Scalextric Ford RS 200

[goosenapper]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Outstanding review. :)

Perhaps a taller (larger diameter) tire, not wider? Even if you get a set of PG's that are too tall, you can sand them down to a diameter to fit. Looks like you have a little bit of clearance between the top of the stock tire and the bottom edge of the fender?

Thanks for taking the time to make the review.

[ElSecundo]

Nicely done, Grasshoppa! Very enjoyable read, thank you. :)

I see that this car has one of the design flaws that has led me to divest in Scalextric. When that tiny clip breaks at the lower edge of the windshield, the front end of the car will flop around. The clip is a key structural component, and the plastic is as thin as a mirror stalk.

This construction connects the chassis to the internior with screws, then relies on that tiny clip to keep it all in place. There's no front body post to hold the chassis to the body when that clip goes bye-bye.

So another thank you for saving me some money and serious aggravation! :banana-dance:

[goosenapper]

[ElSecundo]

Exactly, reviews just help people decide how to spend their hobby dollars. This review made it easy for me. Knowing that Scalextric is very aware of this particular flaw, but chooses to build it this way regardless, just makes sure that their competitors get my money. No point improving, right? Yay, Scalextric! :clap:

[ElSecundo]

Wow, very different construction, and much stronger than the newer version.

Jess, I've gone back over the pictures of the interior. Do any of the four rearward chassis screws go through the interior and into any body posts? It looks like they just go into the posts built into the interior itself, and then the interior is mounted with just the single front clip.

[goosenapper]

Wow, the old model sure is different from the new one. I think that the engine detailing and roof scoops look more like the 1:1 car than the new mold. I like how they solve the problem of illuminating multiple headlights, but can see where it could get in the way of getting the body back on. The new version has a similar issue where two tiny clips stick out on the rear of the chassis to enter holes in the body, then it swings in place. But they were so small that I didn't immediately see them and struggled a bit to reassemble the car the first time I had it apart.

And bad news Kurt, only the two front screws actually make it to the body. The two main rear posts terminate just below the engine detailing that is visible through the rear window. There is no way that they could continue on through the interior tray and attach directly to the body as there simply is no body above where they attach! Looking more closely, the tray is held in place by that clip in the front that you pointed out, but is held in the rear by a single protruding stud that mates up to a groove that is cut in to the inside of the rear body of the car. It's not a perfect fit, as I can wiggle it with effort from side to side.

Now I see why they also screw the interior to the chassis with those two little and seemingly superfluous screws in the middle. They act as extra support, perhaps even as an insurance policy for keeping the interior in place, and as such also keep a bit of stress off of those rear posts. Getting body float in this thing would be no easy chore. It's basically a rolling brick, as all of those screws and clips make the chassis and body one solid unit. The more I look at it, the more it seems that the production of this model came down to covering up poorly designed components with even more shoddy ideas.

But even with all of those negatives, it's still a fun car to drive on Sport. On wood, well that might be a different story...

[ElSecundo]

Thanks, Jesse! That is actually stronger construction than the other cars with a single clip, since the back end is 'attached' to the body with the slats that insert into the body itself. They combined two not-so-great ideas into one bigger not-so-great idea, but it does improve on the other two. So basically, it's not going to have a structural failure the first time somebody rear-ends the car (thankfully), but it's a poor design for people who want to give it a proper tune.

So, my criticisms aside, it sounds like it does what it's supposed to do, and that's provide fun on plastic track. I don't know if this construction method saves on construction costs. They add four more screws than necessary, but clipping the interior in place and turning six screws may be faster than melting posts, then turning two screws. In any case, a full tune-up with body float will be a challenge.

[oceanview]

Hi Jesse and everybody else,
The #6 car is actually a older "SCX " Spanish Scalextric-Exin model that some how was released by Scalextric in England as well
c432 in England and 4079 in Spain. See the "motor hole" in the pic? , it's sized for what we would call a SCX motor but it has a
Scalextric motor with "spacer" mounts. SCX wheels , lights etc , i think it was made around 1987 ?
Just to be clear: In Spain and a couple of other countries (Russia?) SCX is called Scalextric , but every where else in the world it's SCX
and of course Scalextric is Scalextric everywhere but those couple of countries.That's probably why it's molded on the chassis.
They are cool looking cars that come in a lot of liveries.

[ElSecundo]

Hah, good point! This does appear to be SCX. Would this have been about the time that Scalextric and SCX went their separate ways, and SCX got some of the molds?

[goosenapper]

[MrAdept]

It is a Spanish mold - at that time Hornby were buying body/chassis from Exin and tampo printing them, so you would get 2 versions of the same car, 1 with stickers and 1 with tampo.
The Porsche 959, BMW M3 and RS200 were 3 of the models shared. This all stopped abruptly with the bancruptcy of Exin in 1992 and subsequent buyout of SCX by Tyco in 1993.

I really like the SCX RS200 it has wonderful character!

Mark

[ElSecundo]

Thanks, Mark, that's some great history right there. :)

[dreinecke]

Growing up in Germany, I have to admit a love affair with this car and the Cosworth Escorts! Nice review.

[Harry Slotter]