I'm curious about the level of interest in Cartrix Grand Prix Legends here? I love these cars - they're cute, historically interesting, not cluttered with advertising, look good on 1/32 track, and are easy to drive.
Great cars with a little tweaking, well maybe a lot of tweaking. BWA motors to replace their motors (crazy rpm fluctuations) makes them all pretty even. The period of time these cars ran is sadly overlooked and these are very welcome additions. Haven't noticed much new out of them lately but have been busy with other stuff so perhaps missed some. These are not shelf queens here, but it's not a common interest by any means so they are not run in competition.
Perhaps not strictly scale, not sophisticated or even particularly well made and they aren't cheap but they are worth every bit of the effort to get running right, no regrets buying any of them and wish I had a few more.
-Haven't noticed much new out of them lately but have been busy with other stuff so perhaps missed some.
There is a release timeline on the Cartrix-GPL forum. I saw they made a small number of the Talbot-Lago for a convention, but the forum is in Spanish so I can't read whether they'll be mass-producing any soon.
They are releasing the blue version Talbot sometime this year.
My buddy has each and every GP release x2 and some x3 including all the special editions like the yellow Talbot.
We run them on his Monza track as teams and each team drives 2 of the same make of car. Great fun. We're running them again in 2 weeks. We run them at 13V to give them a little more pep around the banked oval section of the track.
I had 5, but sold 3 in the past year for bills and such. I've kept my Lotus which is fast and smooth and the yellow D50 which is very close to the Lotus.
We get involved with them. Even made a Winner's Wreath, got jumpsuits, charcoaled faces to simulate the grim and some graphic work by myself to create a period close shot of the winning team.
The cap is actually an aviation cap with the speakers cans on the sides. I edited them out. The background is a real shot of Monza. We just need to dirty up the suits...LOL
Last edited by legionofone; 05-09-2012 at 03:21 PM.
i only have one, the gordini. it is fun to drive, way more predictable handling and smooth than my scaley cars from the same era.
i think all the cars from that era from both cartrix and scaley are too expensive so i've limited my purchases to used cars, which seem fairly hard to come by.
Have a bunch of these cars --but only converted a couple... (no mags, weight added, Poly tyres and better braids..). Want to run a Grand Prix de Novato later in the year and hopefully, equalize with the Scaley cars too!!
Will attempt to paint a couple of the Masers and Lancias into some other schemes as well --and I have a nice resin Ferrari from 1958 to cap off the era!!!
Aloha from Maui, i've got 32 still boxed, 2 extra to run, and 1 converted with digital-chip (the D50). oh, Nice photo above, very classy!! These are also good to run, besides Scalextric, with the Ostorero's..!! nice to see an interest in them again.. -Thom
. . . . . . I love these cars - they're cute, historically interesting, not cluttered with advertising, look good on 1/32 track, and are easy to drive.
we run these as a class - stock standard except for allowing the front axle to be stabilised - we just glue a small square of 1mm plastic with a 2.5mm hole in it for the axle - to the inside of the front axle mount. We do this with the front wheels touching the ground and the guide near enough to full depth.
This costs nothing, and makes the front end and thus the car a bit more stable on a variety of tracks including ones with some camber in corners.
- Oh and we run the body screws loose, and true the tyres on the hubs, but find apart from a little gear noise, they are well balanced, need little work, and we can take one from the box and have it all sorted in around 15 - 20 minutes.
Munter, nvmyre, Mac - are you there? Do we do anything else?
I imagine some guys have used grinding paste to soften the gear mesh, I haven't bothered. I think we are allowed to use hot glue to hold the motor steady in case it moves or vibrates in the clips that hold it in place - but again, it's all very quick, easy and free tuning tidbits.
We haven't found too much variation in motor speed.
They are definitely much better OOTB runners than Scalextric ones, probably because of the simple design, which allows space for the components to move, eg clamshell parts, and the drive train to run un-restricted.
These are well-built, designed for those who enjoy magnetless racing with some tail action. They come delightfully packaged with a all kinds of goodies, car placed on a acrylic stand suitable for any showcase, and if you need to wipe the track, your brow or... they include a polishing cloth.
If you are a Cartrix fan check the Spanish vendors for 4-5 limited editions that are not much more than normal releases, but only 200 produced.
My buddy has each and every GP release x2 and some x3 including all the special editions like the yellow Talbot.
That would be me and yes I have at least two of every one including all 13(?) limited editions. I think these cars are the bee's knees. Just need to work on the Talbot's gearing to obtain parity with the others. The new FF050 motor has thrown a monkey wrench in the works.
When I get home tonight, I will attach a spreadsheet that lists all the Grand Prix Legend cars to date for those who are interested.
I've got 3, a Mercedes, a Ferrari and a Maser. They're a little pricey but not off the charts and they're great looking cars. I haven't run mine yet so it's good to hear from many of you that they run well with little fiddling. My cars will see track time one day soon...
We get involved with them. Even made a Winner's Wreath, got jumpsuits, charcoaled faces to simulate the grim and some graphic work by myself to create a period close shot of the winning team.
The cap is actually an aviation cap with the speakers cans on the sides. I edited them out. The background is a real shot of Monza. We just need to dirty up the suits...LOL
Yeah, I don't know why, but all the road dirt hit me in the face, but never got on my suit!
That's me and Biedmatt after a successful day at the track with Cartrix cars. Very fun to drive, really had a blast that day.
Oddly enough, I don't own any of them because I put detail high on my list when I buy a car, but I like them a lot as a driver's car, especially when they've been smoothed out a little.
As far as the period goes, it's way under-represented. I'd love to see more cars like this from different manufacturers, but not with the stupidly-decided-upon bullet motors. Motor them properly, give them decent detail, and we'll buy a lot of them.
Still love that picture -- Great lil' cars that get little attention.
Yeah, Eric put a lot of work into it, and the whole photo-op turned out to be a super cool prize (in a dorky kind of way, with tons of laughs). It fit nicely with the Cartrix cars -- off-beat and a little quirky, but way fun.
Cartrix Grand Prix Legends Poll
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