club lines march 05 issue 133 - scalextric · wello raceway editorial hi all. the arrival of the...

Issue 133 March 2005 1

C l u b Lines

Australian Scalextric Racing and Collecting Club INC.

www.scalextricaustralia. com In the spirit of friendly competition and mutual co-operation

Committee Contents President Mr. John Corfield 1 Contents and Committee Ph: 02 9624 7141 2 Formatting Info/Future Issues Email: [email protected] 3 Armchair Racer 4 MotoGP – A Novices Review Vice-President & Public Officer 5 MotoGP – A Novices Review Mr. Andrew Moir 6 MotoGP – A Novices Review

7 Jean-Pierre Wimille Secretary Mr. Peter Drury 8 Scalex World Email: [email protected] 9 Slot Forum 10 Slot Forum ASRCC Membership/Web Site Liaison 11 Members Moment Mr. Bill Holmes/Mrs Jan Holmes 12 South East QLD Racing Ph: 07 3207 2211 13 Cartrix Grand Prix Legends Email: [email protected] 14 Leemans Hobbies Correspondence: P.O. Box 5601, 15 NSW Racing – Change of Date Alexandra Hills, QLD 4161 16 NSW Racing Faxes: 07 3882 0938 17 SSH – Auto Union

18 Colombo Rules Treasurer Mr. Sid Terry 19 Pattoes Place 20 Classifieds Club Lines Editor Mr. Steve Terry Email: [email protected] In Future Issues Ph: (02) 9864 – 8616

Members Moments from: - Club Lines Producer Jesse Thurlow Brad Cunneen Mr Ralph Watson Sid Terry Alan Quilan (07) 3262 – 6227 Graeme Scriven Steve Terry


Club Lines Formatted Page For those wishing to submit articles of any size and shape for inclusion in the newsletter via the web, here are a few guidelines. Page Set up 1. Set paper size to A4 (210mm x 297mm) 2. Set margin sizes to the following: - Top 1.5cm Bottom 2cm Left 1.5cm Right 1.5cm Header 1.25cm Footer 1.25cm Font Always use Plain Text and Times New Roman at a font size of 12 No of Columns = 2 Alternatively just e-mail the editor for a pre-formatted page at the club address: - [email protected] For typed or hand written articles please use the following postal address: - Correspondence: P.O. Box 5601, Alexandra Hills, QLD 4161 Faxes: 07 3882 0938 For contributors who have submitted articles but do not see them in the current issue, rest assured that your article will appear in a following issue.

Cut off date for the newsletter is the 15th of every month.

In Future Issues

Race Reports: - Racing on the Pumpkin’s Patch! General Articles: - Wello Raceway

Editorial Hi all. The arrival of the February Club Lines Newsletter in everybody’s letterbox signalled the second milestone in my second tenure as editor. The first was to get it back to a regular monthly newsletter. The second was to finally get it chronologically right. Having now achieved this with a lot of help from a lot of people, we are now ready to tackle the third and, from a readers point of view, probably the most important of all…..CONTENT! Although the Feb issue was on time in the right time, it was (apart from the sponsors adds) written by three people. Clearly, there is a need for a far bigger contributor base. Not only will that help yours truly, it will also make it a far more enjoyable read as far as the members are concerned, as not only will there be more stories but there will be more points of view as well. (To help out in the short term I’ll be re-running two series of articles from the early days of the club, Spectacles, Speed and Heroes and Colombo Rules, both of which our newer members would not have seen) The other advantage will be that as more people contribute (and where not talking novels here either, if twenty people all wrote one column ((half a page)), then there would be enough material there for ten pages – and that’s without pictures!) we will end up with a newsletter that is not only a lot more interesting but is also more than a ten minute read. Articles can be of any size and about anything that is related in anyway to slot cars. In the past there were things like Readers Writes, Letters to the Editor, My Top Ten Cars, Best Find, Car Review’s etc etc. As you’ll see in this issue, led by the South East QLD Racing crew, there are also race reports that can be written about your local racing group. So come on all you budding authors, put pen to paper. Let us know what’s happening in your town. If you enjoy writing it, then we’ll all enjoy reading it.

