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C4209 Aston Martin V8 - Gulf Edition - Rikki Cann Racing. RRP £49.99. Arriving July 2022

Due to arrive very soon is this glorious Aston Martin V8 racer from Scalextric. Already produced as two James Bond cars, the 1977 V8 Vantage has scope as a race car with that big 'chin' spoiler replacing the road car grille and bumper at the front. It's a sign of Scalextric building versatility into their news tooling when they can. This Gulf livery was in the 2021 catalogue and the web-exclusive green Chris Scragg V8 will be available in the autumn. Both are modern-day classic racers running mostly in the Aston Martin Owners Club series...

       

Rikki Cann has been servicing, restoring and race-preparing Aston Martins at his Shoeburyness garage since 1991. He has raced V8 Vantages for over sixteen years, racking up a huge number of overall victories, class wins and championships in the Aston Martin Owners Club series. Although well-know for his Gulf-liveried cars, this special livery was updated for the 2019 season...

       

Rikki built his first DBS V8 to compete at the AMOC race series in 2006. Putting his company's skill and expertise to the test, the car - christened The Stealth - won two races outright, as well as multiple class wins during its debut season. Following an accident at Brands Hatch, The Stealth was retired and a second V8 - this one named Rose - was developed. Rikki became the first Aston Martin specialist to design, build and drive an outright championship winner when he won the 2008 AMOC Championship.

The Scalextric V8 Vantage features a sidewinder Mabuchi S-Can with the usual 11:36 gear ratio and is easily converted to digital using the C8515 digital plug. There are working headlights and rear lights. You can see more of it in this Scalextric Test Track video at 1:57...



I'm fully expecting to see the Rikki Cann and Chris Scagg V8s racing in my club's classic touring and production GT class this autumn. I have a hunch they might do quite well.

The Gulf-liveried Rikki Cann Racing Aston Martin V8 is available now as a pre-order from your favourite Scalextric dealers. It is scheduled to arrive by the end of the month.

Many thanks to Hornby Hobbies for the images of the model.