NEWS: Scalextric to release Bentley slots

Scalextric signs exclusive with Bentley
Slots to be released in 2014

Well I have to say I'm jumping out of my skin tonight!  Scalextric have signed an agreement with Bentley to exclusively produce Bentley slot cars.  So why am I so excited I hear you say?  After all this isn't the first time a slot car manufacture has signed such an agreement, Carrera and Ferrari rings a bell and there's always been exclusives with racing teams like McLaren, Braun and Lotus just to name a few.  However this is the first time in a decade a mainstream slot manufacture has produced Bentley slot cars, I for one would have NEVER thought I'd see the Continental GT3 as a slot car on my track.

The Continental GT3 aside, the one thing I'm really excited about however is the prospect of Scalextric producing the Bentley Speed 8 as a slot car.  Its been a decade since Carrera had a stab at it and to be honest the result wasn't that great, the scale of those rear wheels alone!  Le Mans Miniatures produced an absolutely beautiful Speed 8 but after seeing one in the flesh you'd be too scared to put it on the track, too many breakable pieces and then there's the price!

On the back of the bad news we received over the weekend regarding Revell's decision to stop producing slot cars, this is a bit of a silver lining particularly if you're a HUGE Bentley fan.

This from Scalextric: 'Scalextric, the world’s leading slot racing brand, have announced their latest global exclusive licensing partnership with iconic British luxury automotive marque, Bentley.

Bentley recently announced their dramatic and welcome return to motorsport and, last weekend, Bentley debuted its new Continental GT3 race car at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed; unveiling a racing machine set to explore the extreme potential of Bentley’s iconic Grand Tourer, the Continental GT.

Official Bentley-licensed Scalextric slot racing product will launch during 2014 to the delight of fans around the world. The licensing deal bring together two iconic British brands; each synonymous with quality, engineering excellence and British best-in-class values.

Dale Luckhurst, Scalextric Marketing Manager (Hornby Hobbies Ltd), commented; “We are incredibly pleased to be working with such an iconic brand as Bentley. Scalextric is the godfather of boys’ toys and Bentley is equally renowned for its excellence and heritage. We look forward to working with the Bentley team and delivering incredible products to our loyal consumers.”'

Want to find out more about Bentley and slot cars?

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NEWS: Mark Webber says farewell to F1

Mark Webber says farewell to F1
and joins Porsche's LMP1 Sportscar Programme

For those of you that have followed Mark's F1 career since 2002 and Minardi, you'll know it's been 12 years of successes, challenges and at times disappointment.  Not that I'm bragging but Mark has achieved nine grands prix victories, 36 podium finishes, 11 pole positions and 15 fastest laps and has twice finished third in the world championship, not a bloody bad effort mate!

For me as an Australian, Mark's best year in F1 was in 2010 when for 80 percent of the season I could watch as an Aussie dominated the F1 driver's championship leader-board.

Mark now moves onto driving for the Porsche LMP1 endurance programme in 2014 and as a enduro fanatic I'm very excited for Mark's future.  Porsche's return to Le Mans also signals a big wake-up call,  get ready Audi, the king of Le Mans is returning.

This from Mark of the future with Porsche: 'It's an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top category in Le Mans and in the sports-car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team, Porsche has written racing history as a manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.

I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge after my time in formula one.  Porsche will undoubtedly set itself very high goals.  I can hardly wait to pilot one of the fastest sports cars in the world.' (auto123.com)

Of course this will not be the first time Mark has raced in enduro motor-sport, in 1998 and 1999 Mark raced for Mercedes Benz (in the CLR proto-type no less) at Le Mans and while the cars suffered from aerodynamic problems, Mark's performance was excellent.

The below video shows how the Mercedes CLR of Mark Webber and Peter Dumbreck's 1999 Le Mans race can to a spectacular ending.  Fortunately both drivers walked away but Mercedes pulled it's remaining cars from the 1999 race and the Mercedes Benz CLR programme was ended.



Below is a photo of the 2013 Porsche's hybrid LMP1.

Thanks for the wonderful memories Mark, now go make some more at Porsche and Le Mans!

Want to find out more about LeMans and slot cars?

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MOVIE: Bentley Speed 8

Bentley Speed 8
2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Here's an impressive high-quality video of a Bentley Speed 8 doing some demonstration laps (and burn-outs!) at Goodwood Festival of Speed.  The Bentley in the movie is the car that won Le Mans 24 Hours in 2003.

LeMans Miniatures makes a fantastic Bentley Speed 8 slot car (132017/7 or /8) , I was lucky enough to see one on the track a few years back and its super impressive (although the metal aerials are very fragile).  Carrera also made the Bentley as a slot car, as you would expect not quite as nice as the LeMans Miniatures version but still impressive and cheaper.

I took the below photo of Bentley's Speed 8 in the Le Mans Museum in 2011, beautiful race car (smaller than you might think).

Want to find out more about LeMans and slot cars?

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MOVIE: Porsche 917K

Porsche 917K, (chassis 025)
4.5 liter Flat-12, music to your ears.

Just found this amazing video of a Porsche 917K racing at Monza, Italy on YouTube, the sounds is just awesome.

I took the below photo of a Porsche 917LH was taken in the Le Mans Museum in 2011, such an epic car in the flesh.