Regards Steve Terry


MotoGP

A Novices Review by Steve Terry When I first heard about the MotoGP bikes that were to be produced by Scalextric I thought “wow, that will be good if they can pull that off”. I was referring to, of course, of Scalextrics ability to make a realistic bike that would behave in a reasonable fashion on the track. At first the response from my fellow racers was a bit like, “weelll, I think I’ll wait till somebody else buys it and see how they go before I commit to one myself” type of thing. Everybody I spoke to tended to think of them as a bit of a novelty and they would only buy one, so that they could say that they actually had one! I was a bit surprised by this attitude of scepticism surrounding what sounded like a very good idea. It was several months later that I learned that this was not the first time a “slot bike” had been made and that the opinion was that “they didn’t work before so why would Scalextric get it to work where others had failed?” This kind of dampened my enthusiasm a bit until I had my first glimpse of a MotoGP Bike! Having seen them on paper, it was off to Armchair Racer to order the entire range of 16, if they were no good as a slot bike, I reasoned, they would still make a very impressive static display model, and one on its own is not as good as 16 lined up side by side. Word got around the local race group about a guy who had ordered all 16, and he came in for a few raised eyebrows and several humorous comments, as the bikes at this stage were still thought to be more of a novelty than a serious collectors item. Then the first bike arrived! Valentino Rossi’s Repsol Honda – and what a beauty it is.

The craftsmanship on these models is outstanding! Even if the bikes turned out to be a flop as far as racing them was concerned; they had definitely been a winner as a static model. The quality is as good as it gets, and one could be forgiven for thinking that these were diecast!

The above shows a close up of the front wheel and the detail is amazing! Aerated twin discs and callipers and holding the entire wheel to the forks is an honest to god shoulder bolt and nut! As can also be seen here the printing is just superb!

Out the back yard I go to the shed where lies in wait a four lane classic track which is soon to tell me if I’ve guessed right about the bikes performance or if all I have bought is 16 little paperweights that will sit on a shelf in a display case and gather dust. Onto the track we go and the first impression is “boy, these things are a handful” and yet they do not give the impression of being totally undrivable. Extremely quick, but due to there ungainly cornering characteristics most of the power is wasted. Within half an hour,


however, I knew that I hadn’t bought a box of lemons and that all that was needed where a few new driving skills and cornering techniques.

A shot of a side panel showing the motor housing and vents complete with printing. As stated previously, the detail is superb! Also note the button magnet which is a clip on affair. Despite it being a clip on it is a firm and sturdy fit and won’t be dislodged easily. The first thing to note was that to get around any track with a MotoGP bike you first had to take all your previously learnt slot car race craft and throw it out the window. Treat these things like a car and they WILL end up collecting dust on a shelf. Treat them as a whole new form of slot racing and you will be in for a lot of fun! Remember, we are talking about “classic track” here, not the new “Sports Track” as most of the tracks I had taken the bike to and practiced on at the time of writing were of classic track construction with out brakes. Having said all that, however, the first thing I did with Rossi was to bury him and his Honda into the user friendly cushion at the end of the main straight at something akin to warp speed! DOH!!. After having convincingly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the new bikes were"TOUGH", I proceeded at a more responsible pace. Ungainly at first and twitchy, one of the first things noted was that the bikes were adept at showing up every little flaw, every little bump, dip and hollow in the track. As my track is an old classic track, and mostly second hand to boot, the first order of business was to make the track as smooth as possible!

With this done it was time to fit the diecast weight and get serious about learning how to drive it! To go charging up to a corner and expect to come safely out the other side proved to be highly entertaining, but not very practical! It was found that to take any corner at any sort of speed it was necessary to brake well before the corner, get the bike set and once into the corner maintain a steady throttle so that the bike leant over onto the outrigger all the way through the corner. Once through it, however, it’s smoothly back into the throttle and off and away. The thing that seemed to affect the bike the most was it’s swaying from side to side with the sudden changes of directions whilst transitioning through different sections of the track. So, after numerous practice sessions, I had the bike going pretty smoothly through all types of track pieces (with an eye on keeping it’s rocking down to a minimum) including 180 degree inner hairpins and Goodwood Chicanes (albeit slowly) and enjoying it immensely! Naturally the bike performed better all-round with the rider removed but then that takes all the fun out of it!

