Introduction
This article explains the
derivation of the word "Scalextric" and how this world wide
famous British brand came into being. The journey is followed from
the beginning to where we are now at the end of 2018. We'll look at
the companies involved and the key milestones that have shaped Scalextric
and other related brands.
The companies involved
The Scalextric brand has
had a troubled history being owned / involved with several other companies
and famous brands. To set the scene we need to briefly introduce the
companies involved. We'll start in the late 1940's in a post 2nd World
War Britain.
Minimodels
Minimodels was a tinplate
toy manufacturer aiming at the boy market specialising in clever clockwork
mechanisms. Minimodels was set up by and owned by Fred Francis.
Tri-ang
Tri-ang was a tinplate
toy manufacturer aiming at the boy market producing the typical cars,
planes, boats and trains. Tri-ang was owned and operated by three
members of the Lines family and as three Lines make a triangle, hence
the name Tri-ang.
Meccano
Meccano produced the famous
and on-going Meccano brand as well as the Hornby Dublo model trains.
Rovex
Rovex was a general purpose
plastic moulding company.
Scalex - Minimodels
In 1952 Fred Francis of
Minimodels introduced two tinplate clockwork model toy ranges, one
called Startex and one called Scalex. The Scalex range consisted of
7 different "accurate" models all based on a clever clockwork
motor. This clockwork motor did not use the conventional key to wind
the mechanism,instead a 5th wheel under the car was operated by pushing
the car down and pulling it backwards. This would wind the clockwork
motor which would then power the car.
The first Scalex model
was the Jaguar XK120 with additional models following soon after.
The Scalex and Startex cars were very popular toys of the period.
The Scalex range of cars
were designed in a consistent scale of 1 to 32 for the saloon cars
whereas the Grand Prix cars were nearer to 1 to 28 scale. The accuracy
of the models and the consistency to scale gives the "Scale"
part of the Scalex brand. The addition of the "x" on the
end is less well understood but possibly relates to the method of
winding the clockwork motor. "x" is the unknown or keyless
nature of the motor. If you know the true reason for the addition
of the "x" then please let us know so we can complete this
history.
Scalextric - Minimodels
During the 1950's hobbyists
were fitting small electric motors to their tinplate models and racing
them on railed electric tracks not too dissimilar to those used by
model railways of the period. This was not missed by Fred Francis
at Minimodels. Minimodels replace the clockwork motor in the scalex
range of cars with a small electric motor and added a guide wheel
under the car. A slot based track system was developed to guide the
cars around the race track.
The new brand was named
"Scalextric" with the additional "tric" coming
from "electric". So, the brand name Scalextric is defined
as the Scalex range of cars fitted with an electric motor. The Scalextric
range was introduced in 1957 and was an immediate success.
The tinplate scalextric
cars produced are:
Step forward Tri-ang
Tri-ang purchased Rovex
in 1951 which enabled the development of a low cost model railway
system in direct competition to the Hornby Dublo range. The success
of the Scalextric brand caused significant manufacturing and financial
problems for Minimodels and in 1958 Fred Francis sold Minimodels including
Scalextric to the Lines brothers of Tri-ang. Tri-ang continued to
produce the tinplate Scalextric range in 1958 and 1959 but used Rovex
to develop a new
range of cost effective Scalextric models.
In 1960 the new range of
models was introduced, this new range used plastic bodies and a derivative
of the popular Tri-ang X.03 motor used in the model trains. The first
plastic bodied cars were:
In 1964 Meccano were in
financial difficulties partly due to the intense competition from
Tri-ang over the model railway systems. Simply put Tri-ang railways
was cheaper and better modeled than the Hornby Dublo range. Tri-ang
purchases Meccano including the Hornby brand.
The costly diecast Hornby
models are dropped and Tri-ang adopts the Hornby brand name. At this
time Rovex are producing the Tri-ang Hornby railway model range as
well as the Scalextric model range. Over the 1960's Rovex expand and
modernise the Scalextric range of cars and accessories.
In 1971 Tri-ang becomes
bankrupt and is broken up and sold off. Scalextric is hived off with
Hornby under Rovex and Meccano was sold to Airfix.
Go Rovex
As Tri-ang was broken up
and sold off Rovex remained the manufacture of the Hornby and the
Scalextric model systems. Rovex moved forward with the Hornby and
Scalextric models introducing new models and updates. However Rovex
runs into financial difficulties in 1980.
Hornby Hobbies
From the ashes of Rovex
a new company was formed, Hornby Hobbies took over the old Rovex
operations and started to rebuild the Hornby and Scalextric brands.
This along with a change of location, a move of production to China
and many, many product updates brings us to the here and now.
The Scalextric brand
is owned by Hornby Hobbies, produced in China and sold Worldwide.
All from accurate tinplate clockwork toy cars fitted with a clever
keyless clockwork motor.
Summary and conclusion
Brand names are used
by companies to differentiate one product range from another and
can have various origins. The Scalextric brand probably has one
of the more interesting histories having 3 distinct elements and
built over 2 different product generations.