20th-Jan-21, 03:35 PM
Hi, my name’s Mark and I currently live in Bath, in the south-west of England.
I first came across slot-racing when I was 10, in 1965, during a visit to my late Father’s Aunt & Uncle.
His significantly younger, and wealthier, cousins had a room in which they had constructed a routed hardboard circuit, using copper tape for the ‘rails’, of significant size.
I was immediately taken by not only the thrill of racing the 1/32 scale cars but also by how they had constructed many of them themselves. I particularly remember them having an Auto Union Type D, Mercedes W125 and Bentley 4.5 litre, along with others.
My interest in motor racing had been stirred by my maternal Grandfather, who would regale me with tales of the pre-war greats he’d seen, and then he and my Father taking me to the 1964 European GP at Brands Hatch, which Jim Clark won.
My own slot-racing commenced at Christmas 1966, when my younger brother and I were given a four-lane Scalextric set with two Porsche and, I think, two BMR cars, in red, yellow, blue and green.
I can remember lusting after Monogram and Cox slot-car kits in the model shop near my grandparent’s sweet shop on Moulsham Street in Chelmsford, when we would visit on a Saturday, but it was a shop nearer our home in Hornchurch that my father took my brother and I to, where we bought our first kits, after having done some research in Model Cars magazine.
My brother chose a Porsche Carrera 6, with an open-frame type motor and Ackerman front steering, while I opted for a Riko Chaparral 2E, with Rikoflash motor.
From there, my school-friend Tony invited me to join the Hornchurch MRC, where his father, Len Manwaring who then edited the Observer Book of Cars, was a senior member.
While never particularly successful, I enjoyed racing and building cars and went on doing so until fifty years ago, when R’n'R and mechanic-ing for a karting neighbour took my attention away.
So now I find myself on the cusp of retirement with a three and a half year old grandson and the thoughts of maybe, just maybe, starting up again and came across this site after Googling the Hornchurch club.
I look forward to catching up on what's happened since I last held a controller and am glad to have been accepted here.
I first came across slot-racing when I was 10, in 1965, during a visit to my late Father’s Aunt & Uncle.
His significantly younger, and wealthier, cousins had a room in which they had constructed a routed hardboard circuit, using copper tape for the ‘rails’, of significant size.
I was immediately taken by not only the thrill of racing the 1/32 scale cars but also by how they had constructed many of them themselves. I particularly remember them having an Auto Union Type D, Mercedes W125 and Bentley 4.5 litre, along with others.
My interest in motor racing had been stirred by my maternal Grandfather, who would regale me with tales of the pre-war greats he’d seen, and then he and my Father taking me to the 1964 European GP at Brands Hatch, which Jim Clark won.
My own slot-racing commenced at Christmas 1966, when my younger brother and I were given a four-lane Scalextric set with two Porsche and, I think, two BMR cars, in red, yellow, blue and green.
I can remember lusting after Monogram and Cox slot-car kits in the model shop near my grandparent’s sweet shop on Moulsham Street in Chelmsford, when we would visit on a Saturday, but it was a shop nearer our home in Hornchurch that my father took my brother and I to, where we bought our first kits, after having done some research in Model Cars magazine.
My brother chose a Porsche Carrera 6, with an open-frame type motor and Ackerman front steering, while I opted for a Riko Chaparral 2E, with Rikoflash motor.
From there, my school-friend Tony invited me to join the Hornchurch MRC, where his father, Len Manwaring who then edited the Observer Book of Cars, was a senior member.
While never particularly successful, I enjoyed racing and building cars and went on doing so until fifty years ago, when R’n'R and mechanic-ing for a karting neighbour took my attention away.
So now I find myself on the cusp of retirement with a three and a half year old grandson and the thoughts of maybe, just maybe, starting up again and came across this site after Googling the Hornchurch club.
I look forward to catching up on what's happened since I last held a controller and am glad to have been accepted here.
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