[woodcote]

   

C4147 Drew Pritchard's VW Beetle - Jack Sears Memorial Trophy, Goodwood Revival 2018. Available now. RRP £40.99


The Scalextric Team turned up at the 2018 Goodwood Revival mob-handed, running a track in the tented village 'Over the Road' and taking in as much of the real racing action as possible...

       

Clearly there was product development research going on too - and one of the tangible results is the lovely VW Beetle raced by Salvage Hunters' Drew Pritchard in the Jack Sears Memorial Trophy race that weekend...

       

Even though I'm no Salvage Hunters fan, the black Beetle stood out for me at the Scalextric launch in January...

   

The Jack Sears Trophy race celebrated sixty years of the British Saloon Car Championship (now the BTCC) and it was important to have a Beetle on the grid, as there was one back in that first 1958 season. Welsh antique dealer, TV presenter and historic car enthusiast Pritchard happily obliged - his Beetle having appeared at numerous Goodwood track days and a Members' Meeting, but this was his Revival debut.

Drew and his mechanic Ian had been building and tweaking the car for about five years, creating an authentic 1958 Beetle with 1500cc VW engine, twin Weber carburettors and tuned to produce an impressive 200 bhp. A lot of work had also been put into the suspension to handle that power and still go round corners... at least most of the time!




This was Drew's verdict of the race, given to Classic Car Weekly

It was wonderful, absolutely fantastic. I was up into 13th when I got stuck behind a Ford Zephyr, but I thought 11th was doable when my fanbelt snapped in the second to last lap. I went straight back into the pits and we fixed it quickly, but I had lost time and eventually finished 25th. Still, it was great fun and the car drove really well. It was a tribute to my team of mechanics that I was able to place it exactly where I wanted on the track.

And of having a Scalextric version of the Beetle made...

   

The car is available now from the Scalextric webstore (here) and will be arriving with your favourite Scalextric retailers over the next few days.

[BAracer]

My first car was a 1500cc Beetle.

Would be interested to know if that 200bhp was still air cooled...

[woodcote]

To race at the Revival it would need to be 99.9% original or reproduction parts.

There is a significant  industry rebuilding the air-cooled VW engines for custom Bugs. Santa Pod hold Bug Jam each year (except this one...) and there are some incredibly quick cars, many with the original air-cooled engines. It is the UK VW festival...

   

[Mr.M]

To race at the Revival it would need to be 99.9% original or reproduction parts.

[Cough] MG YB [/Cough]

You've been reading too many Goodwood press releases, Andy.

[woodcote]

Indeed 

I am sure plenty of small liberties are taken. But I am certain an air-cooled VW engine would be required in a Beetle. I also get the strong impression most of the owners are extremely proud of the authenticity of their cars. In the old days when much more of the paddock was open, they’d tell you - in detail - how they’d lovingly restored the cars (or paid someone to do it for them) and the exact provenance of the chassis. Some of the classes are rather more professional now, with no owner in sight. I do still very much enjoy hanging out around the saloon cars and the tiny 500cc single-seaters, plus the bikes.

[Pioneer]

Next time I bump into Drew, I'll let him know he should be driving that Beetle from the passenger seat. He got it wrong at Goodwood.

Jules