If you ever need to disassemble a MotoGP bike be aware that there is a screw set underneath the filler cap…very sneaky Mr Scalextric! I found that out after a particularly long brain fade saw me once again ploughing the Honda into the wall at the end of the straight and thus popping off the filler cap! It was about this time that I decided to set up the MotoGP Box set that I’d bought and give the Sport’s track a go.


The first thing I noted was that there was more track than floor and as my lounge room is of average size for an older house I thought this was a good thing! I remember buying a set years ago and all that was in it was a couple of straights and the universally despised-banked corners! Having got it down and all wired up it was time to put all this new fangled track and banking system supplied with the set to the test.

First impression is that it’s not much different than the classic track. Sure its smoother and the bike is a bit quieter but the bike is just as hard to drive! It was then that I realised the throttles are set up with brakes. No wonder Mr Rossi kept falling over at the end of the straight! More retraining!!

After an hour or so on the sports track I

decided that, as far as I was concerned, Scalextric need not have bothered with making the special track banking jigs etc as I felt that the only thing you really needed to do was practice with them. The one thing they did do right, however was to make the diecast weight that fits on top of the batwing support, for without these the bikes are a lot more unstable and a lot less sure footed.

Overall, Scalextric have produced a

wonderfully crafted series of bikes, which are very highly detailed and are extremely tough! I found them initially to require a reasonably high skill level to drive, but by simply treating the bikes “as bikes” the skills themselves were easy to learn within a reasonably short time. I can’t wait for the first Scalextric MotoGP to be run!

A Ducati rear end

A shot showing the Ducati’s radiator

Sete Gibernau’s Telefonica Movistar Honda


DRIVING THROUGH HISTORY

Jean-Pierre Wimille

Born in Paris, France in 1908 to a father who loved motor sports, Jean-Pierre Wimille would undoubtedly have become the first World Champion of the modern Formula One era had he survived long enough to see it’s inception in 1950. Being the benchmark of the mid to late 40’s, Jean-Pierre would very probably have been world champion in 1946, 47 & 48 had the competition been in existence at that time. He was that good! At the age of 22, and in a Bugatti 37A he owned, Wimille made his debut in 1930, competing in the French Grand Prix at Pau. Being keen to race, and also wealthy, Wimille, who was at this time a valued Bugatti customer, shared a drive in a factory Bugatti through 1931. 1932 saw Jean-Pierre win the La Turbie Mountain Race, the Grand Prix de Lorraine and the Grand Prix d’Oran before shifting his allegiance and driving for Alfa Romeo, but it wasn’t long before he once again found himself driving for Bugatti. As a works driver, he returned to Bugatti in 1934 driving the Type 59. The Type 59 was a 3.3 Litre Supercharged monster, the “piano wire” wheels the car had giving it distinction. Although he won the Algiers GP in 1934, it was some time before he picked up a second place and a win in the South African and French Grand Prix’s in 1936 respectively. It was clear, however, that the Bugattis were slowly but surely falling further behind the German Grand Prix technology of the same period. Disgruntled with the continued German success, and in typical Gallic fashion, the French authorities then ran the 1936 Grand Prix for sports cars. Wimille and good friend Raymond Sommer won the race in a Type 57G Bugatti “Tank”. Wins at the Marne and Comminges Grand Prix’s were also added to his list of accomplishments that year. Also in that same year, Wimille was to race in the accident marred street circuited Deauville Grand Prix. Winning in a Type 59, Jean-Pierre’s was to be one of only three cars to finish a race which saw drivers Marcel Lehoux and Raymond Chambost lose their lives in separate incidents. 1936 also saw him bring home in second place a special 4.7

