This afternoon we moved Lakestone Raceway across the city to it's new home. Was fun getting together to move the track and have a few laughs at the same time. This is the third move for this track to its's now third owner. Nice seeing tracks move to new owners instead of the scrapyard.

Here's a little video from Saturday.
Rob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp7hmUcb0vg

Here is a Video of a 50 year old AFX that works, and have 52 cars that run on this track too. Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAuSHJS1E0g

 Good morning,

This is a new thread set up to follow the Le Mans cars Championship throughout the month of October.

I would like to thank all the entrants, the hosts and our sponsors for their support again in making this Proxy event possible.

So as Scheduled we have the following Le Mans Events

2/3rd October- Harlequin Raceway - report and results here
9/10th October- South Manchester Slot Club - report and results here
16/17th October - Goldrock 
23/24th October - NERCS Slot Club
30/31st October -Woodland Fort Slot Club
6th/7th November -Mountain View 

Each venue (host) will conduct their own event, determine the cars final positions , declare and post on the thread the winners and finishing positions for each of the four classes on the Results Forms as supplied. The event administrator (that's me) will then calculate the number of points gained by each car in each class and the overall Team points. After which I will post the Official results with points allocated chart, and as the series progresses also follow up with the accumulated series points for the classes and teams.

The points are allocated;
Day runs- 1st place = 8 pts, 2nd place =7 pts, etc until 8th place =1 pt, there after any class with more than 8 cars, the remaining 2 or 4 cars will also be awarded 1 pt each.
Dusk runs- as above for cars with lights, but for cars running without lights they will only gain half points, therefore 1st place for car without lights will be allocated 4 pts etc.

The Trophy and medals Table details will be posted soon and it is hoped we will be able to present the winners and runners up with some vouchers as we did before for the Road Race. George Turner Models has generously offered one of his kits.

Sponsors for the Le Mans Proxy Championship:
Pendle Slot Racing - www.pendleslotracing.co.uk
George Turner Models- georgeturnermodels.com
Amato Slot Racing Design

   

Scalextric C4219 Plymouth Barracuda - Trans Am 1970 - Dan Gurney. RRP £46.99. Available October 2021.

Scalextric have added another classic Trans-Am car to their range. These Trans-Am cars are popular with collectors and home racers - and are also a common sight at many slot car clubs across the UK and North America. Although the Barracuda has been made by SCX in the past, the Scalextric model is somewhat cheaper than eBay prices for the SCX version and more liveries will be available - including the Chrysler France Hemicuda that raced in Europe during the mid-70s.

       

Dan Gurney's All American Racers (AAR) were hired by the Chrysler Corp to build a prepare three on the new third-generation Barracudas to compete in the 1970 Trans-Am Championship - one for Gurney, one for Swede Savage and one spare. AAR also prepared two Dodge Challengers that were then run by Autodynamics for Sam Posey. Development of the engines for both Mopar models was the responsibility of drag racing legend Keith Black. It was very much a Californian affair.

The body panels were acid-dipped and many parts were replaced with stronger and lighter titanium components. The transmission case was aluminium, but sprayed with cast iron spray so it passed scrutineering. The Chrysler had a huge IBM 360 super-computer in its HQ at Highland Park, Detroit. AAR were able to use this for suspension analysis - and to design the roll cage to be as strong and light as possible. The same cage was fitted in the 'Cudas and the Challengers. Back in 1970, the computer was programmed with punch cards using Fortran.

The 1970 season was super-competitive - and it was clear from the off the 'Cuda wasn't going to beat the Mustangs. Whereas AMC and the factory-backed Chaparral Camaro gave it their best, Chrysler pulled funding after just a handful of races. The AAR effort was down to just one car, with veteran Gurney giving Savage a chance to show what he had to offer. The Barracuda was a great looking car and qualified well, but was always just short of a win - the best a second at Road America. Savage complained that the Goodyear tyres were just not on the same level as the Firestones on the Mustangs.

Gurney funded his own return for the two final races at Kent and Riverside. Riverside would be his final professional outing. He was now in the 'third car', Savage having wrecked one at St Jovite. The pair finished the season with a fourth and fifth in California - but only enough for fifth place in the final over 2-litres manufactures' points table. Dodge came fourth, Chevy third, AMC second and Ford were the champions. All - apart from AMC - withdrew before the start of next year. 1970  had been the pinnacle of Trans-Am and the Barracuda a much-loved part of it.

Here's Jay Leno taking a look at a restored 'Cuda during the Pebble Beach historic event back in 2012...



The first livery available from Scalextric is Dan Gurney's #48 car with the red, orange and yellow striped only on the front lip of the car...

