Roll up, roll up, read all about it!
In this week’s news we have three new cars from Scalextric, two each from Slot.it, Policar, and ScaleAuto, and two new kits from Pendles, plus a special feature on Robert Schleicher, the latest proxy news, events from the calendar, videos and of course our photo of the week.
Slot Cars
- Pendle Slot Racing SlotStox Pendle Slot Racing have added a Formula 2 stock car to the range of PCS slot car kits. Designed and developed by Pendle Slot Racing and produced using the very latest in high-quality 3D printing by TA71. The Bodyshells have had an additional vapour smooth treatment applied to leave a smooth finish. Expected this month and available to pre-order now.
- Pendle Slot Racing Toyota 2000 GT Another new and exclusive Pendles kit produced by TA71, is this Toyota 2000 GT. The body has been designed to allow the kit to be completed with the pop-up headlamps open or closed.
- Slot.it Nissan R89C The Slot.it Nissan R89C which we featured a few weeks ago is now available. The model recreates the the Group C car which was driven by Julian Bailey, Mark Blundell, and Martin Donnelly at Le Mans in 1989.
- Slot.it Porsche 956 KH Also expected on September 8th is the latest livery for the Slot.it Porsche 956, which models the car driven at the Nürburgring 1000 km of 1984. The car finished eighth, and was driven by Henri Pescarolo, Stefan Johansson, and unusually by Ayrton Senna, in a rare outing in endurance racing.
- ScaleAuto Dodge Viper ScaleAuto have announced two new liveries for their Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R, representing the two cars which raced at the 2015 Watkins Glen 6 Hours, driven by Keating/Bleekemolen & Carter/Lawrence/Goossens
Feature
Robert Schleicher
Robert Schleicher is a well known figure in the world of slot cars, having published his first article on the subject back in February 1964. He has since published his own magazine, Model Car Racing for 22 years, as well as writing several books about slot cars, and other hobbies. Here is a little of his history in his own words…
“My interest in the hobby was sparked in 1958 with the Polks Hobby store in New York City’s ads for Scalextric and V.I.P. sets in Sports Cars Illustrated magazine, but their $500 prices (in today’s dollars) were more than I could afford.
In 1962 Strombecker introduced their 1/32 scale set for about $200 (again, in today’s dollars) and I bought one. The set included a Ferrari Testa Rosa and Jaguar D-Type. Within a few weeks I bought a VIP 1959 Cooper T39 from Auto Hobbies retail store (which also had a Scalextric demo track) in Montrose, California. All three cars were painted to match specific prototypes using Testors Pla and a brush (also for stripes and numbers).
By 1963 we were scratch building brass chassis using Pittman-made Auto Hobbies 704 sidewinder motors or “red can” round Mabuchis (all with rewound armatures) and lots of lead, with clear plastic bodies or Merit-brand or Strombecker 1/24 scale plastic static kit bodies.
I dropped out in the late sixties but picked up interest when Bachmann produced 1/43 scale cars and sets with Strombecker track in the mid-eighties. In the late nineties Ninco and Fly started producing scale cars that were exactly the kind of quality and performance that I wanted, so I set up several Carrera tracks and started racing with the local club.
I’ve been racing 1/32 scale cars on my tracks and on the tracks of a dozen local club members ever since. The hobby overlapped my career as a writer, photographer, publisher and consultant in the hobby industry from 1964 until the present.”
- Model Car & Track You can find Robert’s very first published article in the February 1964 edition of Model Car & Track, over in the Library. Robert was a regular contributor to the the magazine, so there are also articles by him in the March 64 issue, and the October and December 65 issues.
- Tracks & Track Plans Also in the Library, are a series of Robert’s excellent track plans, plus a twelve part series on the building of his brilliant Paramount Ranch track. Well worth a look.
- Model Car Racing Bringing us right up to date, Model Car Racing Magazine provides all the latest inside information about high performance cars, tracks and both analog and digital racing systems for 1/32 scale and HO electric racing cars. Unfortunately, after 22 years of publication, Robert has announced that the current issue will be the penultimate ever, with the final issue due in November.
Dear Mr Schleicher, from all of the team here at SlotRacer.Online, we’d like to say a huge thank you for all of your contributions to the hobby over the last 59 years! We hope you continue to enjoy your racing.
Events
- Worthing Digital Wednesday – 16th-Aug-23
- National Digital Championship – Stanborough – 27th-Aug-23
- Bury St Edmunds club night 5-10pm – 2nd-Sep-23
- Worthing HO Wednesday – 6th-Sep-23
- National GT3 – Pendle Slot Racing – 10th-Sep-23
- Worthing Digital Saturday – 23rd-Sep-23
- Confolens Classic pre-1970 at Champagne Mouton – 23rd-Sep-23
- National Digital Championship – North Staffs – 30th-Sep-23
Slot Racing
- Extreme Slotting Proxy 2023 The off road vehicles rocked up in Worthing this week, to tackle the final round of the series, a challenging Ninco track. Catch up with all the results, reports and photos.
Happy Birthday
- Gran Premio Internacional Standard Supermovil YPF Baroness Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist celebrated her 94th birthday this week. She was a star behind the steering wheel, particularly rallying for Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s. We have the epic story of her victory at the gruelling 1962 Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix.
Video
Photo of the Week
Revell Monogram Ford Galaxie 500
Photo by Mamoru Teranishi
