Scalextric's 1:64 scale system continues to develop after a complete re-design for 2019. The first two years focused almost entirely on younger racers with sets and cars following an 'entertainment' theme, including the very cool Warner Brothers DC Comics and Looney Tunes licensed products. These sets, individual cars and accessory packs have really hit the spot with the toy retail world and and young families.

   

A massive new-for-2022 double-loop set ‘The Race for Gotham’ features Batman and Joker cars. The RRP for this is £74.99 and it's scheduled for release in the summer. Like other new Micro sets, it is battery powered to make it ready to use for customers worldwide – wherever AA batteries are available. A UK mains power upgrade is available as an accessory pack. Other accessory packs include extra track, a mechanical lap counter and a loop.

There has  always been a promise from the Scalextric team that more road and race-oriented themes would follow the 'entertainment' range... if the range was successful. Yes, there were two fabulous James Bond sets with Aston Martin and Jaguar cars - but I am delighted to report that there’s new tooling for three more ‘real’ Micro Scalextric cars in the 2022 Scalextric catalogue – a Lamborghini Huracán Evo, a Porsche 911 Turbo and the Formula-E Spark2...

       

These will be available in two new sets – ‘Super Speed Race’ and ‘Formula E’ – both scheduled for the summer. The Formula-E liveries will be Sébastien Buemi’s Nissan and Oliver Turvey’s NIO...

       

Both these new  sets share a ‘racing’ layout with a lap counter and no loops. They are battery powered (a mains upgrade pack is available), have a RRP of £64.99 and are scheduled for a summer release.

       
An orange Huracán and a white Porsche will be sold separately, plus the previously available Warner Brothers individual cars remain in the catalogue – a new batch being manufactured for 2022.

   

Here we are - the moment all Scalextric fans have been waiting for... The unveiling of Scalextric's 2022 catalogue

The catalogue has just been launched on the Scalextric website, and brand manager Simon Owen is kindly talking me through the new range. It looks fantastic – with lots of new tooling and some inspired choices for new cars. There aren’t many re-liveries this year, but what there are will certainly hit the spot.

I’ll be typing full-gas this afternoon, giving you an in-depth report of the new products, what's inside them and some of the background of the cars they're modelled on. I'll be starting a little later than advertised, at 1pm. Apologies for the delay.

Before we get to the exciting stuff, just a reminder of the huge impact the pandemic has had on global manufacturing this past 18 months – including delays and rising costs. It will be a while longer before everything gets back on an even keel. As I'm sure you all know, quite a few 2021 Scalextric cars are still to arrive – all of them have been carried over into the 2022 catalogue. The cars may have been delayed, but they haven't been cancelled.

See you at 1.00pm...

Hi all,
I have bought a UR30 license but have not received any license code. Have contacted the support via mail but no reply.
Any suggestions or is the money lost in space??

I am starting a side project for a little fun. All you hard-core racers better look away...
   

Sold rather well over here in the late '50s, no idea about other countries. Built with scooter parts, it ought to file under bubble cars (?) but looks almost like a real car.
Maybe not quite as glamorous as these photos suggest...
       

I'm starting with the usual piece of wood.
   

Trawling the web, it is easy to find good reference photos, but more difficult to find reliable blueprints.
I have found a very good side view (as you can see) but not much when it comes to front and tail projections.
If anybody knows about a source I would be very grateful!
If not, I will lean against photos.

       

Too early to put on the critical glasses, I am still searching for the soul of the car...

Regards
Carver

Having a de-clutter and I hace 2 boxes of the old style scalextrics track. I am in Hertfordshire.

Just building up a chassis for this year's Rug Racing GT3 Championship run on Carrera track...

   

This is my first serious sidewinder build, and I am aware of the issue of magnetic attraction/drag between the motor and a steel axle in this configuration. In fact, I noticed that the axle was rubbing on the motor casing to start with, so I had to smooth off some burrs to create an air gap between the two. However, dealing with that issue highlighted the magnetic forces present around this area of the pod, and which was made most apparent when I thought I had dropped one of the thin spacer I was fitting to the axle only to find it attached to what was now a magnetically charged axle.

So my two questions are: -

1. There seems no argument of there being magnetic attraction between my sidewinder motor and steel axle, but does that create magnetic drag, or at least create a pull on the axle that increases friction between axle and bushing, and therefore equate to a loss of performance?

2. I bought a titanium axle as a means of eliminating an magnetic attraction, but is the elimination of magnetic attraction to a steel axle lost as a performance gain by the use of this softer axle material which might provide less precise set up tolerances and be more prone to accident damage?

Have others experiences this phenomenon and felt the need to address it?

   

As usual, AutoWorld have a lot planned for the new year - much of it top secret, but they have shared some interesting developments this week that transform their product range and put more pressure on Racemasters AFX...

Four-Lane Race Sets - Hitting shelves later this year will be the first of many planned four-lane race sets...

   

Wireless Controllers - These Bluetooth controllers will allow you to connect to compatible race sets without having to deal with all the cords. These new controllers are designed with the trigger-style throttle for increased control over the classic plunger-style controllers.

Adjustable Power Supply - This new power supply will allow you to adjust the power level of the race sets from 9 volts to 24 volts. The increase in power will provide even more speed while the adjustability allows for beginners to start slow and ramp up the speed as they improve...

