With the Swindon Swapmeet taking place this Sunday - and the NSCC Milton Keynes event already done and dusted - this thread is a little overdue. In any case, these are the UK swapmeets and shows scheduled for 2022...

1. Sunday 13 March: Swindon Scalextric Swapmeet

   

One of the biggest and longest running Scalextric events in the UK, Swindon has a new venue for 2022 - the Grange Leisure Centre, Swindon SN3 4JY. Expect vendors from across the country. The event runs from 10.30am to 3pm. Here's the layout plan of the hall (click to enlarge)...

   

The event's Facebook page is here.

2. Sunday 10 April: 34th London International Slotcar Show

   

Four weeks later, many of the stall holders - plus some London and South East locals - will be doing it all again in Orpington. Housed at the Crofton Halls BR6 8PR, the Orpington swapmeet is a favourite of mine - and not just because of the bacon rolls. To get a flavour, there's this 'virtual tour' on the forum here. The Orpington events - one in April, one in November - run from 10.30am to 2.30pm. Website here.

3. Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 May: UK Slot Car Festival

   

This is the main event of the year, conveniently in the middle of the country and at the heart of the British motors industry. Yes, there's a huge international swapmeet, but that's less than half of it... Expect tracks to race on in every possible scale, from 1:87 to 1:24. There's usually competitive racing happening all over the place too. One highlight is the presence of most slot car manufacturers, showing off their new prototypes and pre-production samples - plus distributors and retailers to talk to. It's truly a festival of the slot car world.

   

The UK Slot Car Festival takes place at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon CV35 OBJ. Facebook here. If you want to know how the festival came about, Brian has written the definitive history here at SlotRacer Online.

4. Sunday 25 September: Havant Scalextric Swapmeet

   

Havant is where it all started for Scalextric, so this swapmeet is an excellent connection with that history. A relative newcomer to the swapmeet calendar, Havant has grown into a must-go event. There's a strong presence of national and local stallholders, plus tracks to race on. A short distance from Porstsmouth, Chichester and the coast, it makes a great day out too. The swapmeet takes place at the Havant Leisure Centre, PO9 2AY and runs from 10.30am to 3pm. Facebook here.

5. Sunday 9 October: NSCC Leeds Swapmeet

   

The only proper northern swapmeet on the calendar, the NSCC's Leeds event is a popular get-together with some local vendors you won't see anywhere else. As with the other NSCC events, there's a unique collectible model available to NSCC members only. There are no firm details announced as yet, but the NSCC has its own forum on SlotRacer here. Their website is here: http://www.nscc.co.uk/ The NSCC also organise a swapmeet at Milton Keynes in February and a members-only weekend at Ramsgate.

6. Sunday 20 November: 35th London International Slotcar Show

   

It's a return to Crofton Halls in Orpington for the penultimate swapmeet of the year. Pretty much the same as April's event - although usually a little colder. Perfect for some pre-Christmas bargains. Phil - who organises the Orpington events - already has dates for next year... 16 April and 19 November 2023.

7. Sunday 4 December (To be confirmed): Winter Slot Car Market

   

Organised by the UK Slot Car Festival crew, this is simply a winter re-run of the swapmeet element of the festival - often with a strong contingent of local Midlands vendors. It is a great way to end the year. Although not confirmed, the Winter Slot Car Market is expected to take place again at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, but it's worth keeping an eye on the Slot Car Festival Facebook page here.

With the NSCC's Milton Keynes event in February, that's a very healthy eight Slot Car shows in the UK each year. But why go? Prices are good (even factoring in travel costs) and the range of cars, spares, track and accessories is often breath-taking. Plus you get to see and inspect a car before you buy - and quite possibly speak to the previous owner. That social aspect is fantastic - especially after the past couple of years - and there's the chance to get to know the people you buy from online, meet forum members in the flesh and check out local and national clubs.

A slot-car tribute to women :

The NSCC will have a stall at this coming weekends Swindon Swapmeet, where we'll be selling our usual range of merchandise; Polo Shirts, Fleeces, Mugs, Borders and Pens.

We'll also have a small selection of past cars for sale, so if you need one to complete your collection then drop by and see what we have.

Stop by and have a chat, or even sign up as a member to receive the fabulous monthly Journal

I found a Lola T70 coupe on Thingiverse (it's on Cults3D as well) in two pieces.

So I grabbed it, opened everything up, put together a window buck for glass, added a motor plate, and put it back up.
The plain version is the cleaned up slot body:
   


The version I printed has some added aero devices and a dashboard.
   

It's available on Cults as well.

Hi all,
I'm building my next car and have this motor with 9 tooth pinion.
https://www.pendleslotracing.co.uk/scale...w9848.html

Is there a preference for Crown gear? ie how many teeth to go with 9 tooth pinion?
Cheers

Tony

Just a note to tell you that we will be opening an entry list on  Monday 21st March.

There will also be one on SlotForum

I will combine them and publish updates on both forums.



