The SCX NASCAR's will be available in the US by the end of October. Note
that those cars will be fitted with 19.000rpm motors, 1000 more rpm than other NASCAR's currently available in stock trim!
DaveK
Friday, September 08, 2006
SCX Nascar news
The SCX NASCAR's will be available in the US by the end of October. Note
that those cars will be fitted with 19.000rpm motors, 1000 more rpm than other NASCAR's currently available in stock trim!
DaveK
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Ferrari's...a piece at a time.
I noticed something that way have slipped by some slotters out there. Anyone else noticed that some upcoming Ferrari slot cars are available only as kits? And on the promotional literature there is a notation about the number of pieces that each kit comes with.
The new Ninco 360 Modena:
The new Slot.It 312 PB:
Since Mattel owns the rights to the Ferrari name I decided to call Mattel's PR department for comment on their policies...the call was not returned sorry to say.
DaveK
The new Ninco 360 Modena:
The new Slot.It 312 PB:
Since Mattel owns the rights to the Ferrari name I decided to call Mattel's PR department for comment on their policies...the call was not returned sorry to say.
DaveK
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
New Sloter Ferrari and Lola
NEW FEATURES SEPTEMBER 2006
Available day 15
The new model of the 312 PB number 4 and Piloted by Clay Regazzoni and Brian Redman next to the ref: 400101 and 400102 that participated in Daytona in 1972. Ref: 400104
The rest of the photo:
New LOLA T290 piloted by Marie Claude Beaumont that participated with the number 25 in the circuit of Clermont Ferrand in 1973 with the decoration of Coffee of Cote D'ivoire. Ref: 400203
Thanks to Sloter for the images.
DaveK
Available day 15
The new model of the 312 PB number 4 and Piloted by Clay Regazzoni and Brian Redman next to the ref: 400101 and 400102 that participated in Daytona in 1972. Ref: 400104
The rest of the photo:
New LOLA T290 piloted by Marie Claude Beaumont that participated with the number 25 in the circuit of Clermont Ferrand in 1973 with the decoration of Coffee of Cote D'ivoire. Ref: 400203
Thanks to Sloter for the images.
DaveK
Ninco World Cup Super GT, NSX spec's
A new feature here. For the next few weeks SCNews will update with spec sheets for the allowed cars for the Ninco World Cup event. Today the NSX will be highlighted.
I included the jpeg with the basics of the rules below. SCI and other boards have whole areas devoted to this topic so check them out for all the "blah, blah" you can handle on this topic.
DaveK
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Sept. Spirit releases
I'm not really sure why but it feels more statisfying to put the car together yourself, so it's cool to have Spirit give the racer that option. And two different bodies with the little Renault chassis is very cool. I got a chance to look at SCN reader PeteN95's Spirit's recently. I really like the bodies and I think the cars have huge potential for the racers out there to modify they way they see fit.
Images courtesy of Spirit.
DaveK
New Scalextric Escort livery
And now a close look at the newest livery of Scalextric Ford Escort, C2757 Ford Escort Colibri.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Scalex Ford Escort-a closer look
Name: Ford Escort MK1
Reference No: C2643
Class: Rally
History
The Mk I Escort's biggest success was as a rally car, and it quickly went on to become the most successful rally car of all time. The Ford works team was practically unbeatable in the late '60s/early '70s, and the Escort's greatest victory was in the 1970 London-Mexico rally being driven by Finnish legend Hannu Mikkola.
The Scalextric model
Scalextric first made the Ford Escort in 1970 and issued six liveries which, even today, are very desirable cars for the rally enthusiast. The all new Scalextric car improves upon the original model design in all area – detail, interior fittings, body shape, livery decoration and stunning performance. Our first model, C2643, is the famous UNIFLO livery driven by rally legend Roger Clark and equally notable co-driver Tony Mason in the Daily Mirror 1972 International Rally.
Features:
Magnatraction, front and rear lights and quick change braid plate. Digital ready chassis.
Dimensions & Configuration
Car: Overall length 127 mm, Wheelbase 75 mm, Weight 80 gm
Rear: Axle width 50 mm, Tyre diameter 20 mm, Width 8 mm
Front: Axle width 50 mm, Tyre diameter 20 mm, Width 8 mm
Magnet: Rectangular 2.5 mm, Gear ratio 9:27
Motor: In-Line Rear Mounted Rear 2 wheel drive Mabuchi SF 18k rpm
Image from the SCI archives...news from Scalextric
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Slot car immortality
Lime Rock Park Sept. 3, 2006-Ever wondered how a slot car gets made? John McClintock of Olympia Washington knows. His 1969 Mustang was made by Scalextric and does he have a story to tell.
