have performed much better. He wishes to remain anonymous in order to
avoid the possible wrath of the manufacturer, so we won’t tell you his name but
we’re going to let him tell the story…
"Have you ever taken a good look at a Ninco Cobra? The body is beautiful.
They did a great job on it, not only in modeling the overall shape but also in
capturing all the details from the raked-back windshield and the roll bar to the
side pipes and the jack brackets. But then they stuck it on top of a chassis and
running gear that somebody should have been fired for. Of course, that was
quite a few years ago, and the state of the art then wasn’t what it is now, but
even then they could have done a lot better.
For starters, that big lump of an NC2 motor, sitting approximately amidships,
weighs too much, takes up way too much space, and doesn’t leave any proper
location for a traction magnet. Of course, if you’re a rabid non-magnet zealot that
won’t matter to you, but a truly well designed chassis provides the option of
racing with or without magnets. Many non-magnet racers refit these cars with NC-1 motors to get the power down closer to what the chassis can handle.
Then there are the wheels and tires, which are grossly oversize. The wheel diameter is a scale 18.56 inches, which is about
what you’d find on a present-day tuner car, not a 60s sports car. The tires,
however, have a typical 60s profile, which means the chassis sits ridiculously
high off the track on what looks like truck tires. Finally, they put a too-deep
interior tray into the body. That meant they had to jack up the body to clear the
motor, leaving a big gap between the tires and the fenders.
The result is a car that looks like a cartoon of a Cobra or, perhaps, a Cobra set
up for offroad racing, but definitely not a proper 427 Cobra race car. It’s also a
car that essentially can’t get out of its own way on the track. It’s like a committee
hashed out the packaging of the car’s various parts on a Monday morning.
Still, that body really is nice, which set me to thinking. What if Ninco were to
redesign the chassis, fixing all the mistakes, and re-release the car? Since I had
just acquired two Ninco Cobras I decided to explore the idea. I set a goal of
making the Cobra into a car that could be both legal and competitive in my GT-1
class for 1960s and 70s SCCA production cars and sedans. This class includes
Scalextric TransAm cars and L88 Corvettes. It also allows kitbashes using the
chassis and mechanicals from these cars. The only non-stock part allowed in
this class is a pair of Indy Grips 1009 rear tires. If I could make the Cobra
competitive in this class it would mean a huge performance improvement over
the original design. Making it legal for the class would ensure that it would be a
design that could be mass-produced and sold at a reasonable price.
My first idea was simply to transplant a shortened and trimmed Scalextric
Mustang chassis into the Cobra body. The Mustang’s front and rear axle
assemblies are the perfect width to fit under the Cobra’s fenders, and the wheels,
at a scale diameter of 15.68 inches, are much closer to the proper diameter.
Size comparison between Scalextric TransAm car wheels/tires and stock Ninco Cobra wheels/tires.
However, it soon became clear that this wouldn’t work, because the Mustang’s
guide sat too far forward to clear the Cobra body’s short nose. The same proved
true of all the other possible replacement chassis I tried, including the front-motor
setup from the L88 Corvette.
My next idea was to install the complete Scalextric sidewinder setup in the
Cobra’s original chassis. The problem here was to install all the necessary motor
and axle mounts and then make them solid enough to withstand the hard knocks
of racing. Scrounging through my parts bins I found the perfect solution in the
form of a Fly sidewinder rear pod. This part goes by several different stock
numbers, including B34, B104, and B108. They are all the same except for the
color plastic they are molded in. The Scalextric motor and rear axle assembly fits
perfectly, delivering a smooth gear mesh with the stock Scalextric sidewinder
gears.
