Herpa Kits

In the same way Scalextric dominated the slot car market in the UK back in the sixties, Carrera did it in Germany. But Carrera was not alone on the market. The established and world famous railway manufactors, Märklin and Fleischmann wanted a bit of the cake as well, so their new brands Märklin Sprint and Fleischmann Auto-Rallye (often referred to as FAR) presented their slot car program as well. Funny enough both manufactures chose the two pole system known from Scalextric, and not the 3 pole system from Carrera. None of the two manufactures did offer any buildings or accessories within their program, but FAR made a contract with the German company Herpa, to produce a range of kit sets in 1/32 scale. Both FAR and Herpa had their new products ready for release in 1967. - 900 Tribune Überdacht (?) - 901 Tribune - 902 Turm - 903 Garage (?) - 904 Ersatzteil-Lager - 905 Reporter-Turm - 906 Start und Zielanlage - 907 Erweiterungsteil zur Start und Zielanlage - 908 Werbetafeln By Holger "Slaasshh" Thor Herpa is a world known brand concerning buildings, accessories and static cars in H0/00 scale. They used their knowledge and technique to manufacture the above kits, and the result was some very fine buildings, made out of multi coloured plastic parts. No painting was required. Concerning details and realistic features they are way ahead of the known counterparts from Scalextric, Airfix, Carrera etc. All were presented in characteristic blue card boxes sporting motives of the set itself and some scenic layouts with FAR products. Production ran for about 8 years, and sadly it stopped when the slot car boom was all over at the beginning of the seventies. With a little luck it is still possible to find them in mint boxed conditions on www.ebay.de. But their value is very high among collectors, so they often fetch a very high price. Except for article no. 900 and 903 I have over the years managed to lay hand on them all. On all marketing and promotion leaflets I have come across, Herpa just show the article number and a small picture of the assembled kit, but no name. So the above names for article no. 900 and 903 are only my best guesses as I have never seen their boxes. Therefore the (?)

Small promotion leaflet from Herpa showing the article numbers and the sets, but unfortunately no names.

A collection of Herpa boxes. Note the FAR details on each card box. The details in these sets are as high and realistic as on buildings on railway layouts. All boxes were marked with the name of the set and "Für Autorennbahnen" (for slot car layouts).

Scene from Le Mans 1972 and Herpa 901 Tribune (grand stand). A very fine grandstand with space for a lot of seated figures. Herpa 900 Tribune Überdacht (?) was basically the same kit with just a curved roof added.

Scene from Le Mans 1973 and Herpa 902 Turm (tower). A very fine glass tower, and it was possible to combine 2 x 902 into a huge tower. This tower is often referred to as "Mercedes- Benz Tower" for obviously reasons, and it is today very popular among collectors.

Scene from the Formula One season 2002 and Herpa 904 Ersatzteil-Lager (pit stop). Again very fine details and accessories. The podium on the roof where DC is celebrating one of his fine and well deserved victories is home made and not a part of the original Herpa set.

Scene from Le Mans 1968 and Herpa 905 Reporter-Turm (camera tower). A camera kit and a figure to operate the camera were included in this set.

Scene from Le Mans 1967 and Herpa 906 Start und Zielanlage (start and finish line set) plus 907 Erweiterungsteil (extension set). This is by far the most famous and collectable set of the Herpa range. The original 906 set could span only two lanes, but combined with 907 it would span further two lanes, so in theory you could extend it to any length you might wish. A very smart idea in my humble opinion. Look at the interior and details of this kit. Stunning!

Scene from Le Mans 1962 and Herpa 908 Werbetafeln (advertising walls). This set contained three of these wall sections, but enough side poles to place them as three individual items. Here I have combined two of them.

Scene from Le Mans 1964 and a single version of the advertising wall from Herpa 908 Werbetafeln.