SlotCarMAG issue 10 by Marc Abbott

www.slotcarmag.co.uk

ISSUE 10 • VOLUME 2 •OCTOBER 2012

FOR RACERS, COLLECTORS AND BUILDERS

Dave Jones:

The scratch-built bodies of a slot car connoisseur

Swedish Rally:

Another astounding rally track, built by Hub Habets

Brock’s Folly:

Brett Jurmann explains his desire to own a Cobra

MRRC Cobra:

Ric Woods looks at the new Cobra and offers YOU the chance to win it!

LIFE tales:

Part 1 of the Maurizio Ferrari story... LIFE tales:

! N I WA

A! R B COSEE 9 E1 G A P

PLUS: INTERVIEW WITH A PIONEER

Jules Birley

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Mag SLOT CAR

Contents

FOR RACERS, COLLECTORS AND BUILDERS 2

In This Issue:

4 9 15 19 20

Pit Board: Slot Rally GB SlotCarMAG is pleased to be associated with Gareth Jex’s SlotRallyGB. Here Gareth outlines the new season and what to expect from this very popular series.

Dave Jones: Interview with a scratch-build connoisseur Mark Huber talks to John D. Jones, better known to his friends and associates as Dave Jones, a man noted for his superb vintage racing shells.

Swedish Rally: Another astounding rally course from Hub Habets The Swedish Rally first took place in 1950 and over the years has evolved into the world-famous event we know today – Hub has captured it in style.

Brock’s Folly: Talking Cobras Brett Jurmann has a passion about the Shelby Cobra and takes us back in time to help us understand his love aﬀair with this iconic marque, 50 years on.

MRRC COBRA TEST:

ISSUE 10 • VOLUME 2 • OCTOBER 2012

visit: www.slotcarmag.co.uk

23 24

Micro Scalextric: by Andy Player The Micro Scalextric brand dates back almost twenty years and is now the only HO system available for sale in the UK... Andy investigates.

Life Tales: by Maurizio Ferrari You have heard of Slot.it. Most slot racers have heard of Maurizio Ferrari (Mr Slot.it)... but did you also know that he was part of the ill-fated LIFE Formula 1 team?

Dilworth: Le Duel Pistols at dawn? Non! Le duel des voitures de slot, Monsieur (and may the sneakiest driver win).

! N I WA

A! BR COS EE 9 E1 PAG

Put a lid on it! The new MRRC Cobra will be available by the time you read this. Ric Woods turns the wheels on this little beauty and gives YOU the chance to win it!

Interview with a Pioneer: Lynne Haines talk to Jules Birley Pioneer hit our tracks like a bullit (excuse the pun), and cars sold well. A major disaster nearly closed the doors – but now all is safe and the future looks good.

SlotCarMAG is an independent magazine for the Slot Car enthusiast. It is produced bi-monthly and available to purchase from either: www.pendleslotracing.co.uk (hard-copy, hi res digital) www.lulu.com/uk (hard-copy, print-to-order hi res digital with laminated cover) www.slotcarmag.co.uk (hi-res pdf download) For further information, please contact the publisher via email. Address opposite.

PUBLISHING / WEB: Wayne Tooke: info@slotcarmag.co.uk EDITORIAL: Ric Woods: ric-woods@slotcarmag.co.uk ART & DESIGN: Marc Abbott: marc-abbott@slotcarmag.co.uk SlotCarMAG is printed digitally by LDP Ltd

ldpltd@btconnect.com

Disclaimer: Whilst every eﬀort has been made to accurately compile the information contained herein, SlotCarMAG or any of its contributors or advertisers accepts no liability for any errors and omissions or any inadvertent disclosure of any information not meant for publication. SlotCarMAG neither endorses or accepts responsibility for the reproduction of material supplied that is of sub-standard quality, such as photocopies, laser prints, pre-printed photographs, low resolution digital images etc, and reserve the right to refuse the use of such material, products or services of advertisers in this publication. Opinions expressed shall not necessarily be that of the SlotCarMAG. All information should be verified before being acted upon. Copyright: Contents of this magazine or our web site, cannot be reproduced in any way, shape or form without the written permission of the publishers.

