They’re setting lap records!
£3,500 for a Scalextric Bond set that cost £11 new, £500 for Fangio’s £6 Maserati...
THIS Christmas many families will take a break from the turkey by getting out the old Monopoly board or slot car racing set. In doing so they may end up playing with something that has a value way beyond family fun.
The most famous slot car racing brand is British company Scalextric which is celebrating its 60th anniversary after being unveiled at the Harrogate Toy Fair in 1957.
Its earliest cars were sturdy tinplated vehicles that raced around rubber tracks and were powered by batteries hidden in a cardboard hut. The first set included models of Formula 1 racing cars the Ferrari 375 and Maserati 250F – as driven by Juan Manuel Fangio and Sterling Moss. It cost just under £6.
But today, find a well looked after complete set still with its original box in the attic and you have an investment worth £500. An unused set complete with original skid patch oil included as an on-track hazard is worth £1,500.
Later slot car sets that used fragile plastic pieces which easily broke when they flew off the track and crashed into the skirting board can be worth even more because so few have survived.
The Holy Grail of Scalextric is a 1967 James Bond set which includes an Aston Martin DB5 secret agent car – complete with a controllable bullet-proof shield and ejector seat. When the set was launched it cost £11 – a hefty price tag which meant it did not sell well. Today, it will fetch £3,500.
Another rarity is a 1964 C70 Bugatti Type 59 slot car. Find an example that has survived the past five decades unscathed and you have an investment worth £3,000 – enough to buy a real second-hand car.
Even bits of a racing track from an old slot car set can command a decent price. For example, a 1960s chicane section of the Goodwood Motor Circuit might fetch £200.
Slot car racing fan Mike Harvey has built his own 97ft racetrack surrounded by realistic extras – everything from a miniature Murray Walker to a handful of pit girls. He shares his Presto Park racetrack with fellow racing enthusiasts in Hevingham, Norfolk.
The 68-year-old retired racing car engineer says: ‘My love affair with slot car racing began at the age of 12 when I was given a figure-of-eight Scalextric set. It has continued ever since. People think you are playing with children’s toys until they come along and go racing themselves. It is great fun and attracts both collectors and speed fans.’
Mike is more interested in putting his hand down on the throttle rather than having a favourite motor in an original box collecting dust. His favourite slot car is a Mosler Sports GT car. Like other slot car racing fans he has pimped his vehicle with an improved engine, gearing and even air-filled tyres.
The earliest slot cars derived from a Scalex-branded wind-up toy car made in 1952 by London-based company Minimodels. Inventor Fred Francis installed electric motors inside these cars and then put them on to model railway tracks – changing t he original name Scalex-electric cars to Scalextric.
But Phil Smith, owner of trader scaleslotcars.com, points out there are now many other manufacturers to consider for collectors and racers – not just Scalextric. These include SCX, MMK Cars, MRRC, Ninco, NSR, Anki and Carrera.
Phil says: ‘Scalextric is still primarily for children but there are plenty of competitors also focused on adult racing. It is not just about spending money. For example, the Italian firm NSR makes some of the best looking cars that are great value at £60. As with all vehicles when you take the car out of the box and put it on a track it devalues straightaway. But for some it is the racing they value the most.’
SMITH believes a good place for enthusiasts to start is by joining a group such as SlotForum International, the National Scalextric Collectors Club or the British Slot Car Racing Association. He says: ‘At the super-fast end of the sport you have so-called wing racing where enthusiasts might have cars worth £300 which they speed around special 40ft tracks in just over a second – flying past in the blur of an eye.’
The world record speed for a slot car on a standard ‘blue king’ 155ft track is held by Canadian Brad Friesner who averaged more than 78 miles per hour completing a lap in 1.347 seconds in January this year.