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Up at 5.30 am on Sunday for two and a half hour drive to Warwickshire to:



We arrived to find not only the slot car festival going on, but a classic car rally as well!





Honestly! Cream tea run! You couldn't make it up , could you!

Photographing the participants in the rally took some time,before actually getting into the museum.



Three gorgeous Armstrong-Siddeleys provided guard of honour at the door!

Entry to the main hall of the museum stuns you with the spectacle of nearly 200 of the Rover Group's collection of cars; some old production models, some concept cars, many from motor sport, and all special for one reason or another.



Wherever you looked there was something fantastic to see(and photograph!)



And we hadn't even got to the slot cars yet.

However, sidling past Wolseleys, Rileys, Land Rovers, and Baby Austins, we eventually made it to the upper floor where the Slot Car Festival was.

We were issued with the souvenir guide - the highlight of which is Ember's brilliant diorama- and were immediately confronted by dozens of trade stalls



selling every kind of new,used and sometimes fit only for the scrap box slot car.

Penelope Pitlane, and George Turner Models had stalls



as did Slot Track Scenics, with a particularly nice range of barriers,netting,figures and everything required for the infrastructure of a racetrack.

This was a very dangerous place to take a credit card!

There was every kind of track on show



from beautifully prefabricated routed tracks by Slotfire (Germany), to large club tracks for serious racing



All the big manufacturers had displays of their own.





With some very high class and expensive kits and finished cars sensibly secured in glass cases!



Rallying and Race of Champions were catered for





. . . and drag racing, and ho too



Some HRW regulars were there



Cho-ice, with his amazing soft-suspension cars.

And Kustomart who, as well as his brilliant concours-winning serious models,can make a slot car out of anything



Especially note the school bus dragster!



One of the most popular tracks was the big oval from one of the Midlands Slotstox group



This sport started as something for 1:1 stock car racers to do in the closed season, but is now open to everyone.A squeeze in the track is obligatory, they run at 22volts(!),



. . . so, as you might imagine, the cars have to be built like brick s**thouses!

Alas, four o'clock came all too soon.

There was just time for a wistful look at a proper Wolseley Hornet



. . . and it was time to go.

This has just been a scratch of the surface(even though it's gone on a bit).There are lots more pics on my Flickr page.

If you are planning a trip to the UK try and make it May so you can come to this event next year.Or if you're visiting Shakespeare country, and you get castle- and cathedral-fatigue, spend a day at the Motor Heritage Centre - and blow your mind! (But don't go near the ice-cream van - £2 for a small one! and then they wonder why we're called Rip-off Britain!).

David.

Nice shots. Thanks for taking the time to post this. It's neat to see all of those 1:1 cars under the same roof, and it looks like you were able to just walk up to them- no ropes keeping you at bay. That's neat. What kind of track was at the Avant Slot table? It looks like portions of it were a single lane.

My last couple of orders from Pendles had contained fliers about this show- which made me groan. They know I live in the US yet they send ads for one of the coolest spectacles of slot? Way to rub it in, Pendles! :lol:

I'd never been before, so I was amazed that you could get so close to the cars.You weren't supposed to get into them. . . but what the heck.

I'm sorry I didn't note the track on the Avant Slot table, but it was set up as a rally-run with timing, and I think the 2-lane part is where it runs back on itself.

David.

Great pleasure.

. . . and the best thing was, although there were an awful lot of anoraks, I didn't see a single grubby raincoat(I don't know if these social stereotypes survive the Atlantic crossing),but it was a very good event for kids;with everyone being happy to let them have a go, and often without complaint watching their precious cars being gleefully fired off the tracks!

David.

wow wish I had a transporter that could have beamed me there - what a great looking event.

Who it making the Abarth's - are they 1/32 or 1/24



cheers
David

That's a sloters' dream there! Thanks for the pictures!

Wow!

Great show!

Our show in Richfield, Ohio doesn't even compare......

All it is basically is a flea market for slot cars compared to what you enjoy at your shows.....

It would be great to see some of this carry across the pond to our shows here in the US.

I don't think I ever seen one operating layout at the Richfield show?

Kind of a shame really considering the whole idea is collecting and racing slot cars......

Wayne (Bolton's Speed Shop) :D :D :D

By all reports it was another huge success with people travelling from as far afield as Canada, Argentina and Brazil to soak up the atmosphere.

Terribly jealous of all who managed to participate in person. Still hope to one day make it. Fingers crossed for next year.

David - excellent coverage! Thanks for posting all of those pictures. I can only dream of something like that here. The classic cars were fantastic as well.

I'd have left my wallet at home or faced some serious wrath when I got home!

Yes, great report and photos. Looks like a great time.

Even if you had left your wallet at home you would have found a way to beg,borrow or steal. In the end though I did spend less than I'd allowed for which caused some disbelief when I got home. They are great pictures of the event. I hope enough people went through the doors 'coz next year hasn't been booked yet. Organisers were waiting for results to come in before committing. Bargains were to had in spares and components which you don't normally see for sale. My best purchase was one of these :-

Allan

WOW!! A beautiful event, for sure - love the inclusion of the 1/1 scale cars, too! Thanks for the photos and info.

Enjoy... Ernie

now thats a darn slot show :banana-rock:
David thanks for taking us along