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Pit Board H

ello everyone, and welcome to Issue 10 of SlotCarMAG. As usual, we are bringing you a very diverse mix of articles about the hobby, from resin bodies to Micro Scalextric, all from our widest-ever range of international contributors, including Slot.it’s Maurizio Ferrari. Not to be outdone by Goodwood, we couldn’t let the 50th anniversary of the legendary Cobra pass unnoticed, and to that end we have a couple of articles about the slot versions of this classic. I am particularly pleased to be announcing our involvement with SlotRallyGB (see this page) and we will be bringing you reports and articles as this successful series progresses throughout 2013. On the subject of rallying, Hub’s Swedish Rally track in this issue is a stunner and particularly inspiring for me, as I’m heavily into rallying at the moment. Another important announcement is that the SlotCarMAG website will now have a letters page. Unfortunately we simply don’t have the room to put one in the magazine itself, but the website should provide an alternative with a much faster response time! If you want to comment on anything you read in the magazine, you can let us know at letters@slotcarmag.co.uk. Enjoy Issue 10! Wayne Tooke

SlotRallyGB 2013 by Gareth Jex

‘Every Second Counts’

or any regular SlotCarMAG readers or visitors to the UK Slot Car Festival, some of this article may be old news and for that I apologise, but previous articles and info has related to the 2010 – 2012 championships. It gives me great pleasure to announce that the 4th Year of our championship has been confirmed and we welcome new sponsors, new classes and we especially welcome SlotCarMAG as a new championship sponsor for 2013. Over the next year we will be trying to keep you upto-date with all the latest news, info, dates, event reports and some hints and tips for those of you who want to take it a little bit too seriously! For those who have never heard of SlotRallyGB, a short background is probably due: SlotRallyGB is in fact a bit of a catch-all for several things, all based around racing and collecting rally slot cars. Following a

major one-oﬀ event in 2006 where people came from around the UK and Europe to compete in a two-day slot rally event, we decided to hold an annual national championship, with clubs around the UK holding one-day slot rallies where competitors run to a common set of rules with six diﬀerent classes of rally car types. The basic concept is a simple one, each club makes around eight stages (or tracks) and entrants can run up to a maximum of four classes at each event. Cars are checked in at the start of the day and then run on each stage in small groups, travelling from stage to stage. At the end of the day the times are added up for all the stages and classes and the fastest time wins. Points are awarded for the event and championship points are added for those entered into the championship. Prizes are awarded at each event and prizes are awarded at the end of the championship to the overall winner. One of the reasons for the success of the

The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG

Dave Jo

A peek into the locker of

Scratch builders are constantly looking for the answers to life’s most important questions: Where can one find the right wheel inserts for a 1965 Lotus 33? Who makes contemporary and vintage driver figures? And, of course, how does one replicate “B.R.M. green”? But for scratch builders who may not have the talent or patience to carve or cast their own body shells (and for many who do), perhaps the most important question is: where can one find great body shells? That question has a number of possible answers, but there is no doubt that one of the finest crafters of vintage racing car shells is the noted artist and speciality builder, John D. Jones, better known to friends, colleagues and customers as Dave Jones.

n addition to being a superior aviation artist, Dave designs and produces exquisite fibreglass shells with a focus on Grand Prix cars, ranging from the pre-war era through to the 1.5 litre period that ended in 1965. We caught up with Dave to talk about his art, his career and his passion for building beautiful car shells.

the ordinary for the time; I do have very clear recollections of my interest in aeroplanes developing at quite an early age, and that my schoolwork probably suﬀered as I was always drawing aircraft in my exercise books rather than paying strict attention to the subjects being taught.

Dave, tell us a bit about your life before you began making model car bodies. I was born in the Eskdale area of the English Lake District before moving to Southport in Lancashire when I was four or five. I suppose that my upbringing and schooling were nothing out of

Did you build and race slot cars as a youth? How about model cars or aeroplanes? Given my interest in aircraft I was very keen on Airfix kits, and they were my passion for a good number of years up until my mid-teens when I became interested in flying models. I began

The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG

H S I D E SW

Y L L A R Hub Habets’

ecause of its very fast special stage s on snow, the Ra catcher in the Wo lly Sweden is alw rld Rally Champio ays an eyenship. It first took time it was a midsu p la c e in m m 19 e 5 r 0 o , rientation event w and at that 1965 the rally mo ithout the specia ved to February a l st a ges. But from nd the competito Nowadays, the sp rs had to drive in ecial stages, on th th e snow. e Swedish forest world famous. roads in the Värm land region, are So, building a Rall y Sweden track w ould be a real cha those fast bends llenge. The track over crests, like th should contain e real forest road more details, like s. Typical red Swe round pole fence dish houses and s, wooden bridge and warm caps, w s and spectators ould also be nece with gloves, shaw ssary to get the ri are not available ls ght atmosphere. , so I had to create The above items them… Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders

Brock’s Folly

by Brett Jurmann

’ve long been a fan of Carroll Shelby, but it wasn’t until his passing that I looked at my reasonable slot car collection of 40 or so cars and realised that I don’t have a Cobra of any kind. It was high time to rectify that, so I started researching to see what is available, and tried to work out with which one to break my duck. I love motorsport history, so my main criterion was always going to be a good-looking car that was an important racing model. Once I started researching the racing history of the Cobras, that really opened up my eyes to the diﬀerences between the various versions.

