Scalextric Kits

I was a bit too fast in my first article concerning Scalextric kits and the conclusion, that
there were only five kits ever released. Of course it is correct concerning the "K" series,
but in 1989, 19 years after they were taken out of the program, three new kits were
released in the 31th edition of the catalogue.
Being

- C.234 Control Tower and Crosswalk Kit
- C.235 Pit Stop Kit
- C.236 Spectator Stand Kit

by Holger "Slaasshh" Thor

Although being very fine kits they were very untypical Scalextric items. First of all they had
nothing in common with the usual "Goodwood race circuit looks", which to this date had been
very characteristic for both static and kit buildings in the Scalextric range. Then they were
made out of coloured plastic parts, a new yellow colour being dominant not known to any other
Scalextric item, the colour of the traditional Scalextric buildings being slightly more orange at
that time. And last but not least they somehow did not fit into all the other buildings and
accessories concerning scale and size. Must surprisingly being the fact, that the more or less
immortal seated spectators, being in the program from the very start, did not fit into the
spectator stand!

It soon turned out, that there was a very simple explanation to this. These three kits were not
original Scalextric products. They were in fact manufactured by the small Danish company
Heljan. Heljan was (and is) a company, founded by Helle and Jan (= "HelJan"), well known for
their buildings and accessories in H0/00 gauge to railway enthusiast all over the world. How the
connection and the deal was made with Scalextric, I have no idea, but at the same time Heljan
made a contract with the German brand Märklin, to manufacture the same three kits for their
slot car program called Märklin Sprint. The Märklin Sprint kits were made in other shade of
colours, especially the dominant yellow colour being not so bright as with Scalextric. And the
decal sheets were different, sporting adverts from either the German market or the UK
respectively.

C.234 Control Tower and Crosswalk Kit was a huge construction, partly modelled after a real
building on the Hockenheimring in Germany. This could indicate, that the first contract was
made with Märklin Sprint and afterwards the products were offered to Scalextric as well. But
this is only my best guess. The crosswalk could span two or four lanes, but if used on a two
lane track it was a bit out of propositions, being taller than wider. Otherwise a very fine kit,
but without any interior. Märklin Sprint offered it as 1550 Rennleitungsturm mit Übergang.

Scene from Le Mans 1976 and Märklin Sprint 1550 Control Tower and Crosswalk. So far I have not managed to
lay hand on an original Scalextric C.234, so only the Märklin Sprint version is present on my home layout. I
have not put the biggest effort into my search, since I have no space left for a second version. But should I
one day come across a set at the right price, I will surely pick it up.

C.235 Pit Stop Kit had very fine details regarding tools and accessories, but it had absolutely
nothing in common with the traditional British pit stop buildings offered so far from Scalextric.
Again more German in design, and very similar to the Herpa products, which at the same time
were sold together with the Fleischmann Auto Rallye (FAR) range.

Pit stop during the Formula One season 2002 and C.235 + C.236. In 2001 I bought 3 x C.236 in mint boxed
conditions from a private seller advertising in the NSCC magazine. Selling two of them here in Denmark could
easily finance the one I kept. C.235 was found on eBay two years ago.

C.236 Spectator Stand Kit was a fine little grandstand, and it did fit on top of the C.235 Pit
Stop roof to make a taller building. In the Märklin Sprint range C.235 and C.236 were combined
in one box and only sold as one kit. Namely Märklin Sprint 1551 Wartungsbox mit Tribune.
Sadly these fine kits did not last long in the Scalextric range. Already in the 35th edition of the
catalogue in 1993 only C.234 Control Tower and Crosswalk Kit was available, and next year it
was gone too.

That means that these three kits are almost as rare in "mint boxed" conditions as the original
"do it yourself" kits. But they surely do not share the same value in a collectors point of view.
And especially the boxes can bare no comparison with the fine artwork on the old boxes.
Finally I simply have to ad, that 90%+ of the limited and special edition cars on all my photos
were delivered by the splendid service from Sean at Pendle Slot Racing

The box for Märklin Sprint 1550. Some seven years ago I found five (5!) of these set in mint boxed conditions
at a small hobby dealer in Copenhagen, Österbro Hobby. In a split second I had bought them all, and selling
four of them to fellow collectors did make me a bit of money. The hobby dealer told me, he had just recently
found them in the back of an old store room, visiting Helle and Jan at the Heljan company a few days earlier.
Talking of timing a visit to a hobby dealer…..