Before installing the pod I had to grind off the original Ninco motor and rear axle
mounts, along with some additional material from the chassis, using my Dremel
Moto-tool with various cutting bits. Because the chassis curves upward aft of the
rear axle I had to contour the bottom of the trailing edge of the pod to match. For
this I used my bench-mounted belt sander, but it could also be done with a
Dremel or even a file. Emery boards came in handy for cleaning up edges. I
also cut off the triangular extension from the front of the pod that includes a
mounting tab for Fly chassis and a housing for a Fly disc magnet. Since the pod
was going to be glued in the tab wasn’t needed. Also, I was going to use a
Scalextric bar magnet just forward of the motor so the disc magnet housing was
in the way and needed to go.
Once I had the pod and chassis shaped for a good, close fit I applied CA glue to
the bottom of the pod and positioned it in the chassis, clamping it in place until
the glue set. I also wanted to get rid of all the up-and-down slop in the front axle
installation, so I cut a piece of 5/32" brass tubing and epoxied it into the chassis.
The tube also serves as a reinforcement for the guide mounting.
The next step was to snap in the motor and install the axle assemblies. A visual
check showed that the bottom of the chassis now rode at a much more
reasonable height above the track. However, when I test-fitted the Scalextric
magnet in just forward of the pod I could see that all the material I had cut away
to fit the pod in place had compromised the structural integrity of the chassis.
The magnet literally pulled the center of the chassis down to the track. Clearly,
some reinforcing was in order. I cut some small pieces of Evergreen strip
styrene and assembled them into two L-shaped structures that could be glued to
the outer portions of the chassis and to the ends of the pod to restore the lost
strength. (See photo.) Of course, a chassis molded in one piece with the pod as
an integral part of it wouldn’t need this.
I retained the Ninco guide and lead wires. In soldering the lead wires to the
motor I deleted the little capacitor Scalextric always ads to prevent interference
with TV signals. This component is largely redundant in the US since almost
everybody has cable.
In order to mount the body the interior tray had to come out and with it came the
windshield, roll bar, and gas cap. The body posts needed to be shortened to get
the body snuggled down over the wheels and tires where it belongs. The rear
ones only needed to have about 1/16" taken off, while the front ones had to lose
about 1/8". I also had to trim about 1/16" off the top edge of the vertical panel at
the front of the chassis that carries the radiator screen detail. I actually cut too
much off the posts, which is why you see washers glued to the chassis in the
photos.
With the body now sitting properly on the chassis the interior tray no longer fit
over the motor. I cut out just enough of it to clear the motor and pod and used
Evergreen sheet styrene to make a boxlike structure to fill in the opening, as
shown in the photos.
I painted the new portion of the tray black to match the rest of the interior. I could
no longer use the original driver figure, so I scrounged through my parts boxes
for a lower-profile driver that would fit on top of the modified interior tray and still
not stick up above the roll bar. I finally used the arms and shoulders of one
figure and the head of another to make a driver that not only fit the space but
also looked period correct.
I also made two other modifications that weren’t essential but enhanced the car’s
appearance and functionality. I cut the windshield down to less than half its
original height, as was common practice on SCCA production sports cars back in
the 60s. This gives the car a more authentic race car look and also makes the
windshield much less vulnerable in crashes. I also replaced the roll bar with a
new one made of a Plastruct product that consists of 1/16" diameter styrene
tubing with steel wire inside it. The new roll bar is bulletproof and looks a little
heftier than the original, which I thought looked a bit on the spindly side of scale.
On the track the rebuilt Cobra is much faster and better handling than before,
even without the magnet. With the magnet and the Indy Grips it’s fully
competitive in my GT1 class and a lot of fun to race, the magnet increasing its
limits without sticking it down so much it becomes boring to drive. It actually
drives very much like a non-magnet car with very high cornering limits.
Best of all, the car looks like a 427 Cobra should – low, wide, and aggressive
with the wheels tucked up into the fenders and the revised windshield and roll bar
providing just the right competition car touches.