Litre Bugatti “monoplace” in the U.S Vanderbilt Cup race at Long Island. 1937 saw Jean-Pierre win the Le Mans 24 Hour in another Bugatti “Tank”, sharing the drive with Robert Benoist. He won again in 1939, this time partnered with Pierre Veyron. WWII was then to interrupt his driving career. Bois de Boulogne, Paris, in 1945 saw Wimille win the first post war feature race whilst once again driving the Bugatti 4.7 Litre “monoplace”. 1946 saw Alfa Romeo put the war years behind it when it offered Jean-Pierre a seasons drive in its’ Tipo 158 GP car. Although hamstrung by team orders, he was able to place second and third at the Turin and Geneva GP’s respectively. 1947 saw Wimille given a free reign to do as he wished by Alfa Romeo, which is promptly what he did. After winning both the European and Swiss Grand Prix’s for the team that year, he went on to be a dominant force in 1948 with wins in the French and Italian Grand Prix’s driving an Alfa Romeo 158, and then winning the Autodrome Grand Prix in an Alfa 158/47. 1948 also saw him win the Grand Prix de Rosario in a Paris built Simca-Gordini 15. Sadly, however, it was in one of the little French Simcas in which Jean-Pierre was to die. Driving in Argentinian President Peron’s Temporada race series in 1949 he lost control during a practice session at Buenos Aires’ “Palermo Park” spinning his car into a tree, thereby ending the life and career of one of Europe’s finest racing drivers.

Bugatti Type 57G “Tank”


This week on Slot Forum Scalextric Ford GT Review by Nuro

The 2004 Ford GT, developed and built with the know-how of Aston Martin, one of Ford's UK acquisitions, is a celebration of the legendary Ford GT40 the famous car that wiped the competition at Le Mans in the 1960's. It is a car designed for the modern man and unlike the GT40 is generous in its dimensions. Compared to a Corvette C5, The Ford GT is 3 inches longer, 3 inches wider and 3 inches lower in height. The 550hp brute has been released to a welcoming public that appreciate it's super-car status. Even Jeremy Clarkson likes it and he was one of the first UK customers to take delivery of one. 10 were available to European customers in 2004, but a few more will be available in 2005.

The Scalextric Sport edition of the Ford GT is sumptuous, elegant and pleasing to the eye. It gives you the impression that it could be the fastest car in your slot-car garage before you even set it down on the track. The lines are simple, moulding faultless and tampo printing perfect. The quality of new production methods of Scalextric is evident again as you look over the assembly and fit of the component parts. The Limited Sport edition is one of 6000 examples.

I'm not sure why the wipers are not

nested in the off position. The car arrives with them on the glass, but can be moved down. There are no other small bits that can easily break off. Lets just hope that the photo-etched plated are glued in well.

The slick tyres have good grip and don't need much preparation. The sidewinder motor

provides good power. Smoothly without excess noise. The lights are clear and bright still unfortunately connected directly to the power with no capacitor so coming on and going off with controller variation.

Some other issues: The four side

indicators could have been slightly less prominent. They seem to be embossed rather than recessed. The Ford badge on the front could have been raised and the fuel cap, slightly less pronounced, but these are minor qwirks.

Details such as the photo-etched front

and rear grills, and front vents on the bonnet add to the quality of the model


The mid-mounted engine is visible through the rear glass and looks neat as with the original.

The helmeted driver looks fine, but this is actually a road car, not a racing car so I'm not sure why he has a full face helmet. The dashboard is detailed and the gear stick looks good

The wheels seem to match the original and have fine printing on the hubs. Brake disks are visible through the chromed rims.

The ugly rear bumper - added by Ford to comply with modern regulations is faithfully reproduced. When opening the car, there is a little trick to removing the under-pan where the rear exhausts are clipped under the rear bumper.

Inside, we see the typical Scalextric layout. Pre-greased and ready for Digital installation. A strong neodymium magnet is sitting in the rear-most position, but the car performs very well without it. With it's wide stance, low centre-of-gravity and good tyres it doesn't really need the magnet. As in the real car, the best fun is had when you turn off traction control.

The car fits together very well. The two front screws and two rear screws hold plastic air-dam moulding front and back that help distribute the pressure at the screw pillars, closing the split shell perfectly. Two more screws fix the chassis to the underside of the cockpit interior. There is no movement at all with this chassis.

