June 29th, 2009

Scalextric was first created in the 1950s by British firm Minimodels. In 1952, the company introduced a range of clockwork powered race car systems called Scalex, which were then adapted into electric systems and renamed Scalextric, combining the words Scalex and electric.

Scalextric cars became an instant hit in the slot car racing market, so much so that Minimodels was unable to meet the demand for its popular range and was incorporated as a subsidiary of Tri-ang, who changed the slot cars from metal to plastic manufacture.  The first Scalextric tracks were made of a rubber compound and had two parallel grooves to allow two cars to race against each other.In the 1960s production of the track was also switched to moulded plastic that is still in use today.

As slot cars became more popular during the 1960s, Tri-ang opened additional factories in Spain, France, Australia and New Zealand to meet demand for Scalextric sets. By the 1980s, the parent company had collapsed and one of its subsidiaries became Hornby Railways.  By this point slot car racing had lost some of its appeal and Scalextric saw some of its  darkest days, but kept going nonetheless producing Scalextric sets while some of its biggest competitors like Fleischmann and Märklin, stopped production altogether.

The 1990s saw computer design and 3D printing methods create more authentic and detailed models.  New replicas of slot cars from the 1960s and 1970s appeared on the market, giving enthusiasts the option of racing modern and classic cars against each other. The Micro Scalextric range was also introduced, using 1:64 scale cars racing on dedicated Micro Scalextric tracks.

Today Scalextric is synonymous with slot cars just as Hoover is with vacuum cleaners.Scalextric Digital cars with digital control systems allow up to six cars to race in a single slot.They are capable of utterly unrealistic speeds however!   Many have attempted to set the land speed record using Scalextric cars and a scale measured-mile.  Celebrities like James May of BBC TV’s Top Gear managed to get a Scalextric Ford GT to reach the equivalent speed of 392 mph, which is 80 mph faster than the real thing!  The current record stands at an astonishing scale equivalent of 983.88 mph using a Scalextric Honda F1.

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