50th Anniversary
Scalextric is 50 years old. Time to celebrate!
Scalextric Celebrates 50 Years Of Slot Car Racing Action.
Scalextric, the world famous slot car racing game, set a momentous landmark in its history by celebrating its 50th birthday in 2007.
Since its emergence at the annual Harrogate Toy Fair in 1957, Scalextric has become synonymous with slot car racing the world over and is well established as a famous British institution amongst children and adults alike. Throughout its 50 year history, Scalextric models have evolved to become ever more technical and life-like, a trend set to continue into the future.
Scalextric will celebrate this famous milestone by introducing more great new sets and cars to their range throughout 2007, as well as unveiling a fresh new corporate identity.
Scalextric’s roots actually date back to 1952 when a small company called ‘Minimodels Ltd’ introduced a range of metal bodied model racing cars which contained a unique type of clockwork motor under the trademark ‘SCALEX’. By the mid-1950s, the models were modified to take small electric motors and the ‘Scalextric’ brand (‘SCALEX’-Electric) was born.
Production of Scalextric products began in 1957 out of Hampshire, England, and 1960 saw the introduction of the plastic range of cars as the tinplate cars ceased. Through the years Scalextric been owned by companies such as Tri-ang and Rovex Ltd, and in 1971 production of Scalextric and Hornby trains began from Westwood, Margate. |
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In 1982, an independent company was formed – Hornby Hobbies Ltd (later Hornby Plc) – and during the mid-1990s production of Scalextric was transferred to China. The accuracy and detailing of today’s Scalextric models remain second to none.
| As the world turned evermore to digital technology, Scalextric was not to be left behind and in 2004 introduced its first fully digital racing set (multi-car racing with lane changing functionality). Scalextric SportWorld was also introduced to allow racers the ability to hook their Scalextric sets up to the internet to create a global community through on-line racing. |
A 50th Anniversary commemorative box set was launched mid 2007 and featured a Ferrari 375 with a tinplate body (representing the first ever Scalextric car ever produced!), alongside the modern Ferrari F1 race car from 2006. This unique box set also featured a 50th Anniversary book which charts the history and milestones of the famous Scalextric brand. |
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| 2007 also saw the launch of a great new police chase set in May; Street Pursuit has been inspired by the phenomenal success of the Scalextric Drift set, ‘Powerslide’, which was launched in 2005, and contains a sturdy-looking Range Rover police car and a stunning Lamborghini Gallardo; both fitted with unique 360˚ guide blades, enabling fans to undertake incredible sliding manoeuvres and spins around an extended figure-of-eight track. |
Scalextric’s new Easyfit Digital Plug, a revolutionary device enabling simple, plug and play digitalisation for all Digital Plug Ready (DPR) cars. The Scalextric Digital Plug is installed by simply unscrewing and removing the back panel of the DPR car and push fitting the Digital Plug into place. Screw the new panel back into place and your DPR car is converted to Digital in less than 60 seconds! |
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| Scalextric’s 50th Anniversary was marked visually by a new, updated corporate identity which was unveiled at the London Toy Fair in January 2007. Still retaining the famous blue and yellow colours, the new logo will take the Scalextric brand into its next 50 years as it is introduced on new-look product packaging throughout the year. |
