Scalextric Late ’80s Legendary Group A Touring Cars

＜#10  TWR-JRA Jaguar XJS / 1985 Bathurst 1000 Winner＞
＜#  6  Eggenberger-Texaco Ford Sierra RS500 / 1987 Season＞

As for these two Scalextric Group A cars themselves, I made no major performance modifications.

Both still use the stock motors and stock axles. The only functional upgrade was replacing the tires with appropriately sized Paul Gage urethane tires and truing them.

As usual, I trimmed the outer edges of the chassis slightly to allow more body float.

For the Ford, I added the characteristic color shading to the Eggenberger-Texaco car’s headlight lenses, repainted the BBS wheels by applying gold only to the mesh centers instead of leaving them entirely chrome, and lightly shaded the driver’s face using heavily thinned paint. 

I also added a thin-wall brass pipe for the right-side exhaust. Recently, adding Patto’s tire decals at the very end has become a favorite little ritual of mine ― a sign that the project is truly complete.

For the Jaguar, it required more work because the light boards ― especially the rear one ― are unusually wide. I cut away the lower portions beneath the front and rear bumpers from the chassis and glued them to the body instead. This narrowed the openings and made body removal slightly more inconvenient, although it allowed better body float. I carefully adjusted everything by sanding the edges of the light boards and slightly enlarging parts of the body opening.

The chassis trimming and body-fit adjustment consumed the most time. After running tests, I also set the ride height considerably higher than stock.

Beyond that, I only added a thin-wall brass pipe to the left-side exhaust and applied some matte black shading around the wheel center-lock nuts. And finally, just like the Ford, I finished it off with Patto’s tire decals.

Carrera Mercedes-Benz 300SEL-6.3 AMG

As for the 300SEL-6.3 AMG “Red Pig,” it had long been famous among ETC racing car enthusiasts as one of the defining machines from AMG’s earliest days.

Yet for many years, the only models available were a handful of expensive, small-production resin kits made by individual craftsmen, and I had bought several of them myself over the years.

But whenever those solid lumps of resin finally arrived ― however deeply I could admire the passion and dedication of each sculptor behind them ― my own motivation to actually build them would quietly fade away instead.

Around the same period ― whether slightly before or after the Carrera release, I no longer clearly remember ― TA71 also released one of their characteristically ultra-high-detail 3D-printed models.

But by that point, my enthusiasm for scratchbuilding had already completely burned out.

It is surprisingly common for a car that no manufacturer showed any interest in for years to suddenly appear as a finished RTR model shortly after someone goes through all the trouble of building a resin version by hand.

For me, the pleasure of obtaining a car that no mainstream manufacturer had released yet ― even if only a few years ahead of everyone else around me ― was never just simple joy, nor merely the relief of finally no longer having to search endlessly for it.

There was also, I think, a certain childish element mixed into it: a sense of pride, of showing off, of quietly enjoying the feeling of having something before others did.

But now, perhaps because age has worn me down, even the act of “showing off” outwardly feels tiresome to me.

More and more, my interests and satisfaction have turned inward instead.

Anyway, back to Carrera’s Red Pig.

As usual with Carrera, the car feels solid and durable in the best possible way. The body is sturdy and highly crash-resistant, and the graphics are still done with beautiful tampo printing rather than the cheap waterslide decals used by Scalextric.

Seeing this inevitably makes me drift off into complaints about Scalextric instead of talking about Carrera, unfortunately.

To be honest, I’ve become thoroughly tired of Scalextric’s low-quality waterslide decals over the last decade or so. Crooked or distorted graphics have become almost routine. Since the decals often fail to conform properly to the body molding, the inner corners of the body usually end up looking like little triangular tents made only from thin decal film. Sooner or later, some small accident causes them to tear open and take part of the graphics with them.

I also suspect the clear coat itself is fairly poor quality. Whenever I open a brand-new Scalextric car, the surface always has an unpleasant greasy, sticky feel to it.

Then comes the tedious process of completely disassembling the car ― removing the windows and cockpit tray ― washing everything with soap, warm water, and a brush, drying it all carefully, and reassembling it afterward. Honestly, it’s a nuisance every single time.

Returning to the Carrera Mercedes, the front axle uses an independent left-right setup. I suppose this was unavoidable because the guide had to be mounted deep underneath the nose to make it less visible from the front, which naturally placed it between the two axle halves. From a handling standpoint, though, it may still be preferable to Carrera’s F1 layout, where the guide sits behind the front axle entirely.

To run alongside the Red Pig, I also bought the yellow #31 Hannen Alt Bier car for my wife. But compared to the flashy and famous Red Pig, it really looks like a machine from AMG’s very early days ― back when they still lacked major sponsors. As a livery, it simply looks rather plain by comparison. I worried that my wife might lose interest in racing it.