There is nothing I’ve done to the car that Ninco couldn’t incorporate into a revised
version of the car for sale today. In fact, what I’ve really done is rebuild the car the way
Scalextric would have done it. In the process, I’ve given it the same excellent
out-of-the-box driving qualities that make Scalextric cars so good for giving new
hobbyists the best possible experience with the hobby and brought it up to a level
of performance fit for a model of one of the fiercest production sports cars ever
raced. Perhaps it’s time for all the slot car manufacturers to take another look at
their earlier creations and see if they could be reissued in new and improved
versions."
Well, that’s our customer’s story. Your opinions may vary. If you want to do this
project yourself we have the cars and all the parts you need right here at Electric
Dreams. And, of course, this article will probably give you new ideas of your
own. That’s one of the things that make this hobby so much fun.
Have you done a car building project you are especially proud of? Send us some photos and a description of what you’ve done at support@electricdreams.com , and watch for your car to appear in a future newsletter.
Thanks for shopping with us!
The Electric Dream Team
Slot Car Nostalgia
March 20th, 2008Here is a great little black and white "old school" slot car racing movie. Kind of makes you feel nostalgic.
Ahh, childhood nostalgia. It takes the most unexpected forms at times, including this wall sculpture made from old slot car track and cars by Pete Nidzgorski. Slot cars are what the kids used to do for fun before online deathmatches and MySpace. Belive it or not, kids used to be quite entertained by racing these tiny cars around in a circle over and over. Remind you of a similarly bewildering grown-up activity? (Hint-it rhymes with “ass-car”). This re-utilized kid’s toy makes an interesting piece of wall art and it’s yet another example of how creative types mutate the concept of recycling.
This is just a small example of the idea. Old HO Slot Cars and Track are easily found online. This set up [about half of the track I got] cost me around $100. Track layouts are practically infinite. Its just hanging there so I can take it down, plug it in and enjoy the excitement of Slot Car Racing *anytime.
Here are some cool pictures of this hanging slot car track (slot cars included)
Slot Car Racing in North Carolina
March 20th, 2008A.G. Kimbrough never thought that racing slot cars, a hobby he started in 1964, one day would turn into a business venture. But the semi-retired Kimbrough, who moved to Evansville in June from North Carolina after a five-month stint in California, figured he’d give it a shot.
"I needed to keep working a little bit, but figured if I am supposed to be retired, I might as well do something fun," Kimbrough said.
He bought an intersecting figure-eight track last summer and took it to several events in the area, including the Vanderburgh County Fair. He wanted to see if there was enough interest to open a shop devoted to slot cars.
"A lot of people were really interested," Kimbrough said. "Slot car racing was really big everywhere in the mid- to late-1960s, but after that boom, it died off, except in pockets around the country where NASCAR racing is big."
Kimbrough rented out a space in Washington Square Mall and got several more tracks, making FastLane Raceway a reality. Kimbrough has four tracks in the store — an intersecting figure-eight, drag track, a hill-climb track and a sprint track. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, Kimbrough holds races for all different types of cars and all different ages.
On Friday and Sunday, anyone can come and get some practice time in for the next week’s race. Kimbrough rents out cars for beginners and people interested in checking out the hobby and sells everything needed to build your own car.
Business started out slow but gradually has picked up. Sean Thomas, 6, his brother John Thomas, 10, and their father, Chris Thomas, were headed for the arcade at the mall when they discovered Raceway had replaced it. The three decided to rent a few cars and check it out.
"It’s really a lot of fun. It’s like a giant playground," Chris Thomas said with a laugh as he and his boys headed home for dinner. He said they’d be back.
"Men, women and children can all have a blast racing slot cars. There is no age or gender limit," said Janie Gordon, whose husband and son race real drag cars in the summer. They found out about FastLane Raceway and are now regulars, getting their wintertime racing fix through the slot cars.
Kimbrough hopes eventually to knock out a wall and expand to add more tracks, but for now he is content.
"I am having fun doing something I never imagined I would do," he said.
Slot cars booming in the Ohio Valley
February 25th, 2008I found this story about slot cars in the (Ohio) Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle. They’re telling the story of a small track in Bristoleville Ohio where folks came from as far away as Michigan and New York to compete.