       

This is the livery he drove at Kent and Riverside. I recently had a look at a pre-production sample of the Scalextric Barracuda and I was mightily impressed. It is a beautiful scale model with a well-executed livery. I've compared the blue to pictures in my Trans-Am books and it's pretty spot on. There are a couple of the smaller decals missing, but everything else looks very good.

I also got to drive the car with the traction magnet fitted. It was quick and handled well. I reckon it'll be a lot of fun without the magnet too. The car is a sidewinder with a full depth interior - like the Camaros, Mustang, Challenger and Cougar - and is not fitted with lights. The chassis is Digital Plug Ready and has the usual easy-fit guide.

The Chrysler France Hemicuda is the same mould, but with some detailing differences - and will have lights. It is due in January...

   

The AAR Plymouth Barracuda will arrive by the end of October and both 'Cudas are available for pre-order from all your usual Scalextric stockists.

Does anyone know if the rear tyres on a Carrera Porsche 935 (Moby Dick) are interchangeable with the Carrera Zakspeed Capri?  Perhaps if someone has both models they could compare them for me?

The rears on my Capri have done the Carrera thing of melting into a sticky puddle of black goo; and I have the opportunity to get hold of some silicones in the Porsche 935 fitment, just wondered if they were the same...

   

Staffs Slot Cars UK have commissioned Avant Slot to make 75 units of a special Subaru WRX STI Cosworth model - that's also the number of cars built by Cosworth in 2010. The Avant Slot models will be available exclusively from Staffs Slot Cars UK - if you want to find out more and reserve your car, contact Staffs on Facebook or email staffsslotcarsuk@virginmedia.com. The 75 cars are due to arrive in the country within the next two weeks.

       

The Cosworth Impreza WRX STI CS400 boasted performance figures of 0–62 mph in 3.7 seconds and a quarter-mile in 12.75 seconds - significantly quicker than the standard STI. The STI’s 2.5-litre flat-four DOHC boxer engine was fitted with F1-spec strengthened pistons, rods, head studs, gaskets and a higher pressure oil pump. The result was a huge increase in torque higher up the rev range, and significantly improved acceleration.  This not only made the Impreza more fun for day-to-day road use, but also a beast on the race track. Cosworth also added a larger in-house turbocharger, bigger manifolds and larger-diameter exhausts.

After the Cosworth performance upgrade - which included an ECU re-map - the boxer engine in the CS400 generates 33 per cent more power (400 ps at 5,750 rpm, compared with 300 ps at 6,000 rpm for the standard Impreza WRX STI) and 542 Nm of torque, which remained within the torque capacity of the original Impreza drivetrain. Here's some pics of the original Subaru Cosworth presentation car...

       

The suspension was stiffened with Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers and lowered half an inch in front. The front brakes were upgraded to 13.9-inch AP Racing discs with six-piston calipers, while the rears remained stock. Michelin SP3 tires were fitted on lightweight 18-inch wheels, finished in anthracite grey.

Marketed exclusively in the UK, the Cosworth Impreza STI CS400 was available in a choice of three colours - Spark Silver, Dark Grey and San Remo Red - and was priced from £49,995 on-the-road. This is what Auto Express thought of it...



The great thing about slot cars is that we can own all four of those Imprezas - and drive them as hard as we like.

Here's a lap round Anglesey in the Cosworth STI...



The Avant Slot Cosworth Impreza WRX STI CS400 will be available very soon. Don't forget there are only 75 of these very special cars being made and you'll need to contact Staffs Slot Cars directly to enquire about price and availability.

Hello again,

I’m planning a track for my basement, fixed to a table with approximately 3,15m x 1,00m. It’s mainly for MT and faster. As I want to race with my soon-to-be six year old son, his friends and their dads it’s supposed to be rather easy to handle on low voltages.

The bridge will elevate about 4cm from the ground level, the underpass will be lowered 4cm. So there’s a space of 8cm under the bridge. 

Before mounting it on the table all track parts will be glued to Forex board (3mm or 5mm) to keep the track even. The curbs will also be glued to the Forex basis

The whole construction will be made of a combination of a wooden grid filled with XPS foam board and flat landscape made out of XPS as well. In the end the whole construction will be a foldaway table, as there’s not a lot of space. 

What do you think?

One of the oldest and longest running vintage meetings is happening on the 16th and 17th october, in Roncole Verde, Italy.

This was originally slated for 2020, but postponed twice due to the pandemic.

The class is open top cars - including f1's and Indy, for cars made pre 1972, and that date applies to the models as well.



   


       

I will be attending and with do a report and a lot of pictures 

Our next race is October 10. Racing is free and loaner cars are available. Hot dogs are served. Call 603-826-4242 for details.

Another question: Anybody has any info on POLISTIL 1:66 Minifrecche ?

The only info I have is: it is an Italian brand. The chassis looks like Tomy Turbo......

Thanks in advance, 
Nico