The history of the car:
In October of 2000 McClintock bought his car from the previous owner in Dayton Ohio. It wasn't totally complete and at that point John decided to have the restoration be from the 1970 TransAm season where it was raced by a privateer racer Warren Tope. I believe a relative of Tope's (probably his father) Donald Tope, was the VP for Chassis & Transmission for Ford. The car was not sold technically but rather the car was "transferred" from Ford to Tope who took possession of it. The car was never titled and never saw time as a street car. The car, which first saw action in the "A sedan" class of SCCA racing, was then campaigned in the TransAm series from 1970-72 with no wins in its 10 or so races. The car was not originally a Boss 302 but was retrofitted with the proper motor and graphics after the fact.
Slot car immortality:
In 2002 when McClintock debuted the car after restoration was complete, he was approached by several toy company's to reproduce the car. Welly, the diecast company, and Scalextric both contacted him. The process was as different as the final toys themselves. Welly made a formal written agreement with McClintock, sent him a prototype to check for accuracy against his restored racer and eventually produced the 1:18 version available today. Scalextric contacted him on the phone by way of Scalextric USA and asked for a paint chip to match the color of his car. There was no formal contract made and he was not at all involved in the process of making the slot car. But they never contacted him to ask for photos or, after the car was produced as a slot car, never let him know it went into production until much later. When Scalex had realized they forgot to let him know they sent him a box of slot cars to show him the final product.
So what does he think of each version? Well each have their flaws. The Welly car he says isn't exactly the correct color but he feels they captured the car very well notwithstanding the error in paint. The Scalextric car he feels is the perfect match for the color, but the details are generally incorrect. He wasn't specific about what errors had been made but, in general, thought the slot car was only "ok".
"It's a great honor to have your car recognized and to have a toy made of it", he said of the whole process, he doesn't do slot cars as a hobby but many of the other classic car owners he knows do.
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
Slot car photo from the Scalextric USA site.
The history of the car:
In October of 2000 McClintock bought his car from the previous owner in Dayton Ohio. It wasn't totally complete and at that point John decided to have the restoration be from the 1970 TransAm season where it was raced by a privateer racer Warren Tope. I believe a relative of Tope's (probably his father) Donald Tope, was the VP for Chassis & Transmission for Ford. The car was not sold technically but rather the car was "transferred" from Ford to Tope who took possession of it. The car was never titled and never saw time as a street car. The car, which first saw action in the "A sedan" class of SCCA racing, was then campaigned in the TransAm series from 1970-72 with no wins in its 10 or so races. The car was not originally a Boss 302 but was retrofitted with the proper motor and graphics after the fact.
Slot car immortality:
In 2002 when McClintock debuted the car after restoration was complete, he was approached by several toy company's to reproduce the car. Welly, the diecast company, and Scalextric both contacted him. The process was as different as the final toys themselves. Welly made a formal written agreement with McClintock, sent him a prototype to check for accuracy against his restored racer and eventually produced the 1:18 version available today. Scalextric contacted him on the phone by way of Scalextric USA and asked for a paint chip to match the color of his car. There was no formal contract made and he was not at all involved in the process of making the slot car. But they never contacted him to ask for photos or, after the car was produced as a slot car, never let him know it went into production until much later. When Scalex had realized they forgot to let him know they sent him a box of slot cars to show him the final product.
So what does he think of each version? Well each have their flaws. The Welly car he says isn't exactly the correct color but he feels they captured the car very well notwithstanding the error in paint. The Scalextric car he feels is the perfect match for the color, but the details are generally incorrect. He wasn't specific about what errors had been made but, in general, thought the slot car was only "ok".
"It's a great honor to have your car recognized and to have a toy made of it", he said of the whole process, he doesn't do slot cars as a hobby but many of the other classic car owners he knows do.
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
Slot car photo from the Scalextric USA site.
Grand Am ends/Lime Rock live coverage!
The Pontiac GTO.R driven by Andy Lally won the GT class at the 2006 Rolex Series season-ending Discount Tire Sunchaser 9-hour endurance race at Miller Motorsport Park in Tooele Utah. This makes 2 GT championships in a row for the Pontiac. The GTO.R, which was 19 laps behind the DP winning entry, had a best lap speed of 91 mph which was 10 mph slower than the DP winner's fastest lap.