With a whirring sound, the little race cars streaked through the straights and turns of the indoor track as their owners worked the controls.
It begged the question: How fast do they go?
‘‘I don’t know exactly, but slot car racing is the fastest scale-racing on the planet,’’ Ron Culp of Houston, Pa., said. He’s been involved with it for 30 years.
Organizers of Saturday’s gathering said the tiny machines were negotiating the 156-foot flat track in 7.2 seconds.
And that was in the slower class.
If scale is considered, the fastest cars would be traveling at more than 300 miles per hour, some of the participants said.
Like I said:
Owners came from Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Saturday to join in a day of competition at the new Bristolville Center Raceway at the corner of state Routes 88 and 45. It was part of the Tri-State International Slot Car Racing series.
Racer’s of all skill level race at the track.
Expert competitors like the Tri-State members will regularly schedule events at Bristolville, but the track is open to the public.
Competitors don’t have to be seasoned or even own a slot car.
It’s nice to see that tracks all over the country are promoting the hobby (sport) to beginners. They even talk about Boy Scout troops coming to race slot cars.
To read the while story go here: http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/
Carrera GO! 1/43 scale cars, race sets, and track.
February 22nd, 2008New Product Line:
We have just received our first shipment of the Carrera GO! 1/43 scale cars, race sets, and track. Go! is is especially effective as a low-cost way to get your children started in slot car racing. The cars are more than a little toylike in their look, but they run well and the system as a whole delivers good value for the money. GO! works well as a way to let your kids try slot car racing when you don’t know whether they will stay with it for the long term and you don’t want to invest a lot of money into a hobby that may just turn out not to be their thing. You can use it to give your 5 or 6 year-old his own track and cars that he can play with when you are not around to supervise him as he runs on your "grown-up" track that you have put lots of time and money into.
We also believe that 1/43 scale is beginning to evolve into a scale for serious enthusiasts, especially those who are limited spacewise but don’t care for HO racing. Interest in 1/43 scale as a hobby rather than a toy is already developing, and we expect to see more scale appearing cars with higher performance emerging as time goes on. We have no trouble at all imagining a truly cool 1/43 scale racing layout with scenery and structures adapted from O-scale (1/48) model railroading and parking lots and pit areas filled with 1/43 scale diecast cars. GO! has many of the basics, including 2 different curve radii and an electronic lap counter, and we’re sure there is much more to come from Carrera and other manufacturers. We will be adding all the new releases for 2008 as they become available and we will be actively seeking out other 1/43 scale products to add to our selection.
Clik here for GO! cars, here for GO! race sets, and here for GO! track and accessories.
New Items In Stock:
Carrera 30428 Peugeot 908 LMP, Digital 132. $50.99
Carrera 30291 Plymouth Roadrunner, street version, Digital 132. $45.79
Carrera 30292 Plymouth Roadrunner custom, Digital 132. $45.79
Carrera 30293 Plymouth Superbird, blue road car, Digital 132. $45.79
Carrera 30294 Dodge Charger 500 road car, Digital 132. $45.79
Carrera 30295 Dodge Daytona road car, Digital 132. $45.79
Vintage enthusiasts!
We have just placed an order for an expanded selection of Lexan reproduction Lancer 60s era bodies in both 1/32 and 1/24 scale. More info to come.
New Slot Cars (and more) in Stock
February 15th, 2008New Items In Stock:
NSR 1005 Mosler MT900R, Foroslot limited edition of 500. $165.99
Proto slot CB031P Alfa Romeo 33/3, LeMans 1970, painted body kit. $94.99. Includes decals to build any of the four Alfa factory team cars.
Proto Slot CB036P Howmet TX turbine car, LeMans 1968, painted body kit. $96.25. Includes decals to build either the #22 or the #23 car.
Proto Slot CB037P (grey) Toyota 2000 GT painted body kit. $89.99. Finished in an attractive metallic grey.
