le Mans Winning aston MaRtin

I took this shot of a DBR1/300 at last years Goodwood FOS. Not only did it not have its rear wheel covers, but it also looks like this one has different front wheel-arch profiles.

“As a famous Le Mans winner, it ’s a mystery why there has not been a modern-day slot car version of this DBR1...”

As a famous Le Mans winner, it’s a mystery why there has not been a modern-day slot car version of this DBR1, although Scalextric did make a version in their very early days. When Benoit at Le Mans Miniatures first asked my opinion about producing this model maybe two years ago, I gave him a resounding “yes please, mon ami!”. Just recently the company has changed from their plain blue boxes to this lighter Le Mans inspired design; not sure I like it but its what’s inside that counts right? On opening the box first impression is - wow! The metallic green looks spot on and the version that I had purchased featured Mr Shelby complete with his gold-coloured helmet. What did look a little strange was the see-through tonneau cover that attached to the top of the windscreen surround to the bodywork behind the passenger seat. I assume it was like this on the real car and if so, it looks as it should. The wheels on this car have been specially produced for this model and are a little narrower that the wire spoked wheels LMM fit to their Ferrari sportscars. As is the case with some other releases from Le Mans the car looks just a little bit too wide, while looking at it from above, but then so many other slot car producers do this. Viewed from most other angles the model looks great, but I did notice a slight issue, well actually quite a big one once the car was removed from its base. The front wheels would not turn!

Now many of these models will for sure, be pure shelf-queens - but even if it is doubtful that any of these resin masterpieces will be raced in anger there are still some who like to take their models around for a few careful laps. With a locked front axle this wouldn’t be easily possible, so time to remove the chassis and see what the issue is. Once removed the axle turned freely so it was a clearance problem with the tall tyres rubbing on the top of the

Recently LMM have changed their box design to this one depicting draw scenes from a classic Le Mans period. Under the model is this postcard depicting the winning car. Shame that it was a bit crumpled up.

How do they do this? Look at the detail of the dials on the dashboard and the mirror even looks real, incredible! From the underside the model replicates the real cars front motor/ rear-wheel-drive configuration.

The plastic chassis removed from the body, reveals high quality components are used throughout.

turn free enough, so out with the chassis again and I removed the two lower grub screws altogether but noticed the axle hadn’t lowered any further. This was to do with the axle now resting on two location tangs on the chassis, which I believe are to locate against the inside on the wheel hub to stop sideways movement. Out with a sharp craft knife and I chopped off around 2.5mm off each tang, replaced the axle, turned the top screws down as far as they would go, and then backed them off till the axle turned freely. After replacing the body, the front wheels now spun just like they should.

Now many of you are thinking why I didn’t just send it back for a replacement instead of messing about fixing this one. Well, firstly you must pack it safely and pay the postage, which is not cheap today, and hope that whoever you bought it from still has a replacement in stock, or all you are going to get back is some money in your account and no shiny Le Mans winner in your collection. This is because, models like this are very much limited editions, and may have already sold out, both by the manufacturer and at their distributors. I would always check with your supplier that they have another one first. Anyway, I found solving the problem more therapeutic than a hassle - but then that’s me.

Once fixed, I did take it for a couple of laps and while I am not a big fan of front motored slot cars it moved around nice and smoothly. I would love to own all three models of this Aston Martin, but I can’t justify that, so it was just the race winner for me, I gather that the Moss car, even though it didn’t finish is also selling well too, just because of who he was. A sticking front axle aside, this is a wonderful model from Benoit and Angele Moro at Le Mans Miniatures. n

The issue of the binding front axle was not going to be resolved by me removing any resin from within the front arches – there must be another way?

Oh yes! The chassis has front axle adjustable ride height screws, of which the lower two I removed completely. To gain even more clearance, I cut a few mm off these tangs that are moulded into the chassis.

The main purpose of these tangs is to give the correct front wheel spacing, which you can see is just touching the wheel hub. The result of the small set-up modification, was a freemoving front axle.