[73emgee]

This SCX version is modeled after the 1955 LeMans EX182 prototype driven by Ken Miles and Johnny Lockett.  The production MGA model would not be officially release to the public for another 3 months.  The #41 was one of four prototypes entered by the MG Competitions Department with lightweight aluminum panels, cut-down windshield, covered passenger compartment, enclosed rear view mirror, and a driving light imbedded in the grille.  The SCX version is missing the leather hood straps and the horizontal air intake in the hood (bonnet) seen on the factory car.

  



This is the first SCX car I’ve owned; I was surprised to see that there is no wiring in this model.  It has LED headlights and brake lights. The driving light imbedded in the grill is not lit.  The LED’s, guide and motor are all connected with copper strips, not wiring.  This method causes the front end to ride very high because the copper strips are sprung to maintain contact against the guide, there is not a front body mounting post only the copper strip tension holding the chassis under the lip of the body.  On my non-magnetic track car the wheels did not touch the track because of this. On a magnetic track the strength of the magnet may overcome this tension.  The wheels are independent stub axles but suffer from a sloppy fit.  The rear axle bushings were loose and of poor fit.  It uses a small FC-130 size, but has unique motor mounts, that would require modification to fit a standard FC-130 type motor. 






On my track (non-magnetic) its performance was lacking, it was an effort to get it to lap with any speed; however, I think the body is excellent and looks good on the track.
I wish there were more slot cars available of classic British sports cars, unfortunately very are few manufactured by larger the slot car companies. Thankfully; there are several small volume resin resin casters offering these cars. I applaud SCX‘s effort to release this historic car.

I wanted the car to perform as well as it looked.  I added a front body mounting post, replaced the chassis with a 1/16” brass chassis with adjustable front axle supports, Scale Auto slim can pod with .5mm offset, and a Scale Auto 8mm deep guide. The motor is Predator 18K slim can FF-050 motor  The wheels and tires were replaced with Pendle PCS classic spoke wheels and tires with 2 ear knock-offs. I started with the Pendle 14mm set on all four wheels, but the combination of the offset pod and 14mm rear wheels, did not provide enough rear track clearance. I switch the rear wheels for a 16mm set.





The car now is a pleasure to drive and can be push in the corners with confidence even with the narrow and treaded Pendle tires.  Future plans included adding the leather hold down straps, replacing the toy-like driver, and possibly adding the hood intake that was left off the SCX version.





I would like to set this car up to race in my local club’s “vintage” class which allows 8mm tires.  I tried some Slot.it 15x8 wheels and N18 compound tires, and some ball bearing independent front wheels with this same chassis/pod and was able to reduce lap times from 6.2 -  6.1 to consistent 5.8’s; however, the tires extended slightly beyond  the rear wheel wells.  I think there is enough room to get the tires under the body if I modify the pod using Chris Walker's method to eliminate the protrusions for the spherical bearings and replace them with flanged oilites mounted  the inside of the pod.  This would mean getting rid of the beautiful Pendle spoked wheels and using wire wheel inserts.   I would also need to replace the FF- 050 motor and pod with a FC-130 pod and Jack Rabbit motor.  This would probably require some modifications to the driver tray since this motor is taller.




Our club has been on lock-down since March because of the virus. Since there’s no rush to make the necessary changes now, I think I’ll just wait, and enjoy the new improved performance, and watch this cool little car zooming around the track.