It’s a very special year for classic GT and saloon car fans…
There’s loads to get excited about – starting with some brand new tooling: Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0, Group A Jaguar XJS, 1979 Camaro Z/28, Plymouth Barracuda and Chrysler Hemicuda.
Plus there are some very tasty new liveries on last year’s Capri and Camaro IROC, a couple of Escorts, a Mini, Aston Martin DB5 historic racer, Red Bull E-Type Jag, Marlboro BMW M3, James Hunt Camaro and a Le Mans Corvette L88. And you’ll also want to check out the Aston Martin V8, Sierra RS500 and Le Mans VW minibus in the Gulf Edition section.
You can browse and pre-order all the 2021 Scalextric products here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric/2021-releases
In my first 2021 catalogue blog post, I took a quick look at some of the highlights – now I’m going to dig much deeper through each of the categories and including some background from the Scalextric team. A big thank you to Martyn and Simon for taking time out to talk to me.
Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0
Scalextric teased us on their advent calendar – we knew there was a new Porsche coming in 2021 and this is it. The Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 is a true classic and it was raced everywhere in the 1970s and early 80s – all the big endurance races, numerous GT and touring car series, American Trans-Am and plenty of rallies too. It is still a fixture in historic circuit racing and rallying. I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a few Porsche Carreras in future catalogues, but these first two liveries are excellent choices.
The Jägermeister-sponsored Kremer Racing car took part in the 1975 Monza 1000kms. Driven by Helmut Kelleners and Hans Heyer, the #76 Porsche qualified well in the GT3.0 class, but retired from the race with engine failure. The car was repainted in its more familar green Vaillant colours for the rest of the 1975 season, finishing ninth in the Le Mans 24 hours – Porsche 911 Carreras dominating the GTS and GT classes at that year’s race
The second livery is Al Holbert’s 1974 Trans-Am version of the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, with that big chunky chin spoiler. The 1974 Trans-Am season was a pale shadow of its former self, with only three races. Holbert won the opening 200 mile event at Lime Rock. Peter Gregg – in another 911 Carrera – won the final race at Elkhart Lake to wrap up the championship. Holbert finished fourth.
The Scalextric Porsche is powered by a standard short-can motor in an inline configuration. As on the real car, the rear wheels and tyres are massively wide. The Kremer car has working front and rear lights, the Trans-Am car has just rear lights. The Porsche is Digital Plug Ready (DPR), so it can easily be converted for digital racing using the C8515 Digital Plug. Both cars are scheduled for summer / early autumn and are available for pre-order here.
Group A Jaguar XJS
The second new tool in this category is a classic 80s touring car – the Group A Jaguar XJS. This is another model that Scalextric teased us about in December and it will be a popular choice. The XJS was highly-competitive in the Group A European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) between 1982 and 1984, picking up plenty of race wins – Tom Walkinshaw winning the drivers championship in 1984. The XJS also notched up victories at the 1984 Spa 24 hours and the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at Mount Panorama in Australia.
The first racing livery produced by Scalextric is the Tom Walkinshaw, Chuck Nicholson & Win Percy car that claimed pole position at the Spa 24 hours race in 1982, but then failed to finish. This car is due in the spring and can be pre-ordered here. The Scalextric XJS is powered by a standard inline short-can motor. The car is narrow, with similar dimensions to last year’s Capri. That will make them perfect rivals on the track.
There’s also an XJS police car in the 2021 catalogue and I reckon we can expect more cool racing and road car liveries. And wasn’t the XJS also in the ‘New Avengers’ and ‘Return of The Saint’?
Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
Another new classic touring car in the catalogue is the 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. This final evolution of the second generation Camaro was a great-looking car on the race track – both in North America and in Europe – and the sound of that 5.7 litre Chevy V8 was truly memorable. The Scalextric model is part of the classic Trans-Am range and is fitted with a sidewinder short-can motor and a full interior to match the earlier Camaros, Boss Mustangs, Dodge Challengers and the new Barracuda.
