At last, the 2021 Scalextric catalogue is here!
Forget Christmas, birthdays and holidays of a lifetime – the unveiling of the new Scalextric range is always the highlight of my year. Even in average times, flicking through the catalogue is super-exciting. The 2020 range was a particularly good one – can Scalextric match it this time?
In terms of stats, Scalextric leapt from just four new moulds (or ‘new tooling’) for 1:32 cars in 2019 to eleven in 2020 – and they have beaten that with fourteen this year. Plus there are new liveries on almost all the 2020 new cars, giving a much stronger and fresher catalogue than last year.
The new tooling covers TV and Movie cars, modern and classic GT and saloon cars, single-seaters, street and police cars. The 1:64 scale Micro and My First Scalextric range takes another step forward with new sets and new track pieces. There’s something there for everyone, I reckon. And for most of us, it’ll be an expensive year!
You can pre-order all the 2021 Scalextric products here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric/2021-releases
In this first blog post, I’ll take a look at the 2021 highlights and then knuckle down to write five more posts, digging much deeper and including some background from the Scalextric Team.
Q1: January to March
Two of the stand-out releases of 2021 will arrive in the first few months of the year – the iconic 1966 Batmobile and a 1976 British Grand Prix triple pack containing all three cars that finished on the podium – James Hunt’s McLaren, Niki Lauda’s 312T2 and Jody Scheckter’s six-wheeler Tyrrell. The Batmobile is a brand-new car, is massive and looks sensational. The McLaren and 312T2 are much sought-after re-releases – the original twin pack will set you back much more second-hand than this triple pack will cost brand new. This is the only limited edition pack in the catalogue – only 1,500 units are available.
Another highlight of the first quarter is a BMW 330i Police Car with working siren and flashing lights. Those of us who regularly use the UK motorway network might be in two minds about this car – it’s just a bit too realistic!
Also lined-up for the next couple of months are a red version of the cute Scalextric Rasio C-20 hypercar, a lovely white-gold historic racing Aston Martin DB5, a stunning Marlboro-sponsored BMW E30 M3 from the 1991 DTM championship and Jim Clark’s Lotus 25, which dominated the 1962 British Grand Prix at Aintree. There’s also the Gulf edition Reliant Regal Van that appeared in the Scalextric Advent Calendar Drag Race video.
Q2: April to June
The spring 2021 releases are pretty tasty. The second new tool of the year is a classic 1980s touring car – the Group A Jaguar XJS. The first racing livery is of the Tom Walkinshaw, Chuck Nicholson & Win Percy car that took pole at the prestigious 1982 Spa 24 hours race. There’s a bit of a Spa 24 hour theme this year – a total of six cars in the catalogue raced at the event during the 70s and 80s, including the Scalextric Club exclusive Escort Mk1.
Also scheduled for the spring is the already-unveiled ‘Back to the Future 2’ DeLorean, plus there’s a return of drifting to the catalogue, with two ultra-cool Ford Mustang GT4 cars adapted for 360 rotation in the new Drift 360 set. The rest of the releases for this quarter are re-liveries, but there are some real stunners! Top of my list is the Chevy Camaro driven by James Hunt and Richard Lloyd at the 1973 Spa 24 hours.
Another car on my list is the Chevrolet Camaro IROC in Duracell colours that won the SCCA Trans Am championship in 1991, driven by Scott Sharp. Having been a little underwhelmed by the first two cars, I think this livery does the Camaro IROC justice. Plus there’s a Spa 24 hours Esso-sponsored Capri, another Ford Mustang GT4, Jake Hill’s 2020 Honda Civic Type-R, the ‘Only Fools and Horses’ Reliant Regal van re-appearing as a solo release and a very neat Castrol Ford Escort Mk2.
A stand-out new accessory for 1:64 scale Micro Scalextric fans is a lap timer with an intriguing ‘Booby Trap’ feature. The mechanical device counts down from any number up to 50 laps – when the winner gets to zero, the other car is catapulted into the air!
You can pre-order all the 2021 Scalextric and Micro Scalextric products here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric/2021-releases
Q3: July to September
Most of the 2021 releases are scheduled for the summer and early autumn – it’s going to be a busy time! There are so many highlights, it’s really difficult to know where to start…
A new car I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of is the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 – it’s a bona fide classic and a legend in endurance, GT, Trans-Am and rally racing in the 1970s and early 80s. The first two liveries are the Jägermeister Kremer Racing car from the 1975 Monza 1000kms and the 1974 Al Holbert Trans-Am car with that big ‘chin’ spoiler.
