October 2015

1/32nd Scale Peugeot 205 T16 #C3641

I'm not much of a Rally fan. Now that I have admitted that, why in the world would I want this slot car? Because I remember it from my youth. When Scalextric announced it, I remembered that time in my life and knew I needed to have it in my collection.

The Pikes Peak Hillclimb or The Race to the Clouds is an event unlike any other. The wildest looking cars you have ever seen attack the summit every year, and in 1987 this car was a part of it. And I was there.

I do not get to say that very often. Not many slot cars released today have I witnessed the prototype in person. But back then I was a lowly Private First Class stationed at Ft. Carson, Colorado. One of the things we looked forward to was this race event. We could catch a shuttle bus for free and have a great day watching some fast cars. It didn't matter that we really knew nothing about the cars, they were an awesome sight to us as they chewed up that mountain road.

The Scalextric representation is done fairly well. Nothing is ever perfect in our hobby, but I feel they did a fine job.

In the words of my 1st Sgt at the time: "We are going to watch a bunch of ugly cars go fast". Well, I suppose he had a point. The cars that are built for this event are certainly not very eye appealing, but not many cars from the 80's were :) At least these boxy little things had some HP and enough body add ons to disguise the boring box underneath.

So either this car will appeal to you or it won't.

Markings and colors are crisp and clean throughout. I feel the detail level is more than enough to please most of you.

There is something I feel Scalextric has accomplished other than the effort you see here. They produced a car that participated in a very popular event here in the USA and from a time period I can relate to: The 80's. That time was a growing up period for me. The same can be said for many other enthusiast I know. We have models from the period of course, but very few that were apart of something this popular in our culture. Perhaps this trend will continue? Maybe there is hope for future INDY and other series of cars that have long been ignored.

Underneath we see the car is an inline configuration with 4 screws holding the body to the chassis.

The bar magnet is there for those who want it, but easily removed for people like me who do not.

The addition of lights is a good thing as I enjoy that added detail. The wiring in the rear needs to be re-routed for safer operation though. Not a big deal, but could be for those not willing to do it. The way it is now, it could get caught or the protective coating rubbed through from contact. Standard motor that is around 18K with normal 9/27 gearing.

Testing showed some promise. Wheel hop was present but that was expected in non-magnet form. Some wheel and tire sanding smoothed the model out and it was much more enjoyable to drive. I think I will keep the stock tires for now as I enjoy the smooth drifting action.

Overall I am very happy to have chosen this car. It has some historical appeal for me and Scalextric did a decent job of capturing it in our scale. I am sure almost any rally fan would be pleased with the investment.

-Harry

Feel free to CONTACT ME about this review or just the hobby in general.

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