The first of the racing liveries is the classic Bastos-sponsored Luigi Racing Z/28 shared by Alain Cudini and Jean Xhenceval at the 1980 Spa 24 hours. The car started from fourth on the grid, but could only finish seventeenth – 44 laps behind the winning Capri 3.0S. A Z/28 painted in this livery has reappeared in historic racing in recent years – most notably in the Gerry Marshall Trophy at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting. The car is owned by former McLaren sales and marketing director David Clark.
The Bastos Camaro is expected to arrive in the summer / early autumn and can be pre-ordered here.
Plymouth Barracuda & Chrysler Hemicuda
Trans-Am fans have been badgering Scalextric to produce a Plymouth Barracuda for ages… and here it is! The real Barracuda was one of the most eye-catching cars on the 1970 Trans-Am grid. Parent-company Chrysler gave the Barracuda to Dan Gurney and Carol Shelby’s All American Racers team to develop for a shot at the title. Swede Savage and Gurney were scheduled to drive a car each – Scalextric choosing the Dan Gurney car for this first release. When factory funding was cut, Savage became the team’s sole driver. The car’s best result was a second place at Road America – and the AAR Barracudas did not return in 1971.
A European Hemicuda version is also in the catalogue. This is a model of the Wolf Levi’s Racing Team Chrysler that raced at the 1973 Spa 24 hours. Driven by Pierre-Yves Bertinchamps & Yves Deprez, the big 7-litre ‘Cuda qualified fifteenth and finished twenty-seventh. That year’s race was full of tragedy – three drivers died and another was seriously injured. Other teams withdrew as rain fell during the night and an understandable fear gripped the drivers.
Again, these cars are fitted with a sidewinder motor and full interior to match the other models in the Trans-Am range. The first prototype of the Scalextric model has recently been tested and I’ve heard it’s pleasingly quick with and without magnets. The ‘Cuda is big and nicely planted – and is likely to be a serious contender in 1:32 scale Trans-Am races. The Dan Gurney Barracuda is due to be released in the summer / early autumn and can be pre-ordered here. The Chrysler Hemicuda is expected at the end of the year and is available for pre-order here.
James Hunt Chevrolet Camaro – Spa 1973
Scalextric have picked a fabulous subject for a re-livery of their 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. This is a model of the car shared by James Hunt and Richard Lloyd at the 1973 Spa 24 hours – the same tragic race as the Chrysler Hemicuda. The #23 Camaro retired early on with clutch problems, having qualified a couple of rows back from the Wolf Oil ‘Cuda – as you can see in the photo of the starting grid above.
Although the Scalextric Camaro is not the exact Group 1 model that raced at Spa, it’s close enough. Plus James Hunt is driving – complete with a fully-detailed helmet – which makes it a very special car and one that’s high on my wish list. This James Hunt Camaro is due in the spring and is available here as a pre-order.
Ford Capri 3.0S Re-liveries
The Capri was my favourite new Scalextric car of 2020 – you can read my review on the Jadlam blog. I am utterly delighted to see two of the most famous Capri Mk3 racing liveries added to the 2021 catalogue. The first – due out in the spring and available for pre-order here – is the Esso-sponsored car of Vince Woodman, Jonathan Buncombe & Peter Clark, which came third in the 1981 Spa 24 hours. Woodman also drove the Esso car in the British Saloon Car Championship and had the honour of scoring the final BSCC victories for the Capri in 1982.
The second car is the classic red Gordon Spice Racing Capri raced by Spice in the 1979 BSCC season, winning six of the twelve rounds. As you can imagine, Gordon is pretty excited Scalextric are producing his car! We’ll have to wait until the end of the year to get our hands on the red Capri, but it is available for pre-order here.
