With Scalextric, there’s no winter break
No racing till 2025? Create your own track headlines with these new Sierra and Williams sets
Super Sierras Retro Race Set
Racing fans can relive a golden era of the British Touring Car Championship following the launch this year of the Super Sierra Retro Race Set by Scalextric.
It includes a pair of be-winged Sierra Cosworth RS500s that dominated the BTCC in the second half of the 1980s. Such cars were an easy choice for Scalextric, says the company’s head of brand, Simon Owen. “We just find that any Ford models do incredibly well with our customers, especially Sierras and Escorts,” he says. “We are seeing a big resurgence in interest of the 1980s and we wanted to capitalise on that by releasing two cars from the golden days of the RS500 in the BTCC.”
The choice of liveries will only enhance the set’s popularity with die-hard fans of the BTCC. One of the RS500s is the Duckhams car run in 1988 and 1989 by Asquith Autosport and raced by Karl Jones, who scored best results of a pair of second places across the two seasons, both at Thruxton. Jones also claimed a pole position in the wet on the Silverstone GP circuit.
The other car is presented in the colours of Fina. Dutchman Gerrit van Kouwen raced the Fina RS500 run by JQF Engineering in the BTCC during 1989, finishing fifth at Donington Park and sixth at the Birmingham Superprix. Best known for his victory in the 1984 Formula Ford Festival, van Kouwen was delighted to learn about Scalextric’s new set before his death earlier this year from cancer.
“They are two liveries we have done before, back in the 1980s,” explains Owen. “We can now present these cars on new modelling for a retro set celebrating the golden era of touring cars. Both sponsors and the drivers are iconic.”
The set is priced at £129.99 and is available from Scalextric’s website (scalextric.com/race) now. The two cars come fitted with Magnatration, the company’s patented magnetic system to keep them on track, and feature working lights. The 13-piece track includes a flyover section, and the set also comes with two hand controllers, transformer, track supports and a spare braid pack.
The Sierras are aimed at the old as well as the young. “We have customers who want the Scalextric they knew as a child, but more reliable and modern, which is what the Sierra set caters for,” says Owen.”
As in the real world, the Scalextric racing universe has always thrived on variety in its types of cars and drivers. But who’ll be king in your Sierra showdown – van Kouwen or Jones?
Williams Racing Race Set
Scalextric has launched a new modern Formula 1 set in association with the Williams team that looks certain to tap into the on-going mass appeal of grand prix racing. The set comes complete with two Williams FW45 cars from the 2023 season, one in the team’s standard blue livery for Alex Albon, the other in the Gulf ‘Bolder Than Bold’ colours for Logan Sargeant.
The Gulf livery first appeared at the Singapore Grand Prix. Fans were asked to choose from four different Gulf schemes incorporating the famous blue and orange colours, and the winning design then appeared on the FW45s in Singapore, Japan and Qatar.
“We’re trying to capitalise on the recent success and popularity of Formula 1,” explains Scalextric’s Simon Owen on the introduction of the Williams set to the ever-expanding range. “F1 is back in the consciousness of the wider general public at the moment, so we wanted to work with an established British team that also has historical roots. We make so many F1 cars from the past – we have a Nigel Mansell Williams FW11B from the 1987 British Grand Prix, which is very popular. This is a little different – modern cars, modern drivers. So it was really about getting into that zeitgeist of F1, and Scalextric has a long history of working on F1 and with Williams.”
Owen adds that cars in Gulf colours are “incredibly collectible, the most collectible livery we do”, which should enhance the Williams set’s popularity. “It’s the first modern F1 set we’ve done for some time so it’s a step into the unknown.”
Along with the Williams cars, the new set includes a 10-piece track (four layout options), two hand controllers, transformer, powerbase, lap counter, track supports and a spare braid pack, and is priced at £139.99.
“It gives you an opportunity when the season ends to bring Formula 1 into your home in a physical manner,” says Owen.
But Scalextric novices should be warned: the cars include Magnatration, Scalextric’s patented magnetic system, which adds grip and downforce just like the real thing. But, says Owen, “Our F1 cars are harder to race than sports cars and touring cars. If they slide into each other you have that wheel against wheel contact and it flips them up. They are a lot quicker too.”
For more details about Scalextric cars and racing sets, go to scalextric.com/race