Scalextric Williams Racing Race Set with Kiran Parmar

Back in the ‘old days’ when I was a child, there was no such thing as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or even smartphones for that matter, and if you wanted to hear something that sounded like ‘Tick Tock’ all you had to do was hold your wrist watch next to your ear or stand next to the grandfather clock, if you were lucky enough to have one in your house! Computer games were very basic, and games consoles were just coming out and very expensive. That meant we had proper toys, physical toys that we could hold in our hands, build, and learn from; things like Lego, Meccano, Brio, and Scalextric!

On Christmas of 1988, my parents bought the below Scalextric set for me and my brother, it was called ‘Pole Position.’

Can you imagine the excitement of two young children to see that box under the Christmas tree? Imagine having your own F1 circuit in your living room with real cars that moved by themselves via electricity, plus the possibility of changing the track to make different circuit configurations. The idea was absolutely genius!

Scalextric was first introduced in 1957 at the Harrogate International Toy Fair in the UK. The inventor, Fred Francis, adapted his earlier electric slot car system, called ‘Scalex,’ by adding an electric motor and a handheld controller to the cars, creating the now-famous ‘Scalextric’ racing system.

In 1956, the first Scalextric cars were made in Havant, Hampshire, although they were officially launched the following year. These Scalextric cars were the tinplate Maserati 250F and Ferrari 375 Grand Prix cars, released in 1957.

The company began as ‘Minimodels Ltd’ and later sold the brand to ‘Tri-ang’ in 1958, which was later acquired by ‘Hornby Hobbies’ who make the Scalextric products today.

Fast forward to 2025 and Hornby Hobbies have stayed faithful to the original concept, so this month we were delighted to review a modern version of the ‘Pole Position’ set and test the Scalextric Williams Racing Race Set featuring the highly detailed Williams ‘FW45’ Formula One cars driven by Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant during the 2024 season.

Just take a look at the beautiful detail on these two Scalextric models.

The Free Car Mag team were so impressed with all the real to life aerodynamics, driver canopy, spoilers, splitters, underfloor diffusers, livery and sponsorship logos on these two 1:32 scale cars finished in matte dark and light blue respectively. Even the racing wheels look just like the ones on the real cars with the correct yellow Pirelli ‘P Zero’ logo on the tyre walls.

The cars are fitted with magnets, so they really do stick to the track like glue, even in the corners — very similar to the aerodynamic downforce in real formula one cars which help them take corners with as much speed as possible.

The track is easy to assemble and has four possible configurations including one ‘fly-over’ layout with bridge supports. Another nice feature is the lap counter which automatically ‘notes’ every time you drive over it with a satisfying tick noise with an analogue ‘clockwork’ counter.

The kit comes complete with two corded gun controllers, four spare brushes, one three-pin power supply, two bridge supports, and 12 pieces of track and two cars of course, so you have everything you need to start racing.

You will need 6-foot, 3 inches x 4-foot, 3 inches of space to set up the circuit. Our top tip is to place the track marked with the ‘S8’ piece (which holds the power and gun ports) as close to your sofa as possible.

An extension lead or trailing socket is recommended in most cases to get your power supply plugged into the wall socket. The ‘gun plugs’ simply plug into the appropriate slots on the power module, very similar to how you would plug a USB lead into your computer.

The gun controllers have a slide-switch speed limiter which you can adjust for younger drivers to ensure the cars stay on track with the appropriate speed to avoid any frustration of vehicles spinning off.

This is the perfect set if you are new to Scalextric and makes the perfect foundation for you to extend your circuit if you have adequate space in your living room. We will be bringing you some ‘Track Extension Pack’ reviews in the near future so stay tuned to Free Car Mag.

Scalextric offer a wide range of cars that will work on the same track so you can go from Formula One, to Rally, to Super Cars, to GT Prototype, to Classic GT, to Touring Cars, and even vehicles from the silver screen such as Doc Brown’s DeLorean from ‘Back to the Future.’

So, this Christmas, forget all the screens, smartphones, tablets and games consoles and go back to basics to see and touch something that is real in your living room and get yourself a Scalextric set!