And now for something a little different

I think I've well and truly reached saturation point on reliveries for the time being, so here's a car that needs no cosmetic work to be one of the nicest-looking slot cars of any kind: the AutoArt Peugeot 206 WRC.



As we all know, however, the on-track experience leaves a lot to be desired. This particular example runs the whole gamut of AutoArt ailments: shabby rear pinion with irregularly-set teeth, baggy tyres spinning on the rim, loose electric connections that fall off no matter how you crimp them... you name it.

I gave her a run tonight and the rear gears just gave up, while the front wheels spun uselessly inside their tyres as they attempted to pull the carcass along the track. It was painful to watch. So: something needs to be done. Here is the guilty party:



I'm not a technical person. So I need to make it as simple as humanly possible, while hopefully getting the kind of performance that is worthy of the late Richard Burns's last car.

Also it has to retain the gorgeous scale looks of the model. So my feeling is this:

Axles and bushings - swap out for Slot.It 48mm with brass bushings
Wheels - Scalextric 5-stars from the Mitsubishi Lancer/Skoda Fabia WRC
Tyres - Slot.It P6
Motor - swap this for a Slot.It 21k, removing the contact strips and cutting where needed to get a Slot.It guide to work. Also pulling out the lights which do nothing but put a rosy glow under the bonnet.
Gears - Ah now here's the plan: mounting the inline motor to drive the front wheels using the stock 11-tooth pinion and a Slot.It 29-tooth crown. Then mate this to the rear wheels by using band drive from the Scalextric Fabia - plenty of grunt to carry out the push-me-pull-you job of negotiating twisty rally tracks.

Apparently front-drive 4WD is a big hit among Spanish slot rallyists, especially for ploughing through cocoa, cornflour and other naturalistic surface enhancements. Also I hear good things about the fun handling of Scalextric's RTR rally cars with this setup - very driftable once the mag is removed.

The chassis is ideally designed to take rubber bands between the axles - just cut off the sill plates. As you can see, there's plenty of room behind the motor for a big slab of lead to give 50/50 weight distribution right down the middle.

With AutoArts now at £14.99 apiece, this could be a remarkably economical way of making a proper slot rally car.

And if it goes wrong I can just reassemble what's left of the original model and have a pretty static Peugeot!

Here goes nothing, then...