7th-Jun-21, 10:43 AM
Like most people I suppose, I have several boxes of dead cars with shattered bodies, duff motors and various bits missing so I have been having a clear-out and putting 'scrapyards' up on eBay. It is surprising how much people are prepared to pay for what is essentially a load of junk fit only for the bin.
Some things are worth a second look though as is the case with these three cars:
The last F1 cars from Airfix/MRRC released in 1980/81 - Williams FW07, Brabham BT49 and Lotus 79 JPS. There was also a Martini version of the Lotus. They were remarkably good models for their time and, although of very simple construction, they easily had the legs of contemporary Scalextric F1s.
As the bodies were in near perfect shape I thought I would see if I could return them to working condition rather than selling them. The Williams and Brabham had split pinions while the Lotus was missing its motor which was probably why they ended up in the dead car collection. All of them also had loose rear wheels and only one of them had its tyres intact.
The split pinions were easily replaced and RS Slotracing provided some Ortmann urethane rears. The motors hadn't run for over 30 years but fired up just fine after a quick clean. Rear wheels superglued and a wash and brush up for the bodies was all that was necessary before plonking them on the track for a test run.
I had quite forgotten how good these cars were back in the day. Not superfast, as you would expect with 40 year old Johnson 111 motors, but planted through the corners and very difficult to deslot. I even left the original tyres on the Williams and they gripped almost as well as the new urethanes on the Brabham. Lap times on my 50ft track were in the 6.4 second range which is nearly a second a lap slower than my modern cars, as expected, but great fun to race and still faster than my Scalextric ones of the same era. The wobbly front steering was not the best idea that Airfix came up with but it has a certain charm of its own so I think I will refrain from fitting solid front axles and leave the cars in their original 1980s specification.
I need to rummage in the box of bits to find a suitable period motor for the Lotus but I think all three of these cars will be staying in my possession instead of heading to eBay.
Some things are worth a second look though as is the case with these three cars:
The last F1 cars from Airfix/MRRC released in 1980/81 - Williams FW07, Brabham BT49 and Lotus 79 JPS. There was also a Martini version of the Lotus. They were remarkably good models for their time and, although of very simple construction, they easily had the legs of contemporary Scalextric F1s.
As the bodies were in near perfect shape I thought I would see if I could return them to working condition rather than selling them. The Williams and Brabham had split pinions while the Lotus was missing its motor which was probably why they ended up in the dead car collection. All of them also had loose rear wheels and only one of them had its tyres intact.
The split pinions were easily replaced and RS Slotracing provided some Ortmann urethane rears. The motors hadn't run for over 30 years but fired up just fine after a quick clean. Rear wheels superglued and a wash and brush up for the bodies was all that was necessary before plonking them on the track for a test run.
I had quite forgotten how good these cars were back in the day. Not superfast, as you would expect with 40 year old Johnson 111 motors, but planted through the corners and very difficult to deslot. I even left the original tyres on the Williams and they gripped almost as well as the new urethanes on the Brabham. Lap times on my 50ft track were in the 6.4 second range which is nearly a second a lap slower than my modern cars, as expected, but great fun to race and still faster than my Scalextric ones of the same era. The wobbly front steering was not the best idea that Airfix came up with but it has a certain charm of its own so I think I will refrain from fitting solid front axles and leave the cars in their original 1980s specification.
I need to rummage in the box of bits to find a suitable period motor for the Lotus but I think all three of these cars will be staying in my possession instead of heading to eBay.
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