[woodcote]

   

Announced some time ago - and with prototypes on show at various slot car shows before the pandemic arrived - George Turner's Edwardian Racers are now available!

   

The initial range of eight kits are available now from the George Turner Models website...

   

Price for each kit - including unpainted body, decal sheet, chassis, wheels, driver, mechanic and detailing parts - is £40 plus postage. A list of recommended running gear is provided and is available from Pendle Slot Racing, including the necessary cream-coloured tyres.

   

I saw the first few finished prototypes at the Orpington slot car show last November and they did look superb. George was rightly very proud showing them off. The project has taken over a year to come to fruition, but is worth the wait. Videos posted on Facebook suggest they are great fun to drive too.

   

All the cars share the same chassis, wheels and recommended running gear. The front wheels have a moveable steering mechanism, which uses a standard guide.

   

The new Edwardian Racers section of the George Turner Models website is: www.georgeturnermodels.com/shop/edwardian-racers/

[BAracer]

Wow...

[Scuderia_Turini]

To me, this seemed an odd venture for George. He must have put a lot of time and effort in, albeit in partnership with Chase-Cars Gareth.  I think I read that they are larger than 1:32, so difficult to know where they fit in the marketplace.

Leo

[Gordon Steadman]

Maybe they saw a gap caused by Marlon (Shadowfax) stopping. These cars are very much in the mould of his products. Seems a bit strange that they would be bigger than 32nd though.

[woodcote]

The dimensions on the site for all the cars are: wheelbase 94mm and width 56mm. At 1/32 scale, that works out at a wheelbase of around 9-foot 8-inches for the actual car...

The eight racing cars that George has used for inspiration - rather than exact scale modelling - were different sizes, but from the figures I can dig out he's in the right ballpark. Most of the true Edwardian racing cars were absolute monsters to carry their 10 to 20 litre engines. Most were a one-off design for racing. Race cars started to get smaller, lighter and with more familiar sized engines from about 1909 through to 1915. A 3-litre 1911 Delage I found was described as 'comparatively short' at 8 foot 11 inches (MotorSport archive here).

A 1/32 scale figure standing (or sitting) next to George's driver and mechanic would help. When I saw the prototypes, I can't remember those figures being out of scale... only that the cars looked spectacular together.

[BAracer]

According to GT on the SR.O fbook message, these are very much 1:32 scale.

We just need to recalibrate our eyes for older race car body sizes!

[Scuderia_Turini]

They do look attractive but I'm not tempted to buy one.  Anyone here planning to purchase?

Leo

[Gordon Steadman]

Not for me as they seem more like models rather than slot cars. 

I like to race, no point in shelf queens for me..

[autoavia]

I am sure George had no intention of these being shelf queens but no car from that era will ever be a rocketship although they should be fun to race against each other.
 There is usually a good turnout of cars from this era at the Shuttleworth Race Day at Old Warden and they are big cars some of them being built on lorry chassis.
Loads of character and I hope they sell well. Not sure if I will buy one at the moment mainly because I don't think they will fit any class that I race and unfortunately I don't know enough other people who would be prepared to race them for fun.

Would any of them be eligible for the Brooklands class at the Rockingham CSCRA events?

[JasonB]

Sounds like they are selling well, according to the man himself....

I must admit we have been a little surprised by the response to our Edwardian racing cars. They have proved rather popular and there lies a little problem. As you may know there are only two of us here and only of us makes the kits up in a small shed (sorry state of the art workshop) and that is Joe. So needless to say we may get a little behind with these orders while we catch up (I think more than 50 have sold already). It may have been a bad idea to release 8 cars in one go but the deed is done (perhaps we will not release the next three for a little while). So we ask for your patience and we will do our best to get the kits sent out as soon as possible.

All moaning aside we are very pleased and thankful. These models look very pretty and go surprisingly well, with the steering working brilliantly. So keep buying them but do not expect them tomorrow! We will do our best though!