I'll add times to this review in a day or two. My track room is being renovated and there are dust-sheets all over the circuit. I look forward to more Ford GT's. I hope Scalextric produce a few more so that we can race them against each other. Nuro 12/2004


ASRCC Members Moments

Name: Eric Terry Member Number: 4 Occupation: Storeman (at the moment) Age: 45 Collecting since: 1988 (this time) Joined Club: 1992 (Founding Member) Favourite 10 cars owned: 1. C7 Mini (Yellow Terror) 2. C76 FWD Mini 3. C59 BRM P25 4. C25 Ferrari 312 B2 5. C46 Porsche 917K 6. C1 Alpine Renault 7. C136 Ferrari 312 T3 8. C99 Fiat (Seat) TC600 9. C430 Team Omega Securicor 10. Lotus 16

Most desired cars not owned: C2 Matra Jet Least favoured cars: Mini Clubmans Any magnet car! How did you find out about the club? Ian Towle (Trading Post) What started you off in slot cars? Don’t remember Favourite track: Princes Park Why: Home track Most memorable racing moment: Too many to say! Best “find”: C7 Mini Type 1 Other Hobbies: Model Tanks 1/35 scale HOMEBREW BEER!!! Comments: eg. Favourite club activity, event, or what you would like your club to do etc etc. Grand Prix, Auction, Newsletter


South East QLD Racing Fourteen racers lined up for Round one on Saturday night 5/2/05 at Mt. Perrorama, a 45m 4 lane ninco track. (Numbers were slightly down on previous events at this venue with one noticeable absentee, the "Legend" was missing and I here he was a bit “starstruck”. The Invitation class kicked off at 6pm with MG Vanquish, a new class for this season saw a field of 11 cars and no two were the same. With the chassis design being the same for all cars, everyone had an equal chance and this produced very close and honest racing with home track advantage and regular magnet drivers finding their way to be in front. 1st home was a Silver Shadow driven by Denis 2nd was a McLaren driven by Lindsay followed by a White Shadow driven by Deion . It was a great event and could see itself in the Points Classes in 2006. After the invitation was finished the sleaves were rolled up and the points racing began.

Sports Sedans at 7pm with 14 starters These heats had a huge variety of cars from BMW CSL , Ford Capri’s , Lancia Beta’s , Ferrari Daytona 365's plus MRRC Toyota group 5’s and a special guest appearance by a fly Ltd edition Capri. After 14 heats of hard racing the first 5 drivers were separated by 16 seconds. 1st BMW Driven by Chris 8.19 2nd Capri Driven by Glen 8.25 3rd Capri Driven by Denis 8.26 4th BMW Driven by Deion 8.34 5th Capri Driven by Lindsay 8.35 After the tea break we had the next event.

Scalextric IRL This is a great class in that all cars should be the same, which makes for a pure match for racers skill. I think that we got to see all the liveries plus some repaints. 1st Goodyear IRL Driven by Lindsay 7.25 2nd Penzoil Driven by Glen 7.35 3rd Phoenix IRL Driven by Martin 7.44 4th Coke IRL Driven by Dennis 7.46 5th Coke IRL Driven by Deion 7.48 Lemans Classic Open Roofed Lemans style cars from the 60’s & 70’s This was a speed feast with the front running cars doing 10-sec laps over a lap length of 45m The drivers were well warmed up on this hot Brisbane night and most of the heats had 3 and 4 cars side by side for much of the 10-lap distance. More than one heat saw 2 drivers race the 10 laps side by side with less than a couple of feet separating them at the finish line. 1st 908/3 Porsche Driven by Glen 7.19 2nd Chevron Driven by Martin 7.26 3rd 908/3 Porsche Driven by Chris 7.27 4th Chevron Driven by Denis 7.28 5th Chevron Driven by Eggy 7.37

Thanks to Glen and Robin who were great hosts as they always are. Round 2 Saturday 19/2/05 Round 3 Friday 04/3/05 Round 4 Saturday 19/3/05 Round 5 Friday 01/4/05 Round 6 Saturday 16/4/05 Round 7 Friday 29/4/05 Round 8 Saturday 14/5/05 Round 9 Saturday 28/5/05 Round 10 Saturday 11/6/05 For more racing details phone 0419714096


Cartrix "Grand Prix Legends”

For those that haven't yet sampled the

delights of the new Cartrix Grand Prix Legends series I will just lay a few tasty morsels in front of you.

