“There was one in the gang who had Scalextric”
– All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
So… what do we know about Scalextric?
The A to Z of HMHB
The A to Z of HMHB
“There was one in the gang who had Scalextric”
– All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
So… what do we know about Scalextric?
EXXO
Whenever I went to someone’s house who had it there was such a thrill of excitement, and I’d say can we have a go, and they’d say they didn’t think it worked anymore (always like it was such a far off memory of last having tried), but they could see how excited I was to actually see the components there in the box, so we’d spend a zillion billion hours setting it up and, nope, it never worked. I have still never had a go on one that works and I probably never will. Definitely explains why I’ve never learned to drive and probably same for my namesake.
13 October 2016
TOASTKID
I used to love mine. I knackered a couple of the cars by holding them down on the start line while revving the motor until smoke started coming out, for an authentic “drag race” feeling. I also used to set up jumps, where the car would leave the track, fly through the air, and hopefully land back in the slot and carry on. I think I only managed to pull this off once, and it was an amazing moment. Oddly enough, unlike my ZX Spectrum, I didn’t really have any power pack/transformer issues that I can remember.
13 October 2016
Jeff dReadnought
The new ones these days seem pretty quick and easy to set up, the cars tend to stay on the track, provided you take the corners at a sensible speed, and we’ve never had any power supply issues with ours.
I wouldn’t know about the old ones, as a I never knew anyone who had them (I’m not sure they were widely available in France or Belgium in the late seventies and early eighties).
13 October 2016
paul f
Their short-lived competitor, TCR (Total Control Racing) which allowed for track switching and over-taking, had far more transformer-related issues.
13 October 2016
dr desperate
On the other hand, Scalextric never had a song written about it by the Sleaford Mods.
13 October 2016
EXXO
I’d be worried if anyone over 52 has any experience of TCR.
Came along just that bit too late for our generation.
13 October 2016
Peter mcornotholgist
Ted Trim from Theydon Bois is the world champion . Oh to have the wonderful dexterity of a 14 year old from Essex .
13 October 2016
Bobby Pinnace
The ‘Blow Out’ on my set had a tiny John Travolta figure with headphones and a directional mic.
13 October 2016
warden hodges
Aye, TCR boy back in 1979ish. Mate had the above.
Oh for laminate flooring then.
13 October 2016
BOBBY SVARC
We had a slot car track at Hinckley Grammar School, 4 lanes and built by Bob. It was brilliant, spent hours building cars made from components bought and thieved from Tandys and toy fairs. Bob also took us to the Granby Halls to see The Who in ’75.
13 October 2016
paul f
Surprisingly some of us are under 52 Exxo! (Although admittedly not by that much in my case.)
14 October 2016
EXXO
I s’pose what I was saying is that the 1962/1963 school year gangs would have been well past racing cars by the time TCR came along, so that there’s no way that NB is getting his brands mixed up, not that anyone suggested that, but just saying like.
14 October 2016
third rate les
With ours, it was the trigger (which I think is a variable resistor, O-level physics-wise) which repeatedly broke, not the transformer itself.
I always loved the smell of the electric contacts (it’s a smell you get on the Underground sometimes), and I was always intrigued by the way the cars slowed down as they got hotter. It got to the point where you could do laps flat-out.
I realise those two points may be related…
14 October 2016
BOBBY SVARC
You could smoke the tyres with lighter fluid, just run it up against something heavy and give it max revs, great fun. I actually did a re-enactment of Roger Williamson’s tragic death at Zandvoort in 1973 and filled the house with acrid plastic soot after setting fire to an old car. Not one of my best moments.
14 October 2016
paul f
Ah – I see what you mean Exxo. But no, I wasn’t suggesting that, and in any case Scalextric fits the song better, as does Subbuteo (despite Nigel having claimed to be more of a Striker aficionado).
14 October 2016
Huddersfield’s very own… Steve malkmus
As kids, my brothers and I had the rival brand of slot-car racers. Much better than Scalextric as the cars were smaller (narrower track which could fit in a smaller space) and used spring-loaded copper strip pickups rather than the copper or steel wool of the Hornby brand. Transformers were more reliable too.
16 October 2016
Bobbysvarc
The early slot car racing tracks were home made out of chipboard with the ‘slot’ routed out then thin copper strip was laid on either side of the slot. The cars were big with more powerful geared motors and lightweight bodies made by a company called Repco. They were clear polycarbonate and were painted from the inside with the decals added on the outside.
16 October 2016
Chris quinn
Our boss took us for an afternoon of slot car racing in Stockport last year. I was just as shite as I was as a kid!
16 October 2016
paul f
Spookily I have just become aware that Sleaford Mods (a band whose name I had heard, but whose music, until now, I had not) have a song out called TCR which references the aforementioned Scalextric competitor. It sounded to me like somebody who has listened to too much John Cooper Clarke, but doesn’t have the wit to emulate him.
18 October 2016
dr desperate
Not long now…
http://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/scalextric_cars/c8303_fuel_wheel_men_plus_indy_blue.htm
18 October 2016
EXXO
One of your wheel men is missing.
Rhubarb?
18 October 2016
Pirx the purist
There was a Matchbox(tm) equivalent in the early 70s (don’t remember offhand what it was called). You stuck plastic prongs on the underside of Matchbox(tm) cars and placed them in the slots on the track, where a wire coil whizzed around.
The transformer (“Matchless”(tm)) was sound enough. In the end, my old man took it to power our front door bell.
Creepily enough, last year my brother found the track & controllers in his attic (his sons had had them when I lost interest in it, though glod knows how they ran it without the transformer…)
24 November 2020
IDIOT SAUL
Pirx @22
It was the Matchbox Motorised Motorway. It was crap and it caused interference on the telly
25 November 2020
Pirx The Purist
So it was.
You’re right about the interference though, especially in the days of 405-line VHF tellies.
25 November 2020
EXXO
When the lights went out over the Scalextric track that they were for some reason using for the World Cup presentation, was anyone else hoping they might then stay off due to a dodgy transformer?
(Damn. Guy Mowbray mentions the Scalextric thing just as I was finishing that sentence)
18 December 2022