[peter]

The yellow / black scalextric Mustang is out. But maybe it should be 'A yellow / black Scalextric Mustang is out - not the one Scalextric described and we all expected though...

On all the advertisement pictures the Mustang is a 1969 (easily recognizable with different grill and the four lamps at the front). Strangely enough and without warning Scalextric has choosen to make the 1970 Mustang instead. Another issue is that the 'paint scheme' is a significantly different one from the one seen on pictures. Basically the only thing that the slotcar has in common with the pictures is that it is a black and yellow street mustang. It is surpirzing considering that none of these changes are needed because Scalextric has the right car model (1969) available AND the paint scheme that was advertised is hardly more difficult to make then the one they actually made.

//peter

 

[Difflock]

Any pics of the released version? Does it still look good?

Mark.

 

[astro]

To echo diffs question - any pics? where did you hear or see about this?

You seem to be criticising scalextric's decision. It seems to me scalextric are giving more than they promised. It is very easy to do a new livery, but to hire a modeller/patern-maker to make detailing for a different car is an extra expense for them and an extra treat for us! Admittedly the 1:1 1969 car which has been used to illustrate this model does look great, so I hope the replacement looks as good, but the change sounds like a generous one

 

[Intergrali]

ta darrrrrr

Oh er lifted from scalemodels.co.uk - er blame nuro!

 

[bwaminispeed]

QUOTE It is very easy to do a new livery, but to hire a modeller/patern-maker to make detailing for a different car is an extra expense for them and an extra treat for us!
Well,not really,Scaley has had that model out for about a year now,so,no extra bits needed at all.

 

[peter]

Sorry if my previous email was a little incomplete and created some misunderstandings. I will try to make a little better description here - but no pics since I unfortunately have no camera.

The Scalextric 'Street Mustang' is basically the same model as the Orange liveried 1970 Mustang that Scalextric made recently. The street mustang has some nice additional features - the main reason for my earlier critique has to do with the fact that those extras could just as well have been added on the 1969 version - the livery itself would hardly be more expensive or difficult than the current one. The extras on the existing yellow mustang are the following.

1. Wheels - they are really nice (chrome and black) and to me look a bit like the original Ford steel hubs from the sixties / early seventies. The tyres are very nicely printed with unusual precision and two different sized text - very impressive.

2. Mirrors - the external side mirrors are yellow and the same as on the Ford Torino - they look good on the mustang as well.

3. Windscreen wipers - two very well made and good looking in real chrome.

4. Rear black 'blinds' covering the rear window - well made and nicely fit in matt black.

5. Rear - the car has a chrome 'fuel cap' in the middle of the rear and above it the word 'mustang' is neatly printed on the car just below the rear wing. Under the bumper the rear numberplate is printed just above the fuel tank.

6. Orange indicator - front and rear are printed on the sides of the car and framed in 'silver'.

7. Interior - there is a nicely printed interior with instruments and a good looking steering wheel.. The driver is probably the same as the 'gangster' in the starsky and hutch set corvette...

8. Livery - the yellow and black livery is nice and seems to be correct for a 1970 version of street mustang.

Generally speaking the car is both good looking and nicely done. My main critique is that since Scalextric themselves made the decision to make a difference between their 1969 and their 1970 models of the mustang - there does not seem to be much sense in confusing them for no particular reason thereafter. It is not a new mould and the extras could just as well have been fitted to the 1969 version. Yes the car is nice - but it is not the one they presented.

If Scalextric would release the extras from this mustang separately as a 'tune kit' I would buy it and put it on a '69 myself..

//peter

 

[astro]

good points and I stand corrected!

 

[moped rider]

Does not the street Mustang have lights?

Moped

 

[lobsterboy]

Sorry Peter, but you are missing the fact that as well as having different front and rear ends the 69 Mustang fastback had air scoops high up on its rear wings just before the wheel arches, which the 70 model didn't. As the these scoop were fake I guess Ford smoothed them over on its Trans-Am cars for 69, hense why the scalex one dosent have them, so by using the 70 as a road version they have got it 100% spot on!

Which is more than i can say for Fly and them putting front wing spoilers on all of the 512 Coda Lunga's......

 

[a Bill]

The '69 Boss 302 Mustang did not have the fake vents near the roof pillar like the '69 Mach 1, fast back and base model did. The Scalextric '69 Boss 302 was correct in keeping it smooth. Where Scalextric messed up was the gas filler

 

[lobsterboy]

Point taken on the scoops Bill, but I think you will find that they've got the filler right on the street version, bang in the middle of the rear panel right?

 

[peter]

The car I refered to is on the pictures in Scalextric promotion material for the model. I did not manage to get the picture into this mail - but you can find the picture on www.scalextric.com product code 2574. Or under 'classic american'.

ok - I have no idea what you guys are going on about - I was refering to the pictures of the real car that Scalextric uses in their advertisement and its relation to the released model. At least to me this particular car seems pretty close to the Scalextric 1969 slotcar in many aspects. Why the Scalextric 1970 mustang would be more close to the picture of the 1969 mustang then the Scalextric 1969 Mustang is a mystery to me...

oh forgot to mention -yes the Yellow Scalextric Street Mustang has working lights.

//peter

 

[The Muffin Man]

Well, I have to say....this thread has completely confused me (and i've already read it 3 times!)

As I understand it, the point is that the promo photo used by scaley was a 1969 Mustang and the model we've ended up with is a 1970 Mustang. And the paint job has changed a bit.