So I came up with a solution.

Using leftover self-made Alps decals originally created years ago for a fantasy-liveried FLY Atego truck, I added AMG logos along with an assortment of sponsor decals that felt appropriate for the era and character of the car, giving it a slightly more cheerful appearance that could stand beside the Red Pig without looking completely overshadowed.

Since I wanted to avoid spectacular rollovers whenever the car deslotted, I intentionally built it fairly heavy, and as a result the handling became rather sluggish.

From here, I plan to gradually reduce the weight and rethink the motor and pinion gearing in search of performance more appropriate for a 1970s ETC touring car.

Scalextric Volvo 850 Estate BTCC

Ever since I first got into slot cars in 2005, I had been waiting for someone to finally produce them. During those years, I tried all sorts of things — modifying an SCX Volvo 850 sedan racer, buying Betta vac-formed bodies, trying Pendle resin bodies, even attempting to turn an SCX Volvo S60 ETCC into a V70 by cutting away the entire rear section. Every attempt ended in failure, but I kept struggling with this obsession for nearly twenty years.

And now, at last, before leaving this world, that long frustration has finally been resolved. I could not be happier about it.

My plan was to shave the fender lips thin, fit longer axles, and push the wheels and tires out to the absolute limit to widen the track width.

But for some reason Scalextric seems to have changed things so that the wheels simply won’t come off the axles, no matter what you do.

I kept trying to twist them off, but the wheel centers just sheared apart before the wheels would budge.

As a result, I ended up buying three Police Cars as chassis donors.

For me, the 850 Estate BTCC absolutely had to wear the OZ five-spoke wheels, not the ATS ten-spokes.

I had been waiting twenty years to see this shape.
There are still a few points I’m not completely satisfied with.

But rather than worrying about that, I want to savor the simple happiness that something which never existed before is finally here.

Even with the extension, the time left is short.

Well then—on to the next car.

Scalextric Aston Martin DBR9 with Slotrax 3DP-Chassis

While chatting with Mike Roe from Slotrax over Messenger about the 3D printed chassis, he sent me a list of other models they offered.

Among them was one for the Scalextric Aston Martin DBR9 — something no other 3DP chassis maker had ever produced, just like the SCX R8 LMP.

For the longest time, the only 3D chassis options available for the DBR9 were for SCX or Black Arrow, so I had completely given up on finding one for the Scalextric version.

Not just for the DBR9, but Scalextric stock chassis in general tend to have their limits — once you swap in an aftermarket rear axle set, the gear mesh changes and produces harsh noise, or the motor mount cracks easily after a few removals due to low rigidity.

It’s understandable since they were designed as toys for kids, but I could never accept that kind of performance for such a beautifully modeled DBR9 body. So my DBR9s just stayed untouched in my collection for years — too beautiful to race, yet too flawed to enjoy.

Then I spotted my beloved DBR9 on Slotrax’s 3DP chassis list, and I was as excited as when I first found the one for the SCX R8LMP. I got one and built it into a race car worthy of its beautiful Scalextric body.

SCX Audi R8 LMP with Slotrax 3DP-Chassis

Back around 2005–07 in the magnet racing era, I used to run the SCX Audi R8 with a Scaleauto red 35k motor. Back then, if you wanted a high-rev short-can motor that was easy to get, that was about the only option. Plus, everyone had a spare one lying around because it came with the MRRC Cobra and most people didn’t know what to do with it.

With that motor, a Scalextric wide-bar magnet glued underneath the chassis as low as it could go, and Slot-it alloy wheels with S1 tires, the car was absolutely unbeatable on a magnabraided commercial wood track. On the other hand, at small home-club circuits with plastic track, the magnet was way too strong and the car just stuck to the rails and couldn’t really run. That was when many clubs started exploring the idea of non-magnet racing. And that’s exactly the era when I first entered the world of 1/32 slot car racing.

In Japan back then, this kind of tinkering was simply what everyone was doing for fun. But from 2007 onward, I completely fell in love with non-magnet racing, and for the past 18 years I never looked back. 

Back in August this year, I came across William Wellbean’s post on Facebook, and it made me want to bring back to life my long-sleeping, brand-new SCX R8s (Team GOH “Kabuki” and the Adelaide 2000 “Crocodile”) as proper non-magnet racers.

Will kindly introduced me to Mike Roe from Slotrax in Lakeland, Florida, and I got the same 3D printed chassis for the SCX Audi R8LMP that Will is using.

