So folks, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts of Facebook and other social media platforms about art therapy. A lot of talented people do paintings and drawings and I’m sure the recent emergence of ‘adult colouring books’ has made art therapy accessible to those, like me, who are totally cack handed!
Whilst traditional art therapy is all well and good we like things that go fast! So I want to introduce to you slot car building, collecting and racing.
I’m sure everyone at some point has had a Scalextric set. I used to spend hours playing Scalextric on the floor at my Dad’s. I’m sure those of you that have owned a set in the past ten years or so know how incredibly detailed and collectable the cars have become!… I’m sure you can tell where this is heading…
One day in my late teens when I was looking for cheap forms of motorsport I discovered that people race slot cars at clubs and I wanted to get involved. I started racing at a local club (there are loads up and down the country) who raced cars that were box standard, modified and some were kit built on a huge four lane wooden track! It was a lot of fun! Then when I fell ill in 2013 I stopped going and the cars were sold off or put away.
That was until I read Enzo Ferrari’s biography by Richard Williams. Although I’m still not a huge fan of the modern cars, the cars built when Enzo was alive suddenly had a huge appeal to me! Obviously a real 250GTO-or any Ferrari for that matter-was a long way out of reach and no RC class accommodates classic Ferraris. So I started collecting them in 1/32 scale!
The two civilian cars pictured below, the 250GT SWB and the 275GT are both kit built cars as is the blue and yellow nosed D50 and the 1960’s 158 (no.2). The no.7 LeMans car at the end is a restro modded 1960s car that was brought for £2 at a jumble fair as is the no.12 Ferrari 312, although we will get to that later! The rest are all kit brought.
As with any collection though it didn’t stay ‘just Ferraris’ for very long!
The eagle-eyed amoungst you might recognise these two from the film ‘Rush’. Niki Lauda’s Ferrari 312 from 1975 and James Hunt’s McLaren M23 from 1976. Both genuine 1970s models.
Saloon and rally cars! The two Skylines are converted Araii static models. The R33 has a chopped up Scalex BMW E36 under it and the Hakosuka has a chassis under it from ‘scalextric restorations’. The blue MG was a kit car too. Totally out of place but I just saw it and thought it was cute.
The Crown Jewels of my collection are my Scalex Ferrari P4 limited edition and my Revell 220SE Mercedes
As forms of ‘motorsport’ go you won’t get much cheaper than this . A box car will averagely cost you £35 new and a kit will cost between £65-£100 to make. In comparison to even RC which I normally cover that won’t break the bank!
Now I won’t be covering much slot car stuff on this blog as it’s my own personal hobby and I don’t plan on going to any meets or anything like that… But I’ve had this 1912 Rolls Royce shell sitting in my cupboard for about a year now and wanted to go mad with it and make it as nice as I possibly can. I thought if I share this build with you over the coming months it will motivate me to get it done to the best of my abilities!
I hope you enjoyed reading! If you would like to see part two in which I teach you how to make a Penelope Pitlane chassis please click here: https://motorsportformentalhealth.com/2016/03/18/rolls-royce-slot-car-build-part-2/
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