[Bazzer]

Hey Tibbs

I did not see that you were from Cowplain, really Havant is the spiritual home of model race car manufacturers, Scalextric were by Leigh Park for well over 10 years and then the very successful RC car manufacturer PB racing were in Downley Road Havant.

MRRC were in nearby Bournemouth and MRRC spawned into the Airfix system, anyhow enough of the model car history lesson.

B.

[Tibbs]

Hey Tibbs

I did not see that you were from Cowplain, really Havant is the spiritual home of model race car manufacturers, Scalextric were by Leigh Park for well over 10 years and then the very successful RC car manufacturer PB racing were in Downley Road Havant.

MRRC were in nearby Bournemouth and MRRC spawned into the Airfix system, anyhow enough of the model car history lesson.

B.

I wonder why they all moved?

I might do some investigating.
Cheers for the lesson.

[Bazzer]

Tibbs

Well Scalextric was part of Triang when they were in Havent and when Triang got into trouble the Scalextric factory moved to Margate.

MRRC were in Boscombe which is a suburb of Bournemouth, they sold out to Airfix but seemed to retain a base in Boscombe, at some stage Airfix got in trouble but MRRC kept going and was sold a few times and is now in Germany.

PB Racing who made RC cars (Keith Plested) ran from around 1970 until the early 2000's. As far as I know Keith had no interest in Slot Cars bit Gene Hustings of Associated in the USA who was a slot car driver before getting into RC cars was a strong adversary of Keith's in the 1970's and 80's.

That whole period was great for model car racing.

There was a very good slot driver in Bournemouth called Bob Errington who went onto be a top notch RC car driver.

B.

[Tibbs]

Tibbs

Well Scalextric was part of Triang when they were in Havent and when Triang got into trouble the Scalextric factory moved to Margate.

MRRC were in Boscombe which is a suburb of Bournemouth, they sold out to Airfix but seemed to retain a base in Boscombe, at some stage Airfix got in trouble but MRRC kept going and was sold a few times and is now in Germany.

PB Racing who made RC cars (Keith Plested) ran from around 1970 until the early 2000's. As far as I know Keith had no interest in Slot Cars bit Gene Hustings of Associated in the USA who was a slot car driver before getting into RC cars was a strong adversary of Keith's in the 1970's and 80's.

That whole period was great for model car racing.

There was a very good slot driver in Bournemouth called Bob Errington who went onto be a top notch RC car driver.

B.

Thanks mate,
thats really interesting, I'm glad scalextric stuck it out and didn't go pear shape.
Be sad if it disappeared, the more I'm reading through this forum and watching certain youtube vids and having a crack at making things.
You realise it's a real skill in all aspects of this hobby.

Very addictive.

[Bazzer]

I don't think Scalextric will go pear shaped, the brand is actually quite strong IMO and the product does well as a main stream consumer item. I have heaps of Scalexctric cars, some old and some quite new, I run them hard and fast, I let my granddaughter play with them both on the track and as push around cars but with some tlc they clean and run better than new.

I am no expert at slot cars but I can tell you that to get a slot car to run fast and consistently, they have to be well prepared. And the same goes for the track. The biggest thing in my opinion is rear tyre grip and keeping the tyres clean.

There are lots of cars and race systems out there but for me Scalextric is a happy compromise, the cars in the videos below are all about 20 years old, the GT 40's have done 10's of thousands of laps and are still on the orginal motors, plent of braids changed and a few tyre sets.

Anyone tell me that this is not a good product?

B.

[Tibbs]

I don't think Scalextric will go pear shaped, the brand is actually quite strong IMO and the product does well as a main stream consumer item. I have heaps of Scalexctric cars, some old and some quite new, I run them hard and fast, I let my granddaughter play with them both on the track and as push around cars but with some tlc they clean and run better than new.

I am no expert at slot cars but I can tell you that to get a slot car to run fast and consistently, they have to be well prepared. And the same goes for the track. The biggest thing in my opinion is rear tyre grip and keeping the tyres clean.

There are lots of cars and race systems out there but for me Scalextric is a happy compromise, the cars in the videos below are all about 20 years old, the GT 40's have done 10's of thousands of laps and are still on the orginal motors, plent of braids changed and a few tyre sets.

Anyone tell me that this is not a good product?

B.

That was bloody brilliant Bazzer.
The little lap counter thing is that just a plug and go and would it work on Sport track?

[Bazzer]

Yes that is on Sport track.

The system was very hyped when it came out, it just runs analogue cars but has some idea where they are on the track from the start finish line and current breaks around the circuit.

The big thing was that it had a system where you could race over the internet but that did not work very well but the rest was brilliant IMO. Because the Internet racing did work the system got a massive bad following, really that idea was way ahead of its time.

It can run either standalone or with a PC connected, with the PC you get a load of extra features but in standalone mode you can do qualifying timed laps and importantly you can teach it a fast lap, then you can setup say a 25 lap race and it will drive the car for 25 pretty well identical laps whilst you race it in the other lane, so effectively you are racing your best lap.

To run fast the cars need to be nicely prepared and the track needs to be in good condition and that was what started this thread off !! The Pacer function does not like inconsistencies such as dirt or dust on the track as this makes the car have variable lap times and it looses sync in the lap, but with everything well setup it is blinding.

This evening I have been teaching the Sport World to drive a 1965 Scalextric BRM Formula Junior, You tube here 



B.