[woodcote]

   

Despite the Scalextric website having all their 2021 pre-releases listed as 'Available Winter 2021-22', the new cars continue to arrive pretty much on schedule. May and June are the final months of 'Quarter 2' and there are three classic racers to look forward to...

   

Scalextric C4261 Jaguar XJS – Spa 24Hrs 1982 – Walkinshaw, Nicholson & Percy. RRP £42.99. Scheduled May/June

This a brand new tool for 2021 and had got Scalextric fans rather excited. The XJS was highly-competitive in the Group A European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) between 1982 and 1984, picking up plenty of race wins – Tom Walkinshaw winning the drivers championship in 1984. The XJS also notched up victories at the 1984 Spa 24 hours and the 1985 Bathurst / James Hardie 1000 at Mount Panorama in Australia.

   

The first racing livery produced by Scalextric is the Tom Walkinshaw, Chuck Nicholson & Win Percy car that claimed pole position at the Spa 24 hours race in 1982, but then failed to finish. Scalextric kindly loaned me a pre-production sample of the car to look at and the photographs here are of that car. It's a great scale model - probably my only gripe is that it should be a vent behind the rear quarter window, not a sliver of glass. Otherwise, a big thumbs-up from me.

   

The Scalextric XJS is powered by a standard inline short-can motor. The car is narrow, with very similar dimensions to last year’s Capri. My Capri vs XJS test session (with magnets fitted and on Scalextric Sport track) gave extremely similar lap times, but slightly different handling characteristics. With more late Group 1 / early Group A models in the pipeline at Margate, this is becoming an exciting theme for collectors and racers.

You can read my full review of the XJS in the March edition of Slot Car Magazine and on the Jadlam Racing Models blog.

   

Scalextric C4222 Ford Capri MKIII - Spa 24hrs 1981 - Woodman, Buncombe & Clark. RRP £42.99. Scheduled May/June

Yes, there's a bit of a Spa 24 hour theme going on at Scalextric this year - six 2021 models, plus the Scalextric Club car. And I understand there are a few more to follow over the next couple of years... The Capri was my favourite new Scalextric car of 2020 – you can read my review on the Jadlam blog. I am utterly delighted to see two pretty famous Capri Mk3 racing liveries added to the 2021 catalogue. The first is the Esso-sponsored car of Vince Woodman, Jonathan Buncombe & Peter Clark, which came third in the 1981 Spa 24 hours. Woodman also drove the Esso car in the British Saloon Car Championship and had the honour of scoring the final BSCC victories for the Capri in 1982. The classic red Gordon Spice car is expected later in the year.

   

Scalextric C4220 Chevrolet Camaro IROC - SCCA Trans-Am - #33. RRP £42.99. Scheduled May/June

I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed by the first two Chevrolet Camaro IROC cars that were released last year. The model featured in the Scalextric episode of the BBC's James May documentary about Hornby, but the red and blue liveries were a bit plain for me - although they went down very well in North America. In the Duracell colours of Scott Sharp’s Camaro – winner of the 1991 SCCA Trans Am championship – I think Scalextric have brought out the best of this American racing classic. It might even be on my shopping list.

That's it for now - but I'll bring regular updates and the occasional review through the year. All three of these cars - and the rest of the 2021 Scalextric range - are available for pre-order at your favourite Scalextric retailer and should be in stock within the next 4-6 weeks.

[Savage GT]

I see the Capri release date has now slipped to Nov 2021 as showing on Pendle's. Darn you Scaley, I have the "Brut" version and it was eagerly awaiting this partner. Grrrrrrrrr 

[woodcote]

I'm not sure I'd trust any of the release dates at the moment. I understand there has been some shipping chaos, but not everything is affected. I'll see if I can find out anything... I have those two Capris on my wishlist.

[woodcote]

I understand there will be an official announcement from Hornby sometime soon... but there are supply chain issues affecting manufacturing and shipping schedules of pretty much everything manufactured in the Far East - especially in countries that have significant Covid disruption at the moment.

What that means for Scalextric is some cars will arrive bang on time (eg the XJS from this bunch), but others will be pushed back a bit. Nothing has been - or will be - cancelled. And everything is progressing nicely for the 2022 range. Release dates will be updated on the Scalextric site - so the Esso Capri and the Trans-Am Camaro IROC Z are now marked as 'summer 2021'. The Scalextric site is probably the best place to check changes to expected arrival times.

[Savage GT]

Thanks for the update Andy 

I just received this e-mail from Pendle Slot Racing :

Scalextric Pricing Update
We have received an update from Hornby Hobbies that all trade prices will increase approximately by 10% starting from July 31st.
At Pendle Slot Racing we have decided to absorb this increase in price on all new Scalextric car releases for the time being. This means that all customers who have placed pre-orders with us will receive their cars at the original prices (no increase).
We will also continue to take pre-orders for the Scalextric 2021 car range at the original prices.
Older cars, track and accessories will only be re-priced when restocks are received, ideally if you are looking to purchase track and accessories please place any orders before July 31st.

[GOGS]

Ouch 10% increase on Scalextric, this put them worryingly more expensive than others ie SCX & Carrera in a no man's land before Sidways, Scaleauto etc. I hope this doesn't undo all the positives over the last couple of years.

[Henk]

It‘s not only Scalextric that raises the prices, Carrera also raised their prices with 5% according to my trusted reseller.

[woodcote]

It's likely to be all consumer goods. And anything with semiconductors a whole lot more. Shortages of raw materials, factories not being able to meet demand, ongoing shipping issues... all those - and more - feed in to rising costs. The European brands whose UK prices went up post-Brexit are likely to be going up some more - especially if they are manufactured in the far East.

Bravo to Pendles for protecting their customers from the rise on all 2021 releases - I'll be interested to see what other retailers decide to do...