And Mark Patterson (damn nice guy and a resident of Bronxville NY) co-drove the #60 Daytona Prototype Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley with Oswaldo Negri to a first place finish. In the closing laps of the race the second place car piloted by Michael McDowell, whose power steering had failed, had slipped to more than 3 seconds behind the leading car with Negri at the wheel. Patterson's best finish was at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona were he and Negri along with AJ Allmendinger finished in second place. "Oswaldo is the bloody hero", Patterson shouted as he was interviewed on pit row after collecting his first career win and first career DP win for co-driver Negri. Patterson, who is an amatuer driver, finished 6th in drivers points and Negri finished 8th overall in the point standings.
Photo used with permission of the Grand Am series...news written by your's truly.
--------
Vintage Race coverage at Lime Rock Park.
I'll be trying to stay dry Sunday during concours events and Monday while I cover the racing for Slot Car Illustrated and SCNews. A gallery of images will be posted on SCI and linked here. I'll update throughout the day with images and hopefully something worth reading from both days.
Sunday's events
Rolex Vintage Festival Concours (Trackside) 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Lime Rock Park Car Show and Shelby Show (Trackside near Esses) 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Chris Economaki Autograph Session and Book Signing 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m.
Concours and Car Show Awards Presentation 2:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Lime Rock Vintage Swap Meet 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
A little "flavor" from the last vintage race I went to at Lime Rock in 2004.
I'll give you one guess what car this was...
I love this Ferrari, I'm wondering what cars will make the scene if it's still rainy.
Yeah, I know I do the panning shot over this patch of trees every race at Lime Rock...but hey, it's a cool shot.
Gallery from '04 Vintage race at Lime Rock
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
And Mark Patterson (damn nice guy and a resident of Bronxville NY) co-drove the #60 Daytona Prototype Michael Shank Racing Lexus Riley with Oswaldo Negri to a first place finish. In the closing laps of the race the second place car piloted by Michael McDowell, whose power steering had failed, had slipped to more than 3 seconds behind the leading car with Negri at the wheel. Patterson's best finish was at the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona were he and Negri along with AJ Allmendinger finished in second place. "Oswaldo is the bloody hero", Patterson shouted as he was interviewed on pit row after collecting his first career win and first career DP win for co-driver Negri. Patterson, who is an amatuer driver, finished 6th in drivers points and Negri finished 8th overall in the point standings.
Photo used with permission of the Grand Am series...news written by your's truly.
--------
Vintage Race coverage at Lime Rock Park.
I'll be trying to stay dry Sunday during concours events and Monday while I cover the racing for Slot Car Illustrated and SCNews. A gallery of images will be posted on SCI and linked here. I'll update throughout the day with images and hopefully something worth reading from both days.
Sunday's events
Rolex Vintage Festival Concours (Trackside) 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Lime Rock Park Car Show and Shelby Show (Trackside near Esses) 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Chris Economaki Autograph Session and Book Signing 1:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m.
Concours and Car Show Awards Presentation 2:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Lime Rock Vintage Swap Meet 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.
A little "flavor" from the last vintage race I went to at Lime Rock in 2004.
I'll give you one guess what car this was...
I love this Ferrari, I'm wondering what cars will make the scene if it's still rainy.
Yeah, I know I do the panning shot over this patch of trees every race at Lime Rock...but hey, it's a cool shot.
Gallery from '04 Vintage race at Lime Rock
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
Saturday, September 02, 2006
The Global Proxy Race Announces Its 2007 Schedule
After conducting discussions with slot car afficionados around the world I'm pleased to announce the GPR schedule for 2007.
Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, 2006 - USA - wood/copper
Jan. 1 to Feb. 3, 2007 - The UK - wood/copper/stock power
Feb. 4 to Mar. 10 - Italy - NINCO
Mar. 11 to Apr. 14 - Slovenia - Polistil
Apr. 15 to May 19 - Bahrain - Scalextric Sport/stock power
May 20 to June 23 - Republic of South Africa - wood/magnabraid/1A
June 24 to July 28 - Australia - wood/copper
July 28 to Sept. 1 - USA - wood/copper
Sept. 2 to Oct. 6 - Brazil - wood/copper
Oct. 7 to Nov. 10 - Canada - wood/magnabraid
Details of the tracks and track hosts will be announced here as they become available. Look for news of the great prizes that sponsors are ponying up not only for the Global Proxy Race, but also for the soon-to-be-announced GPR Concours d'Elegance.