Following my current preferences, I went with CB Design insert wheels and Paul Gage XPG urethanes. As for the motor, I used a BRM Super EVO from my stock—one that had too much torque for any other project until now. Since this car carries so many good memories for me, I wanted to give it something special spec.

Patto’s Place; 1/32 NASCAR Truck Vac-Body Builds – 3 of 3 Pairs

#88 - Ideal Door／Menards Truck - Matt Crafton - 2024
#11 - Foster Love／Safelite Truck - Corey Heim - 2025

At first, I wasn’t quite sure how to handle these vac-formed bodies or the Peel & Stick reverse stickers. But as I got used to them, I began to figure out the techniques I needed—and before long, the process itself became something I genuinely enjoyed.

While building the original four trucks, I had full-race broadcasts of the NASCAR Camping World / Gander Outdoors Truck Series from around 2014–22, and the newer Craftsman Truck Series races from 2023 onward, running in the background on YouTube. Even though I only glanced up from time to time while working, it still meant I was passively absorbing more than a decade’s worth of liveries. Naturally, I ended up wanting to make two more trucks featuring the latest schemes.

It doesn’t really make sense, I know—there are only two of us who actually drive these cars, and under the skin, all six trucks are built to the same spec and perform exactly the same. But I still find myself wanting to add more, just because I love the look of the different liveries.

Even on Cup-style bodies, NASCAR schemes are designed purely to please the eye. I’ve always been drawn to the design side of things, and when it comes to trucks—especially ones I can’t easily find at a local hobby shop—they’re even harder to resist. They’re rare and unique, and that just makes me want to build more of them.

I had to think a bit about how to store it once it was done. Vac-formed bodies are way too thin — sure to warp under their own weight over time — so I couldn’t just toss them upside down into a carrying case tray like I do with my RTR cars with sturdier ABS shells. And in the summer, when transporting them by car, the temperature in the trunk can get pretty extreme—so a proper display box was clearly necessary.

Since NASCAR trucks are full-sized—closer to real American pickups than compact race cars—they don’t fit in FLY’s elegant crystal cases. For availability and size, I went with standard Scalextric display boxes. I swapped out the backdrops, customized the vehicle nameplates, and even redesigned the licensed branding sticker areas on the back to match each Truck Series.

It turned out to be a fun side project—creating special display boxes worthy of these special builds.

Patto’s Place; 1/32 NASCAR Truck Vac-Body Builds – 2 of 3 Pairs

#98 - Raybestos Retro Truck - Kenny Irwin Jr. - 2020
#99 - Texaco Havoline Truck 5 - Ben Rhodes - 2019

As for the cockpit, the setup I had originally planned―using a 3D printed 1/32-scale interior―just looked a bit too petite to really fit into the generously-sized body of a NASCAR truck.

So I decided to take a shortcut and look for alternative pre-painted 1/32 Lightweight Cockpits to simplify the process. While searching on eBay, I came across a listing from the “Slot Car and Bicycle Emporium” eBay store for cockpits described as “beautifully handmade in Brazil.” They had caught my attention, so I figured I’d give them a try this time.

The downside was that the selection of painted racing driver variants was very limited, and there weren’t many options in the range, so I had to go with what was available.

The character designs don’t match the schemes on the cars at all, but I figure both can pass as guest drivers at a Goodwood-style exhibition event.

Before starting this whole project, I searched all over Google hoping to find photos of other people’s completed builds—something I could look at and get a sense of how they went about it, and use as a reference for my own approach. I did come across a few forum threads where people mentioned working on NASCAR trucks—often using AMT or Monogram kits, custom resin bodies, or 3D-printed shells. In those same forums, you’d occasionally find someone asking, “Why hasn’t any brand released a NASCAR truck yet?” And in the replies, there was always at least one well-meaning expert chiming in with something like, “There’s a place in Australia called Patto’s Place—they’ve got vac-formed truck bodies.”

But even those who kindly pointed them out—people who always seemed to know where to find them—never posted any proof that they’d actually built.

Not one single photo—ever.

Patto’s Place also has a gallery page on their site, where customers can send in photos of finished cars made using Patto’s decals or bodies, and Patto uploads them for everyone to enjoy. It’s full of inspiring builds—but not a single NASCAR truck to be found.

I’m sure someone out there has built a NASCAR truck using a Patto’s Place body—and I imagine they’re casually enjoyed at a few commercial tracks near Patto in Australia.

But surprisingly, the activities of slot racers in the Southern Hemisphere are rarely seen—aside from the occasional forum post, there’s hardly any visual coverage of their work.

When I try Googling with general keywords, the results mostly come from North America, the UK, or sometimes France.

As for local shops in the Southern Hemisphere—or even in Germany or Spain—I really have to dig with intention to find them, and even then, it’s not easy.