The Mercedes W196 is available locally

and comes in J. M. Fangio and S. Moss variants. I tried mine out on the track on Saturday and it was one of the most well behaved cars straight from the box! The motor has plenty of revs and the car was impeccable in cornering.

The Car is also a bit lighter than most but I have noticed Cartrix make a thinner body than the mainstream. A nice effect achieved too with the fine mesh over the grille and the air intake. I feel that Cartrix have managed to capture the feel of this model and also present a truly drivable car.

The underneath is very tidy too. The

guide is a bit wider than the average offerings but is not too bulky 'a la' Carrera and others. This type of guide suites taped board tracks unlike some narrower guides where it can be a bit fiddley to get braids spot on for maximum cornering. There is also a small magnet between the motor and back axle. It is not overpowering and you can still get a bit of 'sideways' effect on scalextric classic track.

Best of all are the projected future

releases, A number of classic cars in the line up, The French Talbot and Gordini are rare birds. The Alfa and BRM where very popular racing cars in the '50s and of course, where would the Ferrari fans be without the 555 "Squalo" These models represent an era in motor racing which set it on its present course.

After the pre war politicising of GP

racing and the huge government backed racing teams like the Silver Arrow mercs and Auto Unions, racing was at an all time low as 90% of the field became 'also rans'. When it was decided to run a world championship series it was envisaged that anyone could go out and buy a cutting edge GP car. The series of cars depicted by Cartrix were the truly off the shelf racers with manufacturers selling their wares to those that could afford it as well as fielding their own factory teams.

Deion Menzies


NSW Racing Presents

The Next Event At

Robertson Raceway Host: - Rodney Clarke Race Date: - 12th March 2005 (new date, was the 5th of March) Venue: - Robertson Raceway RSVP: - 4th March 2005 Contacts: - Sid Terry Ph 9769 – 1925 after 7pm Steve Terry Ph 9864 – 8616 after 7pm e-mail [email protected] • Ninco Classic • Scalextric Le Mans Class 2 • Scalextric Le Mans Class 4 • Scalextric Le Mans Class 5 and Ninco Le Mans Class 7 • Scalextric V8s

Points 1st 5 points 2nd 3 points 3rd 2 points 4th 1 point 2minute/heat Continues racing 4 heats/event 2 Black Flags = 1 lap – Total laps Race leader has right of way in Chicanes and Crossover. Track opens 3.30 PM. Racing starts at 6pm Supper provided, donation requested.

Code of Conduct It is recommended that all participants be financial club members and/or acknowledged guests of the

host. All participants must remember that they are invited guests and should behave accordingly.


NSW Racing Presents

The Next Event At

Verandah-ring Host: - Chris Uttley Race Date: - 02/04/2005 Venue: - Verandah-ring RSVP: - 25/03/2005 Contacts: - Sid Terry Ph 9769 – 1925 after 7pm Steve Terry Ph 9864 – 8616 after 7pm e-mail [email protected] Event 1 FWD Mini’s (5 laps only) Event 2 New Scalextric 1950’s (magnets removed) Event 3 F1 Class 4 (Scalextric/SCX) Event 4 Muscle Cars non mag

Points 1st 5 points 2nd 3 points The top four will race off for a cup (time permitting) other wise will be decided by overall points. 10 laps/heat 2 heats/event 3 Deslots = DNF 2 Black Flags = DNF 1st Black Flag incurs one Deslot Race leader has right of way in Chicanes and Crossover. Track opens 5pm. Racing starts at 6pm Supper provided, $5 donation requested.

Code of Conduct It is recommended that all participants be financial club members and/or acknowledged guests of the host. All participants

must remember that they are invited guests and should behave accordingly.


