Celebrating 50 Years of Scalextric

The Scalextric brand was officially announced, to much acclaim, at the 1957 Harrogate International Toyfair and has since become a household name throughout the world. The inventor of Scalextric, Bertram 'Fred' Francis, had the foresight and engineering excellence to create a model car racing system that has endured over many generations and brought the unique Scalextric racing experience to millions of homes.

The Maserati 250F, along with the Ferrari 375, were the first Scalextric cars to be released in 1957. In celebration of the remarkable Scalextric heritage, both special cars have been faithfully reproduced; each features a unique tinplate body to represent the original production methods of the 1950s.

Juan Manuel Fangio, born in Argentina in 1911, is regarded as the greatest Grand Prix driver of his era. He won five World Championship wins, a record that lasted for forty-six years. Known simply as 'El Maestro', he set a standard for excellence and dominance that would prove hard to match. The 1957 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring on 4th August was Fangio's greatest race of all - having lost 56 seconds, and the lead, in a pit stop - he let loose the most spectacular pursuit of his life to beat the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins and bettered the track record by an amazing 12 seconds on three consecutive laps. This was Fangio's last World Championship race win.