Richard

Hi folks. Looking for some links to club rules for those racing single slot car brand  GT3 classes, if any.  Scalextric or Carrera would help me the most. Scalextric and Carrera are brands we have not raced in 15+ years and never, respectively. 

We will be replacing our Ninco GT1 class at end of 2022 and right now I am considering any one of several manufacturers GT3 options. Each of our club classes are structured around one manufacturers product line and I am looking to replicate that concept.  

FYI we like to keep things as simple as possible. Of 8 all non-magnet classes 4 are out of the box (Slot.it DTM, NSR F1, Sideways Group 5, Revo Slot GT2,) 1 changes tires only (Slot.it Group C), 1 allows weight only (Ninco 1950’s Le Mans), 1 changes motor only (Ninco GT1), 1 changes tires and allows weight (Fly 1960’s Le Mans). 

Appreciate any links successful rules or descriptions on what you do to the cars  

BTW also considering NSR, Sideways, ScaleAuto (easy to do completely non-magnet OEM rules on them) and maybe Scalextric or Carrera. 

classes could be?
- SIDEWAYS: Lamborghini Huracan; Ford GT; McLaren 720S; BMW M6; Corvette C6R; Mosler; Corvette C7R

- CARRERA: Aston Martin Vantage; Corvette C8R; C7R; BMW M6; AMG GT; Audi R8; 911 RSr; McLaren 720S; Ford GT; Ferrari 488; Lamborghini Huracan; 

- NSR: AMG GT; BMW Z4; Audi R8; Aston Martin Vantage; Porsche 997 RSR; McLaren 720S; Corvette C6R; Mosler; Corvette C7R

- SCALEAUTO; AMG GT; BMW Z4; Audi R8; Porsche 911 RSR; Spyker C-8; HSV-010; Corvette C7R; NSX GT3; Calloway GT3; Viper GTS-R

- SCALEXTRIC; AMG GT; BMW Z4; Aston Martin Vantage; Porsche 911 RSR; Ford GT; McLaren 12C; Bentley Continental GT3; Corvette C8R

Last Friday my order from Le Mans Miniatures arrived:
The Renault 5 Alpine Group 2, driven to a nice second place overall by Jean Ragnotti & Jean-Marc Andrié in the Tour de Corse 1979.
A remarkable result for such a small front-wheel drive car on the winding asphalt roads of Corsica.
It is now available in the ready to run GTS-Series at https://www.lemansminiatures.com.

There will be a report about this beauty in the May issue of Slot Car Magazine.

Hub

   
The LMM Renault 5 Alpine of Jean Ragnotti in action.

   

Scheduled for release this summer from Avant Slot are a trio of works Peugeot 207 S2000 cars from the 2011 Rallye Monte Carlo. These will be available individually...

   
#2 Petter Solberg / Chris Patterson - Peugeot France

   
#4 Bryan Bouffier / Xavier Panseri - Peugeot France

   
#8 Stéphane Sarrazin / Jacques-Julien Renucci - Peugeot France

Similar liveries, but you get to pick the crew you want driving your Avant Slot Peugeot 207 S2000 - a popular, fast, 4WD slot rally model.

Although not part of the WRC in 2011, the centenary of the Rallye Automobile de Monte Carlo was a memorable event. The WRC was on a mission to honour the 'World' part of its name, meaning classic European WRC events like Monte Carlo, the Tour de Corse and Sanremo lined up on a rather tasty second-tier International Rally Challenge schedule that also included trips to the Canaries, Cyprus, Scotland and Rally Ypres. Because it was the Monte - and especially because of the centenary - there was a very strong turn-out in terms of top drivers...

   

Probably the biggest name was 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg, who was given a seat in a works Peugeot France 207 S2000 - but there were other WRC drivers: François Delecour (Peugeot), Freddy Loix (Škoda Fabia S2000), Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot), Toni Gardemeister (Peugeot), Henning Solberg (Ford Fiesta S2000), Per-Gunnar Andersson (Proton Satria Neo S2000) and Chris Atkinson (Proton). Sébastian Loeb wasn't there - although his co-driver was... Daniel Elena driving a Citroën DS3 R3. Despite all this experience, the young talent in the 2011 IRC was pretty impressive - and it was 2010 IRC champion Juho Hänninen in the works Škoda Fabia S2000 that made all the early running...

       

After the opening stage was won by veritable all-rounder Stéphane Sarrazin - driving the #8 Peugeot France 207 - Hänninen reeled off a flurry of stage wins to hold a 51 second lead over Petter Solberg going into the seventh stage on Thursday evening. No-one could get close to the Škoda... And then it snowed.

       

This was typical Monte Carlo drama. It wasn't snowing in the service park at Valence and there wasn't any snow on the stage - but the forecast from Météo-France was snow in around two hours, which would probably hit the final stage of the day, but not stage 7... or maybe it would. The teams and the crews had some gambling to do. And - as often happens at the Monte - these tyre choices would have a massive impact on the outcome of the rally... Bryan Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri had started stage 7 over a minute and a half behind Hänninen, back in seventh place. The Peugeot team-leader chose snow tyres all round, having made a last minute decision not to go with studs (which Sarrazin had fitted) - although they threw two studded pairs in the trunk. Leaving service, it didn't look like snow at all - those who'd gone with the snow tyres thought they'd made a mistake. Bouffier said "we are on the road section not far from the stages and really in my mind I was thinking ‘oh s***, it’s not going to snow’.”