Global Proxy Race rules have been updated with some minor changes r.e. car construction and repairs during the race and are available for download in .pdf format here. These rules also include judging criteria for the GPR Concours d'Elegance.
Van LaPointe - GPR Race Director
Slot It Malardeau Lancia, Part II
Lots of laps on the new Slot It today. Here's the specifics:
Middle lane at East New York Raceway, 61' lap length. Track cleaned before racing. Driver hopped up on 2 cups of java and a really terrible bagel from Dunkin (trust me avoid these like your life depended on it!).
7.25-stock tires
5.90-S2's (the tires that come with the car as extras)
5.69-Ortmann's-tight motor pod/tight body
5.50-Ortmann's-loose motor pod/loose body
It was found that the interior was hitting the motor pod, not allowing much of any travel despite the pod being very loose.
5.41-with bottom of interior cut away. Motor pod can now travel a bit more. But just for a test we took out the interior. The interior will be replaced when it's trimmed so that it doesn't hit the motor pod. Also there was some flash on the guide mount on the chassis that pushed the guide further into the slot and, in turn, pushed up on the chassis making the front wheels not touch.
5.234-with me driving.
5.10-with Rob driving on his home track.
For comparison my lightly modified Slot It 956 kit car (black gear instead of stock yellow gear and Ortmann's in place, those are the only 2 mods done) runs 4.9 fastest lap with me driving.
Inside my crudely done circle is the stubs that the cups sit on. We removed the cups from under the front axle and the car got more stable since the front wheels were now on the track and could help stability. This was part of the improvements we did that took it down from 5.41 to around 5.2.
I forgot to mention (and photograph) the rear end and show the cool vents in the back and the tail lights. Nicely done IMO.
The chassis inside, lead added to get the car up from it's stock 74 grams to about 90 grams. This weight will probably change with more testing.
Inside the body after the interior was removed for testing.
Someone asked to see this view I think. It's down the side, into the rearview mirror.
Don't get the impression that you have to do any of the mod's I've done here. I'm not for a minute suggesting that you have to cut the interior on your car, it happens that the interior in my car was a bit too low and hit the motor pod. People get crazy sometimes when you suggest that a car may have something that's worth correcting to get the most of the car. Just like real racing, do what you want to and see if you can beat the other guy...
DaveK
I forgot to add the picture of the real car. In this photo (taken during LeMans in 1984 I think) the A and B posts are black. Further all the Lancia LC2's entered in LeMans in 1984 had blacked out A and B posts. If you check out Racing Sports Car's archive you can see for yourself. I'm not sure why it's a detail that's not exactly reproduced on the Slot It model. Don't get me wrong, I love this car. I don't have a problem with this detail not being exact (that is according to this photo, and this photo only...). None of this nit-picking takes away ANYTHING from what is a fine model and a competative slot car.BTW, I got permission from the photographer, Mr. Paul Kooyman to repost the image here.
Friday, September 01, 2006
It's finally here, the Slot It Lancia LC2
After many long months of holding my breath waiting for this beauty to come out...here it is. A photo tour this today and a comprehensive review soon.
I don't remember this type of packaging on Slot It's before but it's sure a nice detail that may be a new way of insuring an undamaged car during shipping. This bubble packaging is inside the normal case.
No 21.5k on this one it's the same motor that's come with the rest of the Slot It's, so no need to worry about this car having an unfair advantage with a new, very torquey motor.
New braids, more like Scalextric braid. I'm not sure if I like this change but here it is.
This car has such wonderful lines. I love the undulation in the body.
Two things on this car that I'm sure are just a problem with my copy. 1, the tires on the front (shown here) don't touch the track. 2, I can't take the body off to see if this can be adjusted because the front body mount screw is too tightly screwed down and I nearly broke the car trying to take it off to shoot the inside of the body... so that's why no photos of the inside of the car.
Not sure what to do about this yet...
The names on the roof of the drivers are very nicely done. There isn't any misprinting in the tampo printing anywhere on the body.
It's a fantastic looking car. The wheels are a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure from the pre-release photos exactly how nicely detailed they are, but they're great looking. There are even little disc brakes in there.
Testing to take place this weekend.
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
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