Scalextric Ferrari 156 - 1961 Formula One World Champion

Scalextric has continued with their “Goodwood Revival Classic” range of vintage models. Recently released is the 1961 Grand Prix World Championship winning Ferrari 156. This car dominated the F-1 races of 1961. Phil Hill became the first American world champion that year at the wheel of the 156. This car is known as the Shark-nose for its distinctive twin intake front end.

This car looks fantastic! This is a good representation Phil Hill’s car as raced at the German Grand Prix which ironically he was not victorious. I would have rather seen it modeled as his race winning car from Spa (still a #4 but with the front number on the opposite side of the nose) or Monza. 

The red finish is super smooth with perfect clear coat. The finish is impressive and some might say the real racecars were never this shiny but it does make for a great looking slot car. The clean appearance of these old race cars is much more appealing than the busy look of any of the today’s racecars. The few marking on this car are very sharp, the white numbers and the prancing house logos are opaque with no bleed through of the red underneath.

The body shape captures the look of the real car from the twin inlet nose to the tail. This car is small and very narrow. The slender body encases a slim-line motor from the current Scalextric Formula 1 cars. This narrow motor allows for the body to be very thin. There is not a lot of detail on the body compared to a current racecar, but what’s there is very well done. There’s rivet detail and panel fasteners highlighted with some argent paint.   The tight fit of all of the body parts gives a feel of great craftsmanship and quality.  Another nice feature is the guide is well hidden underneath, a visible guide can ruin the appearance of open wheel slot cars.

The driver figure adds a lot to the look of this car. He even looks like Mr. Hill and he’s wearing the proper light blue Dunlop drivers suit with the period correct helmet. The rest of the cockpit is finished with nice details such as an instrument panel, roll bar and wood steering wheel.   Some of the interior detail can not even be seen until the car is dissembled such as frame tubes and gear shift. Also hidden inside is a strong traction magnet.

The car rides on plastic spoke wheels with molded in three pronged knock-off spinners that are the correct grey color, this shows Scalextric is listening to the enthusiasts whom pointed out that chrome wheels are not appropriate on cars of this vintage. The wheels appear to be the same front and rear, with larger tires mounted at the rear. The tires are soft and narrow with shallow tread. What impressed me most is that the wheels and tires are very round and true, it wasn’t long ago that this was rare for a ready to run slot car.

This car is loaded with other numerous modeling details. The mirrors are painted red with the face silver giving a good mirror simulation, a photo-etched grill resides in the nose and transmission detail is visible through the rear grill. There are long megaphone exhaust pipes on each side extend beyond the rear of the body. 

The wishbone suspension is represented accurately with spring/shock units at the rear and there are even photo-etched brake discs on the front. The front shocks have been left out to make room for the straight steel axle. One feature missing from this slot car is a steering front end. I think this adds a lot to the look of open wheel slot cars and should be included on a car in this price range. This feature has been executed exceptionally well on other slot cars in this price range.   

Track time

The initial impression is that this car is very fast… almost too fast! The first time I touched the trigger the car shot off like a rocket and flew off at the first corner. That was also the same first experience everyone else had that has tried it.  It obviously has strong acceleration!   One needs to pay close attention to what you are doing with this car even though it has a very strong traction magnet. Like a real Formula One car it is incredibly quick and responsive. The powerful motor, short wheelbase, narrow track means that even with the traction magnet it is not easy to drive.  You can get used to it if you take some time and try slowing down a lot more than you’d expect to BEFORE a curve. Even though it is tricky it can be drifted a bit through the turns but there is no warning when you have pushed to far- the car instantly rolls over.    Right out of the box this car ran very smoothly and is very quiet much like Monogram’s slot cars.

The motor just seems to be too much for this tiny car, luckily I have a power supply with adjustable voltage and was able to turn the voltage down.  The car was very manageable at ten volts with a Parma Economy 35 Ohm controller. I also tried a Professor Motor controller with adjustable sensitivity at twelve volts and it also provided much better control of the car speed.

Conclusion

Scalextric has released another great vintage car that looks fantastic. These cars can be rewarding to race but I think that many enthusiasts will have trouble coping with the handling of these cars unless they have high quality power supplies and controllers.

The Ferrari is available in both regular and “Sport” versions for the collectors. There is no difference in the on track performance between the two versions. The “Sport” versions sold out quickly so if you see one somewhere I suggest that you purchase it because you probably won’t get another chance. The Sport version comes in the usual box with a short history. The regular version is in the clear plastic display.

- Rich

Thanks go to SlotCarWorld for providing me with this excellent model.