Hänninen - with everything to loose - went with the conservative option of  four intermediate tyres and a pair of snow tyres in the boot. That was exactly what Solberg chose too. It looked okay for Hänninen - "we started to climb up the stage and for sure the start it was really good with those intermediates, but then after a few kilometers when you saw it started to be snowing, then you knew that you were still really, really low on the stage and then realized ‘oh, this won’t be easy!'” The road conditions developed from  wet tarmac through to slush - and then fresh snow and treacherous ice at the top of the stage. The drama was broadcast live on Eurosport - and it was compelling viewing as the changing weather turned the rally on its head. Solberg and Hänninen finished the stage in thirteenth and fourteenth places - a minute-forty-nine and 1:54.2 seconds behind winner Bouffier. That put the Frenchman in the lead of the rally by 3 seconds over Sarrazin and 16.6 ahead of Hänninen in fourth. Solberg had dropped to seventh. Yet there was still another stage to complete on these tyres - and the whole route was now covered in snow. Both Hänninen and Solberg lost a further 3 minutes to the guys on the better tyres for the conditions.

       

The hero of Stage 8 was François Delecour. He'd gone full studs on his Peugeot after making a phone call from service in Valence. Delecour knew the owner of a restaurant at the end of the final stage and he had the local knowledge -  it was going to snow... and snow hard. The veteran's margin of victory was 17.4 seconds over Bouffier - putting them 1-2 in the overall standings, the younger Frenchman ahead by half a minute. However, Bouffier has been lucky - running two tyres with studs and two without, the Peugeot's handling was a challenge. He spun into a wall - miraculously escaping without serious damage that could have ended his rally there and then. Here's some of that action as part of a fabulous Michelin-sponsored film of the event...



Although the final day had none of the high drama of Thursday evening, it was a tense run to the finish in the snow, ice and darkness of Friday night. Škoda's Freddy Loix moved up to second and would take half a minute out of Bouffier over those five stages. However, the Frenchman held firm for his first IRC rally win...

   

Sarrazin banged in three stage wins on that final day to finish fourth overall. Solberg retired from seventh place with an alternator failure on the very last stage. The 2011 Monte would be his only appearance in an S2000 rally car... Okay, so which of the three Avant Slot cars to choose? It's a tough one, but Sarrazin - for his remarkable exploits in sports prototypes and rally cars - will be my Peugeot driver of choice. I'm sure others will want the winner of the centenary edition of the Monte - and plenty will be go for legend Petter Solberg. Some might take all three - the 2011 Rallye Monte Carlo was certainly a historic event and also an excellent race.

I'll post more news about these three cars when I get it.

   

Coming soon is the March edition of Slot Car Magazine. Keep an eye out on Lulu for the pdf version, with the print magazine due to be published next week.

This is what's in the March edition...

• WASPslot Figures by Hub Habets. More super realism from Hub as he preps, paints and reviews a small army of figures from WASP.
  
• Love Cats by Ric Woods. Ric has taken a liking to cats, no really! In the shape of the MR Slotcar Jaguar XJ220s, that is.
  
• Who’s The Boss? by Tony Di Pastena. Sympathy for the devil as Tony is led into black-sided temptation by BRM’s Mustang Boss 302.
  
• Slot Stox by Graham Pritchard. Mix Dave Yerbury of AA Bodies, Angelo Amato’s chassis design and... BANG! It’s the crazy world of Slot Stox.
  
• Thunderstruck by Ric Woods. Ric is now sitting next to his computer ready to click “buy” just as soon as the latest Lola T70s are available from Thunderslot.
  
• Takin’ Care Of Business by Andy Player. Initial sketches, to computer design, then test shots and finally the finished item... Andy follows the Scalextric production process.
  
• All The Young Dudes by Andy Player. Sportscar Privateers – They could afford it, they bought it and raced it, having a great time as they did so.
  
• Power To The People by Ric Woods. Generic F1s are the “thing” in open-wheeled slot cars and the Policar single seater will be getting an upgrade in power
  
• Shadowplay by Ric Woods. What joy at Slot Car Magazine studios – MR Slotcar has announced the Shadow DN4 Can Am. Plus we have exclusive test pics.
  
• Competition Time from SRC. A Ferrari 312PB AND a McLaren M23 could be yours in our ever-so-easy to enter prize draw.
  
• The Track Hugger by Tony Di Pastena. Tony reviews the Carrera Digital Ford GT GTE and is pleased it sticks to the corners like... well you’ll get the picture.
  
• The MRE Story by Gary Cannell. Part 3 and the conclusion of our hero’s story, sees him ramping up internet presence... which at times included a female or two.
  
• Dilworth. It’s time for Bob and Ted to find if they can truly trust the Slot Car Mitch Ellin Guide.