29th-Sep-22, 05:32 PM
Scalextric C4247 Chrysler Hemicuda - Spa 24 Hours 1973 - Bertinchamps & Deprez. RRP £49.99. Available now
One of the recent batch of new Scalextric cars to arrive is this stunning Chrysler Hemicuda that was raced by Belgians Yves Deprez and Pierre-Yves Bertinchamps at the 1973 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Scalextric use the same mould as the Plymouth Barracuda released last autumn (see here), with the addition of working front headlights (alas, no driving lights) and different wheel hubs. Both having the same standard Scalextric 'Trans-Am' configuration of a sidewinder motor and full interior. The Hemicuda is another in a growing collection of Spa 24 Hours models and goes perfectly with the recent James Hunt / Richard Lloyd Scalextric Camaro from the same 1973 race, captured beautifully here with on a 8mm home movie...
The 1973 Spa 24 Hours is remembered for tragedy - racing was becoming increasingly dangerous for high-performance cars on the original Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Formula One held its last Grand Prix at Spa in 1970, not returning until 1983. The European Touring Car Championship would withdraw after the 1973 race - the 24-hours continuing with Group 1 production cars until the new circuit was ready in 1979. This final no-holds-barred 24-hour touring car race on the old Spa was set up as a battle between BMW and Ford. The previous four rounds of the ETCC has seen two wins apiece for the Group 2 BMW 3.0CSL and Capri RS2600 - but BMW had rushed through a new rear wing, just before the July homologation cut-off. Rear-end lift was becoming a big problem for the increasingly rapid Group 2 cars, so this would seemingly give BMW a big advantage going to Spa.
The sixty-strong field was headed by the two factory BMWs, three Alpina-entered CSLs - including the Jägermeister car of Brian Muir and Hans-Peter Joisten - and the two works Capris. The 7-litre Chrysler Hemicuda was typical of the big yank tanks entered by European teams into the ETCC at the time. They usually qualified well at Spa, the Levi-sponsored Chrysler France Hemicuda can be seen fifteenth on the grid, just behind the first of the Camaros in 11th and the Hunt/Lloyd Camaro further back in 24th.
The BMW-Ford battle attracted a crowd of nearly 100,000 people. The BMWs dominated the early stages - the Fords keeping watch just behind. Muir led in the orange car, whilst the Hunt Camaro pitted with wheel-bearing issues. BMW's decision to enter five potential winners looked a shrewd call when one of the Alpina cars retired. As pit stops cycled through, the Hemicuda briefly found itself up in fifth place - running strongly in the battle for 'best-of-the-rest'...
That good form would not last - often the case for the big American cars. The Hemicuda was plagued by countless problems, dropping it to 27th and last place at the finish - 1000 kms behind the winner. The Hunt / Lloyd Camaro eventually retired with clutch problems, but the other British-entered Camaro - of Mike Crabtree, Jonathan Buncombe and Terry Sanger - finished a magnificent eleventh.
Darkness was accompanied by the rain - a disastrous combination. Just before 11 o'clock, Joisten was driving the leading Jägermeister BMW through the vast, sweeping right-hander at Burnenville, blasting past Roger Dubos in a Group 1 Alfa. Entering the following corner at Malmédy, Joisten appeared slightly off-line, spinning out on the wet surface, hitting the barrier hard before coming to a standstill in the middle of the track. Dubos braked, but hit the BMW side-on at considerable speed - killing both drivers instantly. Alpina immediately withdrew their remaining car from the race.
That was not the end of the tragedy. Shortly after the crash at Malmédy, Massimo Larini's Alfa went over the barrier at Les Combes - he was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries a week later. A separate crash at the same corner saw Hubert Raus flip his BMW 2002ti and suffer extensive injuries - thankfully he survived. Today, we'd expect the event to be stopped after such horrors - but the cars raced on for the full 24 hours, minus the Alpina BMWs and the Autodelta Alfas which were withdrawn. Two BMWs and two Capris were now left - but only one of each still ran as dawn broke across the Ardennes. The Quester / Hezemans CSL led into the morning - and that lead became very comfortable when Mass spun the Capri at the Masta kink, requiring lengthy repairs in the pits.
Only 27 cars finished the race, but after the horrors and sadness of the night, it didn't really matter - everyone just wanted to go home.
For fans of the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps - a race often as brutal as it was thrilling - the Scalextric Hemicuda will be a must-have model. It also offers continues the theme of Scalextric offering European liveries on their Trans-Am cars. The Hemicuda is available now from all Scalextric stockists.
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