[driver#8]

I've been selling off my collection - still a couple of Spanish Scalextric classics (Porsche 911 Rally and Renault Alpine Turbo), awaiting their place on the auction site.

The primary reason was to collect Scalextric NASCARs, modifying them as required to different liveries or models (Dodge uses the Ford Taurus template for its Intrepid, the Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevrolet Monte Carlo are a hair's breadth apart).

Since becoming a regular on this site, though, I've had to sell off some of the NASCARs to investigate the joys of building my own cars. As a result I now have 14 NASCARs, a 4-lane tri-oval, a half-built 1938 Volkswagen, a VW camper kit and one of Mac Pinches fantastic 1938 Mercedes GP cars.

Mac's cars could well prove addictive, and I'm getting tempted to a Scalextric Maserati 250F for conversion to the Scuderia Centro Sud colours of Jo Bonnier...

If that happens then I could be heading for a domestic!

 

[driver#8]

Having seen the glory of Beejay's Alfa, and just taken delivery of my own first Mac Pinches car, I believe that my personal finances are about to enter a new world of pain... and delight!

Now I want to get:

Mercedes W25, Caracciola, 1935 Belgian GP
Mercedes W25, Fagioli, 1935 Belgian GP
(After several laps of blatantly trying to shove each other off they stopped at La Source to scream at each other then set off again still much miffed).

Auto Union C-Type, Varzi, 1936 Tripoli GP
(Varzi won the race on team orders, was made a fool of by the race supremo Marshal Balbo, and got a morphine habit that night).

Auto Union C-Type, Rosemeyer, 1937 Donington GP
(Rosemeyer's last victory, the first time that the Silver Arrows graced British soil).

Alfa Romeo P3, Chiron, 1934 German GP
(When the Silver Arrows made their international debut at the French GP they were humbled by Chiron's grace and pace. He almost did it again on home soil).

Alfa Romeo 8C-35, Nuvolari, 1936 Masaryk GP
(In response to the low-slung German cars, Alfa decided to build a very upright one. Not a success but, in Nuvolari's hands, spectacular).

Mercedes W125, Caracciola, 1937 Monaco GP
Mercedes W125, Brauchitsch, 1937 Monaco GP
(Two cars side by side virtually throughout the Monaco GP, with an irate team attempting to impose order and Brauchitsch blowing raspberries as he passed the pits).

Mercedes W154, Brauchitsch, 1938 German GP
(Sister car to the Seaman model I have just bought - would have won had it not burst into flames during the final pit stop).

Auto Union D-Type, Stuck, 1938 German GP
(The original team leader was ousted after the Nazis decided he was an unfit representative - his wife had a Jewish grandfather. Came back in style in '38).

Auto Union D-Type, Nuvolari, 1939 Yugoslav GP
(A final Grand Prix victory for the pre-war Silver Arrows, fittingly by the best driver of the age, the day after Poland was invaded).

Alfa Romeo 146, Varzi, 1946 European GP
(A decade after his fall from grace, the old star of the 1920s and '30s came back with a vengeance).

Alfa Romeo 146, Fagioli, 1950 British GP
(The only one of the pre-war heroes to truly challenge for a Formula One title, Fagioli, it's a reminder of what Silverstone should mean).

Oh dear. That's about £600!!!

 

[driver#8]

My Fifties thing is kind of spiralling. Currently stands at:

Scalextric Maserati 250F Fangio
Scalextric Vanwall VW10 Moss
Scalextric-based Mac P 'Ferrari 801' Collins
Scalextric-based Mac P 'Ferrari 801' Hawthorn
Carrera D-Type relivery as Hawthorn 1955 Silverstone
Carrera D-Type relivery as Claes/Swaters 1955 Le Mans
MMK Aston Martin DBR1 to be reliveried as Moss/Brabham 1958 Nurburgring 1000km
Top Slot Austin Healey 100 1953 Le Mans

Soon to follow will be a pair of Mac P's new 1958 Dinos for the Early Bird and I've plans for a Lotus XI, Jaguar Mk1 and Ferrari 250TR together with a pair of the new Scalextric Coopers, one to be reliveried as Moss's 1961 International Trophy winner.

As far as branching out goes, I've got hold of three generations of Porsche 911 for the Winter Rally - the Fly 1970 Monte Carlo car, the Ninco 1984 Rothmans car and the Ninco 996 Ralle Deutschland 4x4 - although I'm losing the battle of talking myself out of adding a Mk1 and Mk2 Escort and possibly an Integrale to the travelling party!