[CMOTD]

Bit of a strange one this, Scalextric have withdrawn C4308 McLaren M23 Nelson Piquet from sale.

   

Any 'licensor' issues would surely affect their other versions of the same car but they remain on sale. Mr Piquet has recently been put on the naughty step and heavily fined for making nasty comments about Lewis Hamilton though so perhaps he has been "cancelled". Should do wonders for the price of this car on eBay.

[JasonB]

Especially strange since Piquet's comments have been known for so long.

[Kevan]

Maybe Piquet has put the prices up on his trademark name to recoup the cost of the fine 

[woodcote]

The Piquet Williams is still available on the Scalextric site, so I’m guessing the licensor in question is McLaren?

Although Piquet made the comments in 2021, he has only recently been sanctioned by a court. He originally claimed his comments don’t have the same connotations in Brazil as elsewhere (the Luis Suárez defence) - although local anti-racist and LGBTQ groups poured scorn on that and Piquet later made an apology of sorts. A Brazilian court fined him nearly a million US dollars last Friday, the judge explaining the reason for the fine “so that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia".

In that context, I’m not really surprised if McLaren (or whoever) might want to pull their involvement with the Scalextric model. It wasn’t exactly a significant car - 3 races, 1 ninth-place finish for BS Engineering - whereas the FW11 is a world championship-winning Williams.

[Anthony B]

I have been on a bit of 70's F1 buying and strangely had ordered that car - hmmm

[darrenp60]

The Piquet Williams is still available on the Scalextric site, so I’m guessing the licensor in question is McLaren?

Although Piquet made the comments in 2021, he has only recently been sanctioned by a court. He originally claimed his comments don’t have the same connotations in Brazil as elsewhere (the Luis Suárez defence) - although local anti-racist and LGBTQ groups poured scorn on that and Piquet later made an apology of sorts. A Brazilian court fined him nearly a million US dollars last Friday, the judge explaining the reason for the fine “so that, as a society, we can someday be free from the pernicious acts that are racism and homophobia".

In that context, I’m not really surprised if McLaren (or whoever) might want to pull their involvement with the Scalextric model. It wasn’t exactly a significant car - 3 races, 1 ninth-place finish for BS Engineering - whereas the FW11 is a world championship-winning Williams.

[darrenp60]

I feel sure the above referenced interpretation after Piquet is the correct one.  Whomsoever now controls the rights to reproduce McLaren M23s not improperly, and seemingly, prefers not to be reminded of this all to brief and essentially fruitless association with Piquet from the 1970s.  In terms of what Piquet said then I heard a recording of the original Brazilian Portuguese from his mouth for myself and, having been married to a Brazilian national these last 15 years, I would myself characterise Piquet's explanatory protestations after his true purpose in being in what he then said and was then about as disingenuous.  Piquet, today, may not unreasonable be described as provocatively obtuse. This mode no doubt worked to Piquet's advantage whilst as a younger man and whilst otherwise pitted against an 'otherwise' determinedly tenacious and stubborn Nigel Mansell (back in the mid 1980s) and yet Mansell was better able to leave his 'Lion Blood' on the race track.  Ol' Nige certainly has a tale or two to tell for when it comes to Piquet!  Personally, I do remember the era and the Brazilian mantra from F1 crowds in terms "Ole, Ole, Ole Ole, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet".  10 years on and one of the pair achieved the status of near national patron saint whilst the other was then found cast asunder and into relative obscurity as some function of the Brazilian national consciousness.  'Deus' works in mysterious ways!