Staying with classic racing, Scalextric have two brand new Ayrton Senna Lotus cars in the 2021 catalogue – the first is the black JPS 97T Renault that Senna took to his first win at the Portuguese GP in 1985. A second car, the 1987 Camel-sponsored 99T Honda from Senna’s first Monaco win, is scheduled for Q4.
The Jaguar XJS reappears – this time as a very classy police car with a flashing blue light, no siren, but a full-detail interior. That’s a patrol car to terrorise the older generation.
Probably the most eye-catching item in the catalogue for me is the official tie-up between Scalextric and Formula E. An amazingly innovative Formula E Spark Plug racing set is joined by two solo cars – a DS Techeetah and a Jaguar in the set, plus the 2019-20 championship-winning Techeetah and Alexander Sim’s 2021 Mahindra available separately. The new evolution of the Spark Plug app is really exciting and something I’ll delve into in another blog post soon.
There’s a third new set due in the summer – the entry-level Street Cruisers set that features a yellow Rasio C-20 and the brand new Pagani Huayra BC Roadster in red. The Huayra looks sensational and a yellow version will be released in Q3 as a solo car in the Super Resistant range – a jaw-dropping Drago Viola Edition in purple and pink will be available in Q4.
The third quarter is also James Bond time… The Vantage V8 returns in a re-worked ‘The Living Daylights’ version – complete with skis! A brand new car is the 1977 ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ Lotus Esprit S1. No gadgets on this one, but the Esprit and the DB5 are the iconic Bond cars for me. In 1:64 scale, a new Micro Scalextric Bond 007 set will be released, including the original DB5 (BMT 216A) and a brand new mould – an Aston Martin V8. Also scheduled for Q3 is a Batman vs The Riddler set. Both sets feature the new ‘Booby Trap’ lap counter and humpback bridge track.
There’s a new GT car that will thrill fans of modern GT racing… it’s the Corvette C8R! The first car to be released is the silver #4 works car from the 2020 Daytona 24 hours, with the yellow #3 car available in Q4. Another new GT car is the updated Mercedes AMG GT3 – although the chassis is the same as the previous Scalextric model, the body has been re-designed and re-tooled to re-create the latest Mercedes face-lift. It’s a stunning car with a very tasty livery from the 2020 British GT Championship. Almost as exciting for GT fans is the Castrol-sponsored R-Motorsport Aston Martin GT3 Vantage from the 2020 Bathurst 12 hours. Other modern racing re-liveries include a red TF Sport Vantage from the 2020 Spanish GT Open series, the 2019 LMP1 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 and Colin Turkington’s 2020 BTCC BMW 330i M-Sport.
Back with classic racing and new tooling, we have the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and the Plymouth Barracuda – two immense muscle cars. The Camaro will be released as both the 1980 Spa 24h Bastos-sponsored race car and a silver road car. The Barracuda is Dan Gurney’s 1970 Trans-Am racer and there’s a European Hemicuda version in a very attractive 1973 Spa 24 hour livery for Q4. Equally big and brash is the Gulf-sponsored Aston Martin V8, a modern-day historic racer which features a re-worked front end and new wheels. Other Gulf cars due in Q3 include a Gulf-Porsche team minibus and a Gulf Sierra RS500, plus there’s Adrian Newey’s Red Bull E-Type Jag, John Fitzpatrick’s 1965 Broadspeed Mini Cooper S 970 and a fabulous Ford Escort Mk1 prepared by Andy Pipe Racing for the 2020 Modified Ford Series.
Q4: October to December
The Winter 2021-22 cars round off the year in considerable style. There’s the Camel Lotus 99T, plus the Chrysler Hemicuda, yellow Corvette C8R and snazzy Drago Viola Pagani Huayra. There’s also a lovely red Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri 3.0S, a 1977 livery on the Tyrrell P34 and a brand new Lotus Esprit S2 road car in the famous black and gold of the 1978 World Championship commemorative edition. Seven top models.
However, the highlight of the fourth quarter – and possible the entire catalogue – is KITT. If you haven’t heard of KITT – or Night Rider – then go and watch some YouTube videos. Needless to say, KITT is a must-have 1980s TV car. And yes, it has the moving red light. What a fabulous car to finish on!
I hope you are excited by those highlights. There are five more blog posts – each one has more pictures, more detail and more background. But now it’s time for you to get busy with those pre-orders! You can pre-order all the 2021 Scalextric products here: www.jadlamracingmodels.com/scalextric/2021-releases