[woodcote]

   

If you've wandered on to the Slot Cars Direct website recently, you may have noticed that the venerable Tomy Turbo has received the 'hobby chassis' treatment from British Bulldog HO Racing. The BDR chassis is the brainchild of Barry Johnson, patron of the UK's HO cars & parts emporium and - with help and guidance from Terry Flynn at Harden Creek Slot Cars in Florida - he has captained the ship admirably. Despite the pandemic, a production chassis will be available pretty much on schedule - from Thursday 1 October. Pre-orders are being taken now at SlotCarsDirect.

I interviewed Barry for the September issue of Slot Car Magazine (details here) and he spills the beans about a fascinating development process. The reason behind the BDR project is that the supplies of the Turbo chassis are dwindling and much of what is left is horrible. What we have now is a nylatron chassis with the Viper-esque front end, enclosed axle holes, a new guide pin, flatter bottom and a slightly redesigned rear end that is tighter and has more space for a bigger choice of gears...

       

At the front, the enclosed axle holes are for two wheelbases - 1.5 and 1.7 inch - although I haven't butchered the preview chassis (yet) to see if a Turbo F1 body will fit.

   

The SCD lexan clips do fit, of course, so that means Barry has gone for just the standard Turbo 'wide' tabs rather than add pin posts. Neither is the position of the clip any different - not a 'low-rider' - which I think is probably a good choice for racers wanting big magnets and big tyres at the back. You can compare the stance between the BDR (#98 Daytona car) and an original Turbo (#1 Le Mans car) with the same wheels fitted...

   

The first release will include the chassis, magnet holder and clip - and there'll also be an entry-level rolling chassis built up with mostly Turbo components - including the classic 6-ohm can motor - although with a new guide pin, shoe hangers and N42 neo traction magnets. The shoes are the slightly modified design Barry has been selling for the past few years. There will be silicone tyres front and back. On my preview version, the gearing was 7:22, although the car is advertised with 7:25.

       

The BDR chassis will take many of the high performance Viper components, as well as the original Turbo bar magnet. Barry is looking at sourcing a brass weight similar to the JW's HO Speed Parts version, which - I can tell you - goes very nicely with the Slot Cars Direct 7-ohm can motor. Also available from Slot Cars Direct is a 4.5-ohm motor, which is quicker although I've found it lacking in torque. What the BDR really needs is someone building motor cans with a range of armatures to appeal to club racers and drag racers. BSRT used to offer some, but I don't see any around now. Perhaps the release of the BDR will rekindle production in this area of the HO motor market?

Apart from a quick look at the BDR chassis - which I was very impressed by - I haven't yet run the car... my HO test track is still buried under proxy drag racing debris. I have a couple of weeks to put that straight and see what the Bulldog is like in action. I will report back.

Overall, I like the look of the chassis very much - it is clearly aimed as a good-value updated and improved Turbo chassis, rather than an out-and-out racing chassis like the SG+ clones. Having said that, the original Turbos and SRTs have a rich heritage of racing here in the UK - especially at Chesterfield HO Racing Club and at the legendary Derby HO Le Mans 24 hours. The Turbo set-up remains perfect for a one-make or hand-out race format and the BDR has that ready-made niche to fall straight in to. With more motor options, I expect the BDR will be an interesting competitor for the Vipers at club level. And I have always found the Turbo a perfect home track car. I am really glad the Turbo platform is about to get a new lease of life on both sides of the pond - and down in Australia and NZ too, where the Turbo always sold well and Barry is looking for a distributor.

Chassis will ship from the 1st of October and here's what is available:

BDR7886 Bulldog Racing Rolling Chassis £15.99
BDR7809 Bare Chassis with Magnet Retainer Clip £4.00
BDR7809S Bare Chassis with Magnet Retainer Clip & Neo Magnet Holder £5.20
BDR7809SP Bare Chassis, Magnet Clip, Neo Magnet Holder & Fitted Guide Pin £5.95
BDR7818 Magnet Retaining Clip £1.00
BDR7889 Neo Magnet Holder £1.60
BDR7801 Steel Guide Pin £1.00
BDR7804 Pickup Shoe Hangers (pair) £0.75

There is more information on the Slot Cars Direct website: slotcarsdirect.com/bulldog-ho-racing-chassis

The Bulldog BDR will be distributed in North America by Harden Creek Slot Cars.

[Ntxslotcars]

Wow this is cool!  One of my favorite chassis!!!!  And classes!




So many cars...  So little time...

[KensRedZed]

Andy.

Nice looking chassis. Nice price point. Thanks for posting.

Now if only I can find a GT40 body like the ones in the photo... Without over-spending.