[42redcat]

The Ferrari 312B2 was a 'Super' model - more expensive and more detailed than the BRM, Shadow, Brabham, Wolf, Ferrari 312B3 or McLaren M23. The Ferrari is hard to find today. I have a March 711, 2 different JPS Lotus and a Tyrell in this series, but they're not so attractive to me as the simple cars and are anyway missing a lot of bits so would be difficult to repair.

Mike

 

[42redcat]

A pair of P180s from Scalextric, France. Both are to an identical standard spec, apart from rear 'urethanes, yet the red version is much quieter and a lot faster.

It's those Marlboro cigarettes that make it slow.....

Mike

 

[42redcat]

Hi Mike,

Try epay for these Scalex f1s.

It is not unusual to find them at reasonable prices.

For parts, try http://www.scalextric-car.co.uk

These F1s can be transformed into nice models and good racing cars with little modifications.

Cheers !

André Acker

Thanks for the suggestions, Andre. The reason I have the 'Super' wrecks is either because I bought them to use the RX motors or adaptors in older Scalextric restorations or they came, missing motors, with packages I bought for other reasons. Aftermarket spares are available, but expensive beyond the value (to me) of these particular cars. I'm thinking about trying to fit alternative motors but, as I said, it's difficult, because there's nothing there to adapt, so I'd need to graft in a new chassis or motor pod.

Mike

 

[42redcat]

Matthew - although the long can motor looks like it would fit, it's actually about 1.5mm too short to fit in place of the horrid Johnson motor which came with the McLaren M23. My pictures not a McLaren, but the Ferrari is very similar underneath. The bearing bushings are too big both ends as well on the motor I tried. The motor is a Chinese one from the internet. They're also used in toothbrushes and shavers! I suppose you could make an adaptor and bore out the locations on the shell, but if you're going to do all that, you might as well fit a proper new chassis.

The long can is equally difficult to fit into a Super shell like the Lotus 72, because there's nothing there to mount it to and you'd need to carve away the chassis at the motor end unless you had a really long shaft on the motor.

I thought I'd used up all my RX adaptor sets, but I just found a March 711 which still has its Johnson motor and adaptor. A few years back, when I was more into Scalextric, the only place I could find these adaptors was in old Scalextric F1s, which is why I have a few of them. Maybe there is a source available these days?

The March is, as usual, missing its unicorn front wing, but that wouldn't be too hard to replace. Having seen Andi Rowlands' amazing recent scratch build, though, I don't think I have the heart to do the work! That's the problem I have with the Super cars - they have more features (chrome, painted driver, suspension detail, separate chassis) than the basic cars, but somehow have less charm.

Mike

 

[42redcat]

My Scalextric catalogue showed the Ferrari 312T along with the Shadow, BRM and Brabham I've already posted here. I realised that the white car I pictured in post #17 was actually a Ferrari in fantasy 'Qudos' livery. It was missing its guide, motor, wing and airbox, but I couldn't resist getting it running again when I saw the £1.50 price tag on it!

I painted it red (you can't have a white Ferrari unless it's 1964). The wing and airbox are from plasticard and the home-made decals more-or-less replicate what's shown in the catalogue, although I changed the number to Niki Lauda's 1974 number 12. Annoyingly, the stance is rather nose-high, which makes it rather tricky in the corners compared with the other cars and, as a result, it's slower, too, despite having a better motor. I could modify the guide-holder to lower it, but if I started down that road, where would I stop?

Mike

 

[42redcat]

The later white and red Shadows were prompted by Graham Hill's Embassy car, of course.
It's nice to see the Marches with all 4 rear wheels ans wings still there!

Mike

 

[42redcat]

The one I can‘t get to handle well is the Ferrari 312T, even with the better rear tyres which transform all the others. The whole front is just too high and short, so it just doesn’t want to turn corners!
Mike

 

[42redcat]

There's a bit of meat on the guide holder that can be carved away to lower the front. However, on mine, I think the top of the guide stem is now fouling on the inside of the body, as it doesn't swivel as freely as I would like. I must have a look through my box of spares/incomplete cars to see if I've got a short stem guide to try.

The question is: where do you stop?
Lowered front and guide; extended wheelbase front and back, with extended motor shaft; front wings moved and sidepods widened…..and more mods later. Slot.It gears, better motor, Pendles’ rubber rear tyres and alloy wheels, tubed front axle and trued front wheels - there’s no end to it, and, yes, it’s a lot faster than a standard car on my home track! And then I discovered Policars……….
Mike

 

[42redcat]

Great picture - glad to see you posting them again!
Youre right - the standard cars are great fun and I have a stable of them that I won’t modify at all, but the real BT44 wasn’t that short and I do think about lengthening one of mine…….
Mike

 

[42redcat]

Thanks, Mike. A Lotus 77 I repainted a while ago. What it lacks in performance it makes up for in smoothness.

My Lotus 77 has only one front and no rear wing, so I haven’t got around to fixing it as a runner yet!

 

[42redcat]

Well, yes, there's a lot that can be done, but once you've lowered the nose, tubed the axle, and put decent tyres on the back, going any further entails effort and expense that might be better directed towards starting from better raw material, as your Policar comment acknowledges.

Personally I think old Scaley bin fodder is great for some cheap fun (very cheap once you've accumulated a few spares cars), but if I wanted a proper "decent" slot car, I'd probably look somewhere else.

As for 70s Scalextric F1s becoming worth something, it seems unlikely, if only because I have an apparently unrun Maclaren, and a pair of similarly virginal, boxed, earlyish 312Ts. My luck being what it is, even if everything else goes stratospheric, those particular models will remain worth 3 bent washers and a dead mouse.

I see your boxed McLaren and raise you a boxed McLaren I’ve had since the 1970s plus two swapmeet McLarens with no rear wings….each bought for around £3! I just can’t resist a ‘bargain’.

 

[42redcat]

I finally got around to working on the two cheap McLarens: new rear wings from plasticard, slightly better tyres from my scrap bin and some repairs to the decals on the no11 James Hunt car.
The handling is still awful and the front wheels are nowhere near the track, but it makes a good pair with my Lauda Ferrari.
I'm still thinking about the No8 McLaren, with a (slight) temptation to try tuning it like I did with the BRM above. There's certainly plenty of room for improvement.....