   

Brand New Body Tooling - We previewed some new tooling pics of an Escort Mk1 last year (here) - and there's more new tooling coming. The first tools announced will utilize the X-Traction chassis and include the 1977 Chevy Blazer Off-Road, 1967-75 Ford Escort Mark 1 Rally, and 1970-73 Datsun 240Z...

   
   
   

Expect to see even more new tooling later in 2022, together with plenty of re-liveries on old favourites.


New 2 Lane Layouts - With the upcoming Four-lane sets, the tooling for new radius turns has been used to create some brand-new layouts for future two-lane racing sets as well. Look for more on these layouts later this year.


A big thank you to Round 2 for the update!

The end of the year and racing season saw the modified LMP and GT cars take to the track.

   

   

   

   

The super fast LMP cars made for intense racing with no opportunity for respite around the track.  Wayne H had the clear points advantage by the end of the month with Adrian N second.  The battle for third was close fought with Ade C taking the final spot.

Support races were provided by Trucks and Raid cars (alternating each week).



   

It's fair to say that these things drive like nothing else we will use all year which made for a different type of challenge.  Once the dust had settled at the end of the month, it was again Wayne H, Adrian N and Ade C taking first, second and third respectively.

   

You may have seen a story about Hornby and Scalextric tucked away in the business pages a couple of days ago. Henry de Zoete, a young, wealthy and talented entrepreneur has joined the Hornby board as a non-executive director. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, de Zoete said...

Quote:Hornby, Scalextric, Corgi, Humbrol and Airfix are all incredible heritage brands that I grew up with. I am really excited to give strategic input as the brilliant team focuses on digital transformation and growth, to build the business for generations to come.

De Zoete's biography is impressive. Starting out with renowned Silicon Valley start-up accelerator Y Combinator, in 2014 he co-founded The Big Deal, which used tech to facilitate collective bargaining for consumers. In 2018, he went on to establish Look After My Bills, a tech start-up which became the largest auto-switching service in the UK, saving families money on their gas and electricity. After raising global investment and securing the best deal in the history of BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Look After My Bills was acquired by GoCompare in July 2019. De Zoete has also served on the Board of the influential grassroots campaigning organisation 38 Degrees, was involved with the successful Vote Leave campaign and was a Special Adviser in the Department for Education from 2010 to 2014.

The news this morning was encouraging...

Quote:The Hornby share price closed up 10.6% yesterday, with another 3% of gains added in early trading today, after the scale models company announced the appointment of the angel investor Henry de Zoete as a non-executive director. Markets clearly approved the potential impact of de Zoete, who is a graduate of the renowned Silicon Valley start-up accelerator, Y Combinator and serial entrepreneur.

More here: https://www.tradingandinvestmentnews.co....-director/

   

Although any lists from Fly should normally be taken with a pinch of salt, pictures of some 'works in progress' have appeared over the past few days. The experience of 2021 is that these photographs of a prototype usually translates into a model on sale within a couple of months.

First, there's this Renault 5 Turbo from the 1982 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire (Ref. A2015), driven by Jean Ragnotti and Jean-Marc Andrié...

       

This was the penultimate round of the 1982 World Rally Championship, where Michèle Mouton lost the title she probably deserved to win. The Renault of Ragnotti and Andrié ran joint second to Mouton and Fabrizia Pons at the end of the first 1,250 km leg. Gearbox problems dropped them to fourth after the next 1,360km - the halfway point of the rally, which had already lost nearly two-thirds of the cars entered. The Renault was added to the list of retirements during the 1,700km third leg - landing heavily in a series of jumps and breaking the front suspension and steering. Ragnotti sprained his wrist in the accident and was treated at a local hospital in Yamoussoukro - which he left with his arm in plaster. Ah... those were the days.

Next is a seventh-placed Monte Carlo twin-pack (Ref. TEAM21)...

   

This features two Renault 5 Turbos - Ragnotti and Andrié's 1983 car, which finished seventh - plus Dany Snobeck and Jean-Pierre Bechu's white car that came seventh in 1985...

   

The yellow car carries the same #9 number that was on Ragnotti's Renault 5 when he won the Monte in 1981 - truly the stuff of legend. There's some great footage of the 1981 Renault to enjoy here...



Next is a police car - and it's a Japanese Police Porsche 911 (Ref. A2036)...

       

There's another Renault 5 Turbo (Ref E2035) that will be an exclusive for Cocheslot in Spain...

   

The 2021 ForoSlot special edition car (Ref. E2030) is a Porsche 911...

         

Driven by Gérard Larrousse and Christian Delferier at the 1972 Tour de Corse, the Marlboro-sponsored car retired with gearbox problems.

Last of these previews is the return of the Gulf Porsche 917k in a 'Making of Le Mans' special edition (Ref. E2031)...

       

Complete with a special box and a Steve McQueen figure giving us all the V sign...

       

Another sure-fire best-seller, I reckon.

No dates scheduled for release for any of these cars, but expect to see them for pre-order soon. The TEAM21 Renault 5 twin-pack and Porsche Police Car are available for pre-order at Pendles - along with a swathe of cars announced in 2021 that haven't been seen in prototype or production versions. If the last couple of years is anything to go by, these cars will be short production runs and will sell out quickly - allowing Fly to recoup the investment, make a bit of money and pay for their next projects. It's a business model that seems to be keeping their heads above water, which is the main thing.