Slot Car MAG – The magazine for racers, collectors and builders

A quick search of the Internet showed that the following cars should be available by the time you read this: • the Ninco roadster version • the MRRC roadster version • the MRRC hardtop version A further investigation showed that if you found a store with a slow turnover of stock you might get your hands on a Monogram Daytona Cobra. Which one is more significant? If you go back to the beginning of the Cobra story, in 1962 Carroll Shelby had successfully established himself as a manufacturer of sports cars, namely the Shelby Cobra roadster.

n o Pi interview with a...

In 2008 entrepreneur Jules Birley was in search of a new business challenge. It took only a glance around his home office to determine what that challenge would be. Every available surface was crammed with slot cars. Eighteen months later the first Pioneer slot car rolled out of the factory to enthusiastic acclaim...

t’s now almost three years on from that original release of the Pioneer Bullitt Mustang. After an enforced production hiatus, Pioneer is gearing up to make another splash. Like many of us, he was introduced to slot cars as a child. In 1968 Jules was lucky enough to receive a four-lane Scalextric set featuring two Lotus and two Cooper cars for Christmas. Apart from the first few days when it was new, my abiding memory is of trying to make sure all the lanes were working and all the cars were operational. There always seemed to be something wrong with it – bad power connections, juddering cars, bent (stepped on) track, cars flying oﬀ all the time – all the usual carpet racer troubles. Although in his own words he is a “competition coward” Jules is not without a racing history. I need to be very sure I have a chance of success before I get

involved in anything where the result is important. I did race in the Alfa Romeo Championship between 1999 and 2007 with a fair amount of success but I only enjoyed it when I was winning races. When my car ‘Big Red’ started to get slower, so did I. Also my race suit started to get tight around the midriﬀ so I had to pack it in. With a constant cry from a small but vocal section of the slot car community claiming one must be either a Collector or a Racer, the idea that one brand can strive to achieve two such distinct aims is somewhat remarkable. But Jules is quite determined that Pioneer should meet the demands of both groups. I tend to have a bunch that I ‘play’ with on the track but I also maintain some ‘shelf queens’ that I prefer to keep in the box. To simply admire, I do like the MMK selection. Leaving aside the Pioneer cars, I would have to choose a particular Scalextric Boss 302 Mustang as a go-to car. My blue

The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG

S E L TA

ri a r r e F izio r u a M by

Tales from two teams, and then some... part one You have heard of Slot.it. Most slot racers have heard of Maurizio Ferrari (Mr Slot.it)... but did you also know that he was part of the ill-fated LIFE Formula 1 team?

The magazine for racers, collectors and builders â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Slot Car MAG

The World According To Dilworth r u e i s n o m , n o n , n no

The poor Brits have been stitched up by the terrible Aristide De Velopment and the ‘Trop Gear’ team. Coxie has decided to make amends by challenging Aristide to a race, man to man… “But zair is no point m’sieu! Even if you win ze race on ze track, my producer will do ze snip snip snip in ze editing, and Aristide de Velopment will win on ze TV again!” ‘Not just for the cameras this time. For you and me. England vs. France – the deciding battle, eh? Look – all I have left is this old Humber Snipe. It’s at least fifty years old. You can pick the best NSR out of the crate – but then you must seal the crate up. And if you win, I will eat a plate of those frog’s legs and snails and drink a glass of fizzy lager. If I win, you must eat a plate of fish and chips and drink a pint of