Either way, I reckon that looks like a great car to me and if it performs as well as previous scaley Mustangs then i'm happy. Actually, looking at it I have to wonder why they didn't choose to pair the Mustang with the S&H Torino.......to me it just seems to "fit" better than the vette.

 

[Wankel Ickx]

You and me both, Muff.

To me, a philistine regarding these tanks, the picture above looks no different to the previous release.

And that looked 'wrong' to me anyhoo - too high, too narrow and way to fast on track.

But hey, some folks are going to lap these up and no mistake.

 

[astro]

i agree too, muffin, although the corvette and mustang are perhaps 2 of scalextric's faster cars and the torino, whilst immense fun and a beautiful mover, is one of the slowest... shame they didnt do a lincoln or cadilac, the baddies seemed to drive stuff like that a lot.

 

[peter]

I agree with astro about the choice of cars

give me a lincoln or a cadillac anytime...

//peter

 

[lobsterboy]

Sorry guys didnt mean to lose you all! I was trying to justify scaleys use of the 70 model over the 69 as I thought all of the latter had these scoops, however I was wrong

as the boss 302 never had them in either year so they could have modelled the street version as it appeared in the catalouge.

Did you lot know that there was a NASCAR spec S&H Torino entered into the 76 Le Mans 24hrs? Lasted 11hrs before the transmisson packed up! Bet you Hornby dont do a version though. Spoke to them over a year ago about them releasing the other four liveries of the Mk11 Gt40 team cars from the 66 le mans.........

 

[peter]

QUOTE (lobsterboy @ 30 Jun 2004, 23:48)Sorry guys didnt mean to lose you all! I was trying to justify scaleys use of the 70 model over the 69 as I thought all of the latter had these scoops, however I was wrong

as the boss 302 never had them in either year so they could have modelled the street version as it appeared in the catalouge.

Did you lot know that there was a NASCAR spec S&H Torino entered into the 76 Le Mans 24hrs? Lasted 11hrs before the transmisson packed up! Bet you Hornby dont do a version though. Spoke to them over a year ago about them releasing the other four liveries of the Mk11 Gt40 team cars from the 66 le mans.........
The Boss Mustang is sometimes referred to as the 'Shinoda' Mustang if my memory serves me right. I also have a vague memory that suggests that it was a guy at Ford called Harry Shinoda who disliked the airscopes and was behind the smooth lines of these cars. This was a distinct difference when compared to the Shelby Mustangs for example which at the end had more airscopes then a fighter-jet... There have also been a few 'Shinoda special' mustangs in the ninties as well to honor the guy.

Lobsterboy - if you or anyone else finds some pictures / descriptions of alternative liveries of the 'Starsky & Hutch' Torino - please do start a new thread in the 'cars' section with some pictures or links etc. Now when we have the model ideas would be welcome..

When it comes to Scalextric - I do think it would be rather strange if they just made one livery of the Torino and then nothing. The cost of a mould is a noticable one - while making new liveries would be a significant lower. It would seem to be a bit of waste to have just the film version available and then not using the mould. It seems very probably that there will come some other liveried Torino next year - we might be able to give them some hints and inspiration maybe???

But lets move a Torino discussion to a thread in the car section of this forum...

//peter

 

[astro]

the GT40 livery I most want is Ford France. Decalling a white car would be easy, but i would need the front bonnet vents from that new #59 one. Hope that becomes available as a spare, or scalex just release the france one anyway.

 

[a Bill]

The production Boss 302 Mustang for both years used the same gas filler location as the production Mustangs of those two years. The race cars did not. The fuel filler location in the factory cars is dead center between the tail lights and that location isn't a straight shot into the tank like race cars need for fast refueling. On the race cars the filler is located in one of three locations, the left side quarter panel, the center of the top of the trunk lid (rear bonnet?) or the center of the rear of the trunk lid. In all these cases the filler is higher than stock so the fuel has a straight shot into the tank. The tank doubles as the floor of the trunk and on production models the fuel fill line is in the way.

The gentleman responsible for the minor styling changes of the Boss Mustangs was Larry Shinoda. I met him once a long time ago, a rather nice quiet gentleman.

I first learned to work on cars with a neighbors '70 Boss 302 in the mid '70s. In the early '80s I owned a '70 Mach 1, 351C 4V, toploader 4 spd and 4:56 gears. About the same time one of my friends bought a '69 Mach 1 which we gutted and set up for a 427 HR. I think he's got a 351W in it now with a 429 SCJ waiting for me to drop in. I had my car crushed when I was done with it

When I'm done with a car it's done for good. My neighbor sold the Boss 302 and the guy that bought it wrapped it around a tree a week later. I guess he didn't believe me when I said we'd stepped up the motor a bit

Both the Boss 302 and the Boss 429 Mustangs get a lot of press. I personally feel that both cars were pigs on the street. Even on the track they weren't much but they allowed the race teams to run heavily modified versions legally. The race cars and the street cars shared the same body and some other parts but there was no comparison in tuning and set up. The 302 had no bottom end power until about 3K rpm and the 429 had no top end power due to hood clearance problems. Both cars command top dollar today but that's only because collectors want them, no other reason. You can easily duplicate these cars so you have to watch out for reproductions being sold as the real deal. I've seen dozens of these reproductions being advertised as real cars, very sad. Even worse is that many people don't know what to look for and actually buy these things whish are converted 6 bangers or rebadged with the proper VIN.

I've always liked the looks of the '69 and '70 Mustangs but that was all, just the looks

I think I owned mine for about five years.