Oh James!
"Try and bring it back in one piece this time ok 007?"

1/43rd scale racing has seen some activity the last few months with several new releases. These latest James Bond Casino Royale editions from Carrera sparked my interest as soon as I heard they would be released due simply to the nature of the models. Although I will race my cars, many people do collect models like this purely for the subject matter and never plan to open them.

And if you are just starting this hobby, you will soon discover that there are quite a few people out there who do just that: collect. I am guilty of this passion myself as I have collected countless original T-Jet HO Scale models over the years without ever opening them to race.

There are a great many models based on movies in our hobby, especially the last few years. The James Bond 007 series is right at the top of the list too. And why not? It would take me days to watch each and every one ever released. 21 of them over a 44 year period. That covers a wide time span that means a good many of us grew up knowing who James Bond was.

And the 007 James Bond series of models will certainly fall into the collector category for many. Based on the upcoming new release of Casino Royale, these cars should appeal not only to 007 fans but also to the advanced enthusiast who enjoys scratch-building. Both versions will be in the new movie. You'll see Bond acquire the DB5 in classic 007 style and of course...a girl, Caterina Murino, to go with it. Plus later in the film, he also gets his own government issue, brand new DBS. This is from the official Casino Royale site: "This is very special because it's the new DBS which is somewhere between a DB9 and their new racing car which they're going to race hopefully at Le Mans. So, technically, that means that it just goes very fast and it's a beautiful car and it suits Bond perfectly."

When these 2 cars arrived from Slot Car World I was impressed by the overall look to them. The general shape and fit and finish of both cars are nicely done. The classic silver is especially eye appealing and really gives the car a more scale appearance.

The wheels looked well enough although nothing is perfect. I did find that the tires will need some work on them to get the cars to run smoothly. I noticed that all of them needed to be fully seated on the wheel, which is no big issue but needs to be addressed for those that intend to run them.

The rest of the chassis is standard Carrera GO!!!. A small, but powerful magnet helps keep the cars seated firmly on the track along with the smaller motor that provides power. My track tests revealed a smooth running set of cars after I worked on the tires. Lap times are more impressive than you might think as I easily clocked 4.0 averages with both cars with my power supply set at 12 volts.

What really impresses me is the level that Carrera is bringing to this scale. For too long 1/43rd scale was all but ignored but in the last few years Carrera has really added a great deal more for enthusiasts of this scale. Of course they do not hide the fact that they design these models and track sets for the younger racer, but as I mentioned before, advanced enthusiasts can transform just about any model to suit their tastes.

If you are a 1/43rd scale fan, I have to say these cars should find their way into your current stable. They will deliver the performance that matches prior models out of the box, plus can be easily tuned as well to fit right in your driving style. Even if you do not race this scale, these models would certainly look nice in your 007 collection.

- Harry

As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!

Thanks Go To SlotCarWorld For Providing Us With These Models!

Check Out The Casino Royale Website!