Vintage WRC Cars (2) Scalextric

＜Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 WRC＞

While searching for a suitable rival for the Peugeot 307, I got another Scalextric rally car from the same era through an auction site ― only to discover that this one was two-wheel drive.

The car appeared in Scalextric’s 2002 new products catalog, and once I opened it up, I found it to be a very typical transitional-period design with a mixture of old and new features.

The disc guide had not yet appeared, but the lighting had already evolved from a single T4 miniature bulb to dual LEDs. However, these were not modern chip LEDs, but old-style warm-colored bullet LEDs with a strong reddish tint, and there were still no tail lamps at all ― only two headlights.

After replacing the guide with a Ninco regular blade, removing the magnet, adding weight, fitting N22 rear tires, and truing them ― the usual race-prep routine ― the handling became shockingly good. In fact, it almost reminded me of an NSR Abarth 500.

Of course, realistically speaking, the motor performance is entirely different, so it could never actually compete with an NSR Abarth. But despite its relatively tall body, it had that same peculiar sensation of gripping the track stubbornly through every corner. It was an outstanding success… which actually created a problem.

Because no matter how carefully you tune a Scalextric car, they almost never end up behaving anything like an NSR Abarth in the first place.

That made it surprisingly difficult to find another two-wheel-drive Scalextric car with a similar character.

A contemporary Subaru might possibly achieve comparable performance due to its similar body shape and proportions, but neither my wife nor I can stand the styling of the later Subaru front end with the round headlamp housings.

＜Ford Focus WRC Works 2001＞

So I started digging through even older Scalextric catalogs.

As for the first-generation Subaru and Ford Escort shown in the 1999 catalog, I already own the more recently retooled versions. Looking for something else, I eventually settled on the Ford Focus WRC released in 2000.

I managed to find a suitable new-old-stock example at auction and bought it. Even though I should really be reducing the number of “cold” cars in my collection, I somehow ended up increasing it again. Honestly, what am I even doing? Still, I might as well race-prep it properly and turn it into a car that actually gets driven.

Internally, the design was obviously older than the Lancer’s.

The lighting still used a single T4 miniature bulb, with transparent light guides distributing a dim glow to the left and right headlights. It was almost exactly the same system used in the 1999 New Beetle Cup Car.

Looking at the chassis mounting method, the body was secured by two screws at the front and one at the rear. However, that single rear mounting point did not connect directly to the body itself, but instead screwed into a pillar extending downward from the cockpit floor.

The problem was that the cockpit itself was not actually fixed to the body in any meaningful way.

There was no way the rear positioning could possibly remain precise like that.

Compared to the Lancer ― which already handled suspiciously like an NSR Abarth ― this seemed hopelessly outclassed from the beginning.

But after staring at it for a while, I noticed something interesting.

The rear positioning was not handled solely by the screw. Just like on the NSR Abarth, the rear number plate arm ― extending upward from the end of the chassis ― also slotted into the body to help locate the rear section. On the NSR, this piece functions as the license plate light housing.

So first, I cut away the useless pillar at the back of the cockpit. Since the cockpit itself floated freely anyway, I secured it to the body with plastic tape so it would not interfere with chassis float.

The rear number plate mounted at the tip of the upward chassis arm hooks into the rectangular opening for the body’s rear plate area. I carefully enlarged that opening slightly to create enough clearance for proper chassis movement.

Then, to prevent the assembly from slipping back out, I added a small plastic plate inside the opening to act as a depth-wise retainer.

From there, final rear-end tuning became a matter of gradually trimming or shimming around the opening until the handling felt satisfactory.

Just like the Lancer, I fitted a Ninco guide, removed the magnet, added weight, installed and trued N22 rear tires, and the car was ready.

Since I already had setup data from building the Lancer first, I also matched the added ballast weight fairly closely. Whether or not the handling characteristics ended up identical was less important ― at least numerically, I wanted both cars built to roughly the same specifications.

Driven alone, the Focus feels quite different from the Lancer.

But once both cars are on the track together, the pairing actually works surprisingly well. This should allow my wife and me to enjoy long, evenly matched races together.

The Focus seems to have a slightly higher top speed, though its brakes also feel slightly weaker. From here, all that remains is to let my wife drive both cars and decide which one she prefers as her own.