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The 2023 Scalextric Club offering has broken cover on the eve of the UK Slot Car Festival - and it's a brilliant choice. First, it's another livery on the very popular Capri Mk3 and secondly, it honours a star of 1980s and 90s British club racing - Graham 'Skid' Scarborough.

   

The internet doesn't throw up many images of 1980s club racing, so it's a case of digging out magazines from the time - and books looking back - to find pictures of Skid Scaborough. This one shows (left to right) David da Costa, Tony Lanfranchi, Graham Scarborough and Gerry Marshall after the 1981 Willhire 24 hours at Snetterton. Saloon car legend Marshall became a mentor and friend to the young Scarborough, who contributes numerous anecdotes to Marshall's recent biography. Scarborough made his name with production-spec 3-litre Mk3 Capris, winning the 1982 BRSCC production saloon car championship - bagging eight of the twelve rounds, with Gerry Marshall winning two in his 2.8i and Barrie Williams ending the season with victory at Brands in his Opel Monza. Great days.

   

At the end of 1982, Scarborough bought this yellow Track Marshall-sponsored Group 1 Capri from Chuck Nicholson, who'd raced the car in the first seven rounds of the 1981 British Saloon Car Championship. Skid used the Track Marshall Capri in the Modified Saloons series in 1983 and 1984 with great success, taking the championship in 1983 and winning his class in 1984. As agreed with Chuck Nicholson, Scarborough ran the car in Track Marshall colours in 1983. 

   

For 1984, Scarborough changed the colour scheme to that of his primary sponsor, Letchworth Roofing. Although Skid had won the championship in 1983, he felt that his rivals were getting closer and he fitted the Track Marshall Capri with lightweight bonnet, doors, tailgate and plastic windows. Scarborough sold the car in 1985 as a lightweight Modified Saloon car, running for just a handful of races before being badly damaged in a racing incident.

There's a twist to the tale - because there's been a Group 1-spec Capri in Track Marshall colours being driven by Skid Scarborough in historic saloon car events...



It's not the original Track Marshall car - but it does have some of its parts. Remember those lightweight parts added to the Group 1 car for 1984? The originals were fitted to Scarborough's championship-winning production car when it was rebuilt in 1983-4 after a big crash. And they remained in place when that production car was bought by Scarborough's pal Howard Dawson in 1992 - completely unaware of the history until Skid started to root around inside. Dawson rebuilt the car to Group 1 specs, with Skid occasionally racing it in the Track Marshall colours. And when not racing the yellow car, Skid races the ex-Gerry Marshal production Capri 3.0 in the same AutoPlan livery that came second at that 1981 24-hour race at Snetterton. That ties the story up very neatly, I think.

Bravo to Scalextric for choosing such a brilliant car - a fabulous livery that pays homage to an unsung hero. They could have played safe with the Track Marshall car, but going with the 1984 Letchworth Roofing version makes it 100% Skid Scarborough's Capri.

You can join the Scalextric Club for 2023 - or renew your membership - now on the Scalextric website: https://uk.scalextric.com/community/scalextric-club

The price has risen to £50 for the UK and £66 for the rest of the world. That gives you the Capri and the 2023 catalogue - both should arrive on your doorstep next January. Plus there's a Club members' area on the website and exclusive Club models to buy and competitions to enter

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I stumbled across this recent compilation video from Herts County Auto & Aero Club, where Skid Scarborough was president...



And there's more footage of that 1982 Snetterton production saloon battle between Scarborough and Gerry Marshall...