Proto Slot CB037P (red) Toyota 2000 GT painted body kit. $89.95 Don’t you love that shade of red? Arrest me! Arrest me!
Special Offer:
We have available a small number of the individual cars from the Fly TEAM13 two-car Brumos Porsche set. These are models of some of the most famous Porsche racing cars in US motorsports history.
Fly TEAM13A Brumos Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. $89.99
FLY TEAM13B Brumos Porsche 934. $89.99
New Slot Car Releases
February 4th, 2008We’ve got lots of new toys for you this week, including several items many of our customers have been eagerly waiting for. Here they are…
New Items In Stock:
Ninco 50470 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa kit. $69.99. At last, you have another opportunity to get a Ninco Testa Rossa slot car to race without paying collector prices.
Avant Slot 50301 Peugeot 908 test car. $69.99
Avant Slot 50201 Pescarolo LMP 2006 test car. $69.99
Avant Slot 50203 Pescarolo LMP. LeMans 2007. $64.99
Fly 88282 Porsche 935K3, Daytona 1980 - $74.99
Fly 99023 Lister Storm, Playboy series - $74.99. In standard plastic case.
Fly 99034 Lister Storm, Playboy series - $89.99. In somewhat R-rated presentation box.
Ninco 40102 Digital Starter Box slot car race set. $479.99. This one comes with 2 N-Digital cars.
Ninco 40307 N-Digital progressive controller - $79.99.
Ninco 50451 Subaru WRC "Simm". $69.99
Ninco 50456 Hummer H2, County Sheriff - $69.99
Ninco 50457 Hummer H2, yellow - $69.99. The ultimate urban assault vehicle, now ready for your slot car track.
Ninco 50477 Nissan 350Z, JGTC, "Houzan". $62.99
Ninco 50478 Porsche 997 rally car - $62.99
4 new Ninco N-Digital slot cars are now in stock — $79.99 each. All 4 have the same graphic design and differ only in the body color.
Ninco 50472 Porsche 997 red, digital - $79.99
Ninco 50473 Porsche 997, silver, digital - $79.99
Ninco 50474 Porsche 997 blue, digital - $79.99
Ninco 50475 Porsche 997 yellow, digital - $79.99
Something new from TSRF…
T24100S Porsche 956 GTP RTR - $166.95. 1:24 scale.
And a new digital slot car set from SCX
SCX 10100 Digital GT set with pit box. $429.99. SCX’s top-of-the-line digital race set for 2008.
Scalextric 2008 prices.
We now have prices on line for all the Scalextric new releases for 2008. We are informed that there will be no general price increase for the immediate future. 2008 car prices have held the line at the $47.99 level established for new releases last year. 2008 high-impact cars remain at $29.99 and new drift cars stay at $42.99. New A1GP cars did go up to $44.99.
Be sure to check out the bargains on our Back Lot.
Bond, James Bond
February 4th, 2008Back in December, CommanderBond.net reported that Scalextric, a major international brand of slot car racing, was rumoured to be planning a James Bond racing set that would be a tie-in to the newly-titled Quantum of Solace.
According to an article in the BBC News, parent company Hornby has today confirmed this, stating they have high hopes for the forthcoming James Bond set.
‘We’re delighted to have the licence for James Bond. Scalextric was very strong last year, largely because of the Lewis Hamilton effect,’ said chief executive Frank Martin.
The BBC News adds that the set will feature 007’s Aston Martin DBS and an Alfa Romeo as the chase car.
Bond collecters may recognize the company as the maker of the 1968 James Bond Car Chase set and other related 007 items.
World Record Slot Car Track
February 3rd, 2008Here is a movie (in fast motion) showing the set up of the world record holding slot car track. It was 5,786ft 6in ( 1,763.76m ) long. This was the world record for slot car tracks in 2006 and that track worked. In 2007 the same people built an operational 2,500m long slot car track in Berlin and got the Guinness World Record for that!
I think this is cool!