Perhaps the most talked about release of the year from Scalextric has finally arrived: The legendary Ford MKIV.  Seeing another classic icon in our scale is usually a good thing, but that opinion will rest entirely with YOU.

If you are the casual home racer that just enjoys running a few cars now and then, this model will probably be welcomed. Not everyone in our hobby are passionate about scale accuracy/appearance. If the model comes close to the 1:1 prototype and it runs good? Well, that is normally more than enough.

For those scale enthusiasts, it is more disappointing.

Length	Width	Height	Weight	Gearing	Motor	Wheelbase	Rear Track	Front Track
137.50 MM	54MM	30 MM (Roof)	71g	9/27	Slimline 28,000K	75 MM	53.30 MM	51.15 MM

Anyone researching this car will spot the first issue VERY easily. The rear wheels are too small and the massive balloon-like tires simply take away a great deal from the scale appeal. The rear spoiler is also incorrect for the car as there was no raised center section. And of course the driver. The size of this driver bust is something you cannot miss.

But as I stated before, does all of this matter? Only YOU can decide. On the track at speed it won’t have much impact. If that is what is important to you, then you should like this slot car.

Paint and markings are fine and some visible detail should please some of you. The car is lighted front and rear as well. That is one thing I liked.

Inside we see the now standard inline configuration with a new slimline motor. It is geared 9/27 and the gear mesh is fairly smooth. You will notice the motor is slightly at an angle. This is to make sure the motor is aligned evenly (no offset) to the rear gears.

It’s the motor that was the surprise. Not that is was slimline, but the RPM. I bench tested the motor and it screams at 27, 800 average in our tests. This is too much for a simple model like this in my opinion, but some must feel it is now needed to have such high RPMs. I know that in standard sized home sets/tracks this is simply not ideal.

Aside from the cosmetic appearance of the rear tires, I discovered they are this large in diameter for a reason.

They must be this large in order for the bottom of the chassis to clear the track surface.

There is slightly less than 1 MM between the bottom of the chassis and the track surface. For those racing on flat tracks and very mild overpasses, the car will work fine. For those that have high arch overpasses or using specialty track sections (like Carrera Bridge) you might drag the bottom.

The big deal? This means very few, if any after-market tires will work.

They are simply not tall (outside diameter) enough.

None of the Quick Slicks or other brand silicones I had on hand will work. I do not have all sizes of other brands, so there might be one that fits.

Only a Paul Gage 22125 (22 is outside diameter) worked, but that left only .5 MM clearance. Essentially meaning you CANNOT sand these tires very much to true them. If you do, you reduce the diameter and risk dragging the track.

Performance was mixed for me. The car functioned out of the box with a smooth gear mesh. The stock tires do not hook up that well on our track, but that is no fault to Scalextric.

The motor just doesn’t suit my taste.  More RPM than many average sized home tracks need. But to each their own.

Final Thoughts

The scale appearance issues aside, the low clearance of the chassis design prevents installing smaller diameter tires for performance or improved scale appeal.  The extreme RPM motor is also not appealing.

At the end of the day it always about YOU and your own perspective. If you like the model then Scalextric has succeeded. For me it is simply is a few steps back in slot car design time. It is the same amount of work to design a model from the ground up correctly as it is incorrectly. I know Scalextric is capable of creating very well detailed and performing slot cars. My perspective is this release isn’t one of them.

-Harry