Two Ford Escorts – Mk 1 & Mk 2
Although the Scalextric Escorts are getting a bit long-in-the-tooth, they are very popular models and there are so many liveries still to do… The two Escorts in the 2021 catalogue are particularly nice examples of modern-day historic racers and will be snapped up quick – so don’t hang around with those pre-orders!
This year’s Ford Escort Mk1 is a model of a car prepared by Andy Pipe Racing for the 2020 Modified Ford Series 2020. This series harks back to the wonderful 70s and 80s Super Saloon (“Superloon”) racing that was fan favourite and regularly shown on Saturday afternoon TV. If you bought the Teamslot Martini RS2000 X-Pack before Christmas, this Mk1 is a must buy – the two Kent-based cars race against each other regularly.
The Castrol-sponsored Ford Escort Mk2 is another great choice. This one was spotted in the Gerry Marshall Trophy at the 76th Goodwood Members’ Meeting in 2018 – driven by Kerry Michael & Mark Blundell. Not quite the right wheel arches at the back, but it looks fabulous. Both Escorts are Digital Plug Ready (DPR) for easy conversion for digital racing, using the C8515 Digital plug.
The black Mk1 is due to arrive in the summer / early autumn and can be pre-ordered here. The Castrol MK2 is scheduled for the spring – pre-order it here. Don’t forget, the 2021 Scalextric Club car is also an Escort – the Chevron-sponsored Mk1 raced by John Fitzpatrick and Yvette Fontaine at the 1969 Spa 24 hours.
More New Liveries
Another popular classic in the Scalextric range is the BMC Mini Cooper S. This year’s model is of the Broadspeed Mini Cooper S 970 that John Fitzpatrick raced in the 1965 British Saloon Car Championship. That was the start of a formidable partnership between Broadspeed and one of the top saloon car drivers of all time. The Mini is scheduled for a summer / early autumn release and is available for pre-order here.
Scalextric have pulled a stunning historic racer out of the hat with Adrian Newey’s Jaguar E-Type. Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, Newey is a regular at the Goodwood Revival Festival. His Jag features a big but subtle Red Bull logo on each side. Scalextric worked with Adrian in developing the model, which will be available in the summer / early autumn – you can pre-order it here.
A perfect rival for the E-Type Jaguar is this white-gold Aston Martin DB5. Modelled on the car driven by Martin Stephenson in the Aston Martin Owners Club event at Brands Hatch in June 2019, this DB5 will look very classy on any Scalextric track. It is expected in the next couple of months and can be pre-ordered here. Like the Mini and the E-Type Jag, the DB5 is not Digital Plug Ready (DPR) and all three require the C7005 Retro-fit chip for a digital conversion.
A classic GT car with an interesting history is the NART Chevrolet Corvette L88 that raced at Le Mans in 1972. Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team ran a pair of 365 GTB Daytonas in GT and a 246 Dino in GTS, but were asked by the Florida-based English Racing Team if their fourth entry could be ‘borrowed’ for the Corvette that had won GT honours at Daytona and Sebring. Chinetti agreed, on the condition the Corvette carried a Ferrari logo on the side! The NART Ferrari Daytonas finished sixth and ninth, the Corvette – driven by Bob Johnson and Dave Heinz – a distant fifteenth. The NART Corvette is a spring release and available for pre-order here.
I admit to being a little underwhelmed by the first two Chevrolet Camaro IROC cars that were released last year. However, in the Duracell colours of Scott Sharp’s Camaro – winner of the 1991 SCCA Trans Am championship – I think Scalextric have brought out the best of this American racing classic. The #33 Camaro is scheduled for a spring release and can be pre-ordered here.
Last – but not least – in this category, is the classic Marlboro-sponsored BMW E30 M3 from the 1991 DTM. Driven by Dutch racer Cor Euser, the BMW was an also-ran in that year’s championship, but it does look fabulous in Marlboro colours. Available in the next couple of months, you can pre-order the BMW here.
Don’t forget you can browse and pre-order all the 2021 Scalextric products here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric/2021-releases