James May's Toy Stories: The Scalextric® Handbook

by May, James

• ISBN13: 9781844861170
• ISBN10: 1844861171
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-09-07
• Publisher: Conway

Summary

Scalextric is a leading international slot-car racing brand, boasting a legion of passionate fans worldwide. BBC television personality and motoring writer James May examines the development of Scalextric from its British roots to international acclaim, from classic Fords to modern Porsches. He also shows how to create a realistic track, provides technical know-how for custom-tuning cars for maximum performance, and offers tips for improving racing skills. Plus, he explains how Scalextric designers scale performance cars down to size.

Table of Contents

Why Scalextric?	p. 6
The History of Scalextric	p. 9
Scalex goes electric	p. 9
From tinplate to plastic	p. 14
Racing for pole position: the 1960s	p. 18
From the Swinging 60s to the Sorry 70s	p. 21
Speed, power, control...	p. 24
Back on track: from the 1980s into the 21st century	p. 26
From virtual to reality	p. 30
How to achieve success in track building	p. 34
The Big Race	p. 40
Rebuilding Brooklands	p. 40
Brooklands circuits	p. 43
Simeon the resourceful	p. 46
King, Campbell and Cobb	p. 54
John Cobb speed record	p. 58
Assessing the risks	p. 59
The cars	p. 64
The best race I never saw	p. 66
How to win at Scalextric	p. 72
Pimp your car	p. 76
Everyone's a winner	p. 81
Scalex, Startex and Scalextric catalogue	p. 84
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.