Over the coming year, we hope to have a regular section on the history of motor racing, the cars, the champions and the great venues. Some information will be sourced from Ivan Rendell's books, including "The Power & The Glory and The Chequered Flag, however, material could come from any club member or book. So here goes with the first instalment. Enjoy! SPECTACLES, SPEED & HEROES Auto Union

In the 1930's, the link between money and winning was most vividly shown, when the Nazi Party realised that a successful national motor racing industry would be a powerful symbol of technical prowess. Adolf Hitler was a motor racing enthusiast and saw the possibility of using German engineering excellence to produce racing cars to beat all comers and in doing so provide propaganda for his vision of Germany. He proposed a subsidy of 450,000 marks a year to be made available to any company who would take up the challenge.

Mercedes (Daimler-Benz) applied and there was a second application from a consortium of four German companies - Audi, DKW, Wanderer and Horch - all of whom had suffered during the Depression and who had clubbed together to form the Auto Union. The money was split between the two concerns and prompted Mercedes and Auto Union to build completely new cars. AIfa Romeo, Maserati and Bugatti lacked the finance to do the same and had to adapt their existing cars to the new weight restrictions. The international governing body of the sport, AIACR (Association Internationale Des Automobile Clubs Reconnus), decreed a weight of 750kgs without driver, fuel or oil.

Auto Union brought in the independent car designer, Dr Ferdinand Porsche. He had been chief engineer at Mercedes in the 1920's but had set up his own design bureau in Berlin. By November 1933, the Auto Union Type A was ready for testing. Revolutionary in concept and appearance, it instantly made all other Grand Prix cars of the period seem obsolete. It was streamlined with the engine mounted in the 'mid-engined' position, between the driver and the rear

axle. The advantage of this position was that the engine, gearbox and final drive were all in one compact unit, cutting down on power losses. In addition, with the drive shaft no longer going through the cockpit, the driver could be seated lower down. The Type A had independent suspension for each wheel and a supercharged V-16, 4.4 litre engine that produced 295bhp.

The German cars had breathed new life into Grand Prix racing. They ironed out most of their mechanical problems and made their engines even bigger. Auto Union increased its size to nearly 5 litres, at which it developed 375bhp. By 1936, Mercedes and Auto Union remained unbeatable. In the same year, Auto Union swept the board with Bernd Rosemeyer, in only his second season, becoming European champion. In 1937, not only did Mercedes and Auto Union win, the records show hardly any other cars in the first three placing’s of any major race. Speeds began to reach 200mph.

For 1938, the AIACR limited supercharged cars to 3 litres and unsupercharged cars to 4.5 litres. Mercedes brought out the 3 litre W154 which by 1939 was producing 485bhp. Auto Union reached a similar output. The 3-litre Type D V-12 engine developed 460 bhp.

Bernd Rosemeyer was killed on 26th January 1938 on the Darmstadt/Frankfurt autobahn driving an Auto Union in a speed-record attempt.

Tazio Nuvolari drove a D Type to victory in the Yugoslavian Grand Prix on 3rd September 1939, the day war broke out. With Europe at war again, there was no racing except in Italy, which stayed out of the conflict until 1940. Racing stopped completely once Italy was at war. The heroes and the excitement of motor racing in the 1930's had provided a source of escape from the miseries of the Depression and a great celebration of speed. Rod Holman


COLOMBO RULES

By Steve Colin-Thome.

I was born in 58 in Colombo the capital of which was formerly Ceylon and now Sri Lanka. I received my first Scalextric set in 1969 when mum came back from a tour of Europe and England. Well you all know the feeling of your first set, it was the Team car set. My younger brother David and I got right into the racing he had the yellow car and I had the white one. These cars were shod with the large diameter tyres, which went and looked much better than the fat slicks of later evolution. We became quite good eventually after many hours of racing over many years.

Scalextric or anything else hobby wise

was difficult to find in Sri Lanka most of the stuff was bought second hand or new if someone came back from overseas. By 1972 I had a reasonable size track and six more cars, the Lotus 72 and Porsche 917 were something else to drive. I will put my credibility on the line and say that the Lotus 72 is quite easily the most enjoyable slot car I have ever driven. To prove its no fluke I have another one that goes every bit as well thanks to Rod Dixon who did something unusual to it! The engine was over heating and the car wasn't as quick as the March Fords so he put a drop of WD40 on the commutator and revved the living crap out it! Thanks Rod! To my amazement the car really flew after that, the change was incredible! I think the WD40 loosened the carbon brush powder right out of the commutator as a result of which there was no more shorting. But back to Colombo again and a colleague at school told me that his uncle used to

race slot cars, needless to say I got in touch with Ranjit who kindly invited me and my brother David for a drive at his place.