Want to find out more about Porsche 917 slot cars?

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NEWS: Avant Slot Delta Wing

Nissan Delta Wing Le Mans 2012

Avant Slot are presently working on a very exciting release, Nissan's entry at the 2012 Le Mans endurance, the Delta Wing!  Information is pretty thin on the ground but a picture paints a thousand words in my opinion.  All reports are that Avant will be releasing the Delta in 3 liveries, black (shown above) red and silver.

As you can see from the photos of the resin working prototype, Avant Slot are well into the development and testing stage.

This background from Wikipedia: 'The DeltaWing is a racing car designed by Ben Bowlby debuted at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. The entry will run under the Project 56 name, composed of Ben Bowlby's DeltaWing Racing Cars (design), Dan Gurney's All American Racers (constructor), Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing (racing team) and International Motor Sports Association owner Don Panoz (advisor). Nissan's NISMO division is also assisting in the development of the car.'

I would love to see footage of the model running on the track, particularly going through some corners to see how the front end travels.  I could be wrong but in all the on-track photos it looks like the front wheels are off the track a little?  Glide position is behind and close to the front wheels so it would make sense that the front wheels might need to be off the track to allow good handling, tripod anyone?

Chassis is a side-winder configuration with magnet position relatively forward which makes me think the chassis might handle well and hopefully be fun to drive.  I'd also really like to see it beside another slot to get some concept of perspective, it looks a fair size on the track in grey.

Regardless, I think we can all agree that this is an upcoming release that we will all be watching and checking out in the stores.  If Avant can make it run well I think they might be onto something good with this one.

You can find out more about this releases from the Avant Slot Website

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HOW-TO: Upcycling slots

HOW-TO: Upcycling old slots
C483 Scalextric Jaguar XJ220

Ok firstly, this is not so much a How-to but more a how come...Don't you sometimes wish a slot car manufacture would release or re release a 1:1 car you just love?  I mean how many different slot versions of the Audi R18, Porsche 997, Ford GT40 or Porsche 917K do we really need?

  Well with Scalextric's 1990s (could be wrong here) release of Jaguar's XJ220 I've all but given up on it being released again by one of the big slot manufactures.  Fortunately the Scalextric 1990s release is much better on the track than you might expect with just a few simple tweaks.

Wikipedia; 'The Jaguar XJ220 is a sports car produced by Jaguar in collaboration with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, as Jaguar Sport, between 1992 and 1994. It features a 3.5-litre V6 engine arranged in a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout.'

For pretty much a bargain I purchased my XJ220 second hand from ebay and decided quickly that the ugly wheels had to go.  The original rubber was roack-hard so why not upgrade the wheels while I was at it?

My favourite replacement wheel at the moment is Ninco's Pro Race EVO magnesium, they seem to look good on cars from different periods (although I'm sure some will disagree with me).

You can purchase a full set of EVOs for around the $AU30 mark (plus another $10 for decent rubber) which might be a little rich for some.  For me given the slot was less than $20 to start with, I was happy to spend the dollars.  It's your choice regarding the upgrading of guide, braids, motor, axles and crown gear (all good performance improvements I sure) but I stuck with just the wheels and rubber with my XJ220.

With some of my other older slots I've dry brushed interior/exterior details such as dash boards, grills or exhaust and even added a more detailed driver figure (old driver figures can be pretty basic).

As you might expect on track performance and physics improvements are impressive.  The car feels far more manageable to drive and runs considerably quieter around the track.  For me the improved aesthetics justify the upgrade alone and I love the fact that I've upcycled an old favourite.

Find this useful, check-out ManicSlot's How-to page by clicking the below link for more useful slotting tips and tricks.

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MOVIE: Le Mans 956 Lap

Anyone for an onboard lap around the old Le Mans in a Porsche 956? Just wait till you see the 956 flying down the old 13+ kilometre Mulsanne straight, incredible!

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GALLERY: Jaguar XJR-9 Daytona

Slot.it SICA07C Jaguar XJR-9

Castrol 1st Daytona 1988

The ManicSlot Mini Review

Strengths:

• Striking Castrol livery, (collectible slot)
• Excellent engineering
• Powerful motor/quality gearing
• Rear alloy wheels
• Rubber aerial
• Adjustable pivoting motor pod
• Solid 'from the box' performance
• Very high level of detail
• Solid non-magnetic performer

Weaknesses:

• Rear wheel covers interfer with pivoting motor pod, (can remove wheel covers)
• Rear tail is very fragile, (an unpainted spare is provided)

Verdict:

The Slot.it Jaguar XJR-9 is a very popular and beautiful slot car and is a stunning slot to drive, no serious collection of slot cars should be without at least one.

Return to the ManicSlot's Gallery Here

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NEWS: Slot.it Mazda 787B

Slot.it Mazda 787B 'Efini'

Mas Slot have just released some great photos of Slot.its up coming release of the Mazda 787B slot. Detail levels looks fantastic (big suprise there) but those mirrors look a little prone to damage. Although I'm pretty sure everyone is eager for the second 'Renown' livery release, the 'Efini' release is sure to be VERY popular with slotters everywhere.

You can view more photos of the Efini 787B at the Mas Slot Here

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