trickiest curves with relative ease. The hardest bit came in the cheese caves. He had no idea what the layout was in the dark recesses, so he just blipped gently until the tinplate bumpers and grille emerged into the light again an agonising twenty seconds later. But Arisitide was already manoeuvring into position to lap him. Together, the cars traversed the grape treading section. Aristide was impatient to overtake, and on the slippery surface managed to get into an uncontrollable tank-slapping slide. As his car slithered past Coxie’s Humber, they made contact. The light plastic speedster instantly flipped, tumbling down the slopes, dripping with grape juice, and slid backwards into the depths of the cheese caves. The Humber processed solemnly on, the rooster tails of liquidised grape shooting up in perfectly straight plumes behind it. Aristide was screaming at his crew to retrieve his car from the caves, while explaining the new rules to the production staff, that they warm beer.’ r car from the crate and “Ugh! Spah! Feesh? Chips? Warm beer? Nevair! But couldn’t simply rip anothe drop it on the track just behind the lap counter, as I accept, because I will win vair’ easily wiz my NSR, they were used to doing. It took a whole lap to find and we will film you eating ze snails and frog’s legs the car and marshal it, which meant that the two wiz a disgooosting expression of your face and it will rivals were side-by-side on the grape straight once be vair’ funny for ze TV audience watching ze silly again. Aristide was not a man who learned quickly, English person!” and jamming his finger down to pass the funereal ‘Spot on, old chap. Very sporting. Are you ready? Humber, exactly the same thing happened. Twice No time like the present?’ now Coxie had been across Dunkirk beach, the little “Wait – just one moment – I must tell ze director explosions making the solid old Humber buck and and ze film crew and tell ze script writer to come up wobble. But it was an old die-cast, converted years wiz funny zings for me to say while I win ze race. ago by Sergeant Argent’s grandfather, using solid But nevair mind, we can dub it all in later. TroisSheffield stainless steel for the full underpan deux-un…Va!” chassis. The acidic grape juice was having no effect, ‘Oh I say, gosh – I wasn’t quite expecting… I and the shrapnel was just bouncing off it. Now, haven’t plugged in – how many laps?’ Aristide had negotiated the wine press, and was “As many as it takes, silly Englishman old fruit, heading for the Eiffel Tower pinch. But he haha. You are already one lap behind. Bon chance!” underestimated how slowly the Humber was going. As Coxie dropped the old Humber onto the track He thought he would be making the pass on the with a thud, Aristide’s NSR had already negotiated other side, but no – the two cars entered the chicane the exploding beach section for the first time. Coxie brought it up to full, rumbling speed, although ‘speed’ side-by-side…. isn’t quite the right word. The car was narrow and To be continué slipped easily between the obstructions, and Coxie found he could feather his way around even the

The magazine for racers, collectors and builders – Slot Car MAG

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If yyou If ou a are re iinterested nterested iin n ccollecting ollecting o orr rracing acing sslot lot ccars ars jjoining oining tthe he N National ational S Scalextric calextric C Club lub iiss tthe he b best est w way ay tto od iscover h ow tto og et tthe he m ost o ut o his u nique h obby. T he N SCC iincorporates ncorporates a akes o lot ccars, ars, discover how get most out off tthis unique hobby. The NSCC allll m makes off sslot past and present, monthly Hornby weekend and much more! p ast a nd p resent, tthere’s here’s a m onthly jjournal, ournal, sswapmeets, wapmeets, a sspecial pecial H ornby w eekend a nd sso om uch m ore!

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THE NSC NSCC C HORNB Y WEEKEND WEEKEEND HORNBY

Ever y mon Every month nth the NSC NSCC C pr produces oduces a full magazine directly colour mag gazine sent dir ectly tto o each member.. C Containing news member ontaining ne ws and details latest from manufacturers of the lat est cars fr om manufac turers Ninco, such as SScalextric, calextric, SCX, N inco, FFly ly and Carrera. Also aree diar diaryy dat dates C arrera. Al so included ar es forthcoming ffor or ffor orthco oming eevents, vents, rreviews eviews of cars articles aspectt of the slot and ar ticlees on eevery ver y aspec hobby, there’s car hobb y, ther e’s something ffor or yyou ou aree a home racer racer,, club whether yyou o ar ou racer,, colle collector scratch builder.. racer ector or scrat ch builder

As well As well as suppor supporting ting major slot car ar eevents vents the NSCC NSCC will be found found at ““swapmeets”. swapmeets”. These These are are similar to to toy toy fairs but just ffocusing ocusing on slot cars and all things associat ed with them. associated

The NSCC The NSCC has the good ffor fortune ortune tto o have have Hornby, close links with Hor nby, owners owners of the Hornby SScalextric calextric brand, brand, and holds ho olds a Hor nby weekend w eekend each year year in Ramsgate. Ramsgate. Open only tto o NSCC NSCC members mem mbers but with rrestricted estricted places, places, applications ap pplications aree car carefully considered ar efully consider ed tto o ensure ensure all members get a chance ce tto o attend. attend. weekend given Each w eekend participant participaant is g iven an exclusive certificate ex clusive weekend weekend car w with a cer tificate from Hornby. fr om Hor nby.

Along with swapmeets the NSC C also a NSCC commissions limit ed editions NSC C limited NSCC Club cars for for members only only,, these desirable models ar collectable t aree highly collectable and rrepresent epresent one of the real real benefits beneefits of being an NSC C member. member. NSCC

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To find out more visit www.nscc.co.uk