Ranjit Seneveratne was a Mechanical

Engineer, English educated and lived in a beautiful terraced house with parquet flooring everywhere. He had the enormous two-lane track on the lowest level. The shape was a distorted figure eight, the bridge was a very gradual incline and most importantly he had made himself slide out sections for all the corners out of plywood. The track itself was about 35 m long and had no nasty hairpin bends, all standard and outer curves and plenty of long straights it was a brilliant track and very fast, there were some deadly accidents too! Once during a heat a red Team Car and a Lotus Indy touched wheels on the down straight and the Team Car was flipped into the air about 2m high bending an axel after hitting the parquet.

Ranjit was reasonably impressed with my driving after some' very close races between a Healey 3000 and a RX Mini. I remember at the last corner I actually nerfed David's Healey with the Mini it was such a whack that the Healey went rolling along the floor quite a long way.

I took my best cars with me carefully

secured in a shoebox with plenty of padding. The box was then tethered to the luggage rack of my bicycle. In the box were the Healey, Porsche 917, Lotus 72 and a modified Lotus 25, which to this day is the fastest and craziest formula junior, I have ever driven. I had to ride about 20km to Ranjits place for my first slot car race meet. The year was 1974. To be continued..................


Ian Towle 02 9605 1786 [email protected] Wanted and/or Swap Wanted MM/A229 Grand Bridge end quantity one MM/A203 Owner’s Pit & Stand, top half needed MM/A203 Owner’s Pit & Stand, stairs C8 Lotus Indianapolis screen or complete car C2545 Ford Mustang blue C2103W Mini Sonax red/white MM/A209 Grandstand KLG – Shell logo MM/A209 Grandstand flag-poles X 6 MM/A209 Grandstand speakers X 2 MM/A 208 Control Tower KLG logo MM/A 221 Lap recorder, White Banner on top C56 Lister Jaguar green round pin guide VG C60 Jaguar D-Type blue, red and yellow VG C57 Aston Martin DBR body green VG C58 Cooper wheels, tyres, axles front,rear C63 Lotus 21 chassis yellow C63 Lotus 21 rear axle/wheels C75 Merc 190SL rear axle/wheels/tyres K1 Go-Kart carbon brushes MM/A239 Track Light Set MM/A240 Track Light MM/A241 Track Light C/W suction cup MM/A206 Pit Name Boards Maserati, Sunbeam (?), Jaguar, Hurricane, Alfa Romeo, Cooper, Bugatti VIP Austin Healey Sprite For Swap Postage at Cost MM/A203 Owner’s Pit & Stand, KLG, bottom half MM/A214 Track Cleaner MB MM/A504 Round painted tin brooch VG MM/A229 Grand Bridge end C58 Cooper blue R/P Chassis/body Catalogue No. 12 F but complete Catalogue No. 18 VG Catalogue No. 19 VG Catalogue No. 20 VG Catalogue No. 30 VG Catalogue No. 31 VG Catalogue No. 32 VG Catalogue No. 33VG

Catalogue No. 34 VG Catalogue No. 39 VG Catalogue Miniature No. 36 Mint Catalogue No. 25 Mint Scalextric Racer magazine Issue 40 M Carrera Catalogue 98/99 M Fly Pre Catalogo ’98 M Ninco Catalogue ’97 M Ninco Catalogue ’98/99 M Ninco Catalogue ’98 M W829 Inner Border for double inner & straight very rare (black) VG MM/A206 Pit Name Boards Ferrari, Porsche C7 Mini yellow type 5 VG except no rear bumper C63 Lotus 21 body yellow C57 Aston Martin DBR chassis green VG

club lines march 05 issue 133 - scalextric · wello raceway editorial hi all. the arrival of the...

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