Carrera Marvel Ultimate Spider-Man 1:43 Slot Racing 2.4m Track Set

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Slot cars began with basic electric tinplate cars, improving tothe current highly detailed plastic models in 1960. The current CEO Lyndon Davies was appointed in 2017 and the following year, Hornby Hobbies moved back to rent the old HQ office building at Westwood, joining the Hornby Visitor Centre which had remained after the move in 2015.

Minimodels Ltd manufactured tinplate models and was established ten years prior to the launch of Scalextric. The new track is compatible with existing 1:32 cars as well as the original track – the latter requiring an adapter piece to join the new and old designs together.

Four years later, the 2000s was also the beginning of ‘Digital Scalextric’– the future of slot car racing and the technology still used today. With a pandemic on the rise in 2020, a new normal consisted of social distancing, staying at home, which meant more time to pick up old hobbies. In 1986, Hornby Hobbies Ltd became a Plc, taking the company forward in a new world of computer games and electronics.

Production of Scalextric and Tri-ang Hornby railways was transferred to Margate, creating history as the home of Scalextric and Hornby even today. Spark Plug was introduced in 2020 - a wireless dongle allowing players to race their cars from their smart devices. Between 2010 and 2020, the development of Scalextric hung in the balance with multiple changes which would alter the course of the brand. The inventor of Scalextric, Betram ‘Fred’ Francis died aged 78 in 1998, with the following year seeing the manufacturing outsourced from the UK to China. The first unique car liveries to appear in a Scalextric set only available for one retailer was the Rally Cross set in 1992.Comprising of ten volumes, The Ultimate Guide covers the historyand the products of an iconic British company. The above shows set D31, which contained a figure of 8 circuit fly-over, a lap counter and two C80 Ofenhauser rear-engine cars in red and yellow. With new ideas and technology constantly progressing the hobby, there will be many more journeys to come. The year 2016 saw the closure of Hornby Hobbies’ International European subsidiary businesses and the old Westwood factory was sold. Following a move to a purpose-built factory in Hampshire, testing was carried out to add an electric motor and gimbal wheel to a SCALEX tinplate car chassis on rail track, later finding slotted track more viable.