#257 SCALEXTRIC – MERCEDES 250 SL SPORT (Ref. C-33 or 4033) (1968)

HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR SPANISH SCALEXTRIC CARS:

This car has already appeared in this blog, but not exactly in this reference. The car, released in 1968, is based on the Mercedes 250 SL released one year earlier.

The 1967 version was a “hardtop”, and this version is a “cabrio”. The reference numbers are different (4032 and 4033 or C-32 and C-33), and the “sport” was added to the name. If you want to read more about the hardtop version, please click here. 

This same model was chosen in the year 1992 to be re-released as the second vintage model. You can check that new version here.

Since there are already two entries dealing with this car, and this car is especially fragile. I will talk in this entry about how and where to obtain repro parts for your Scalextric cars. The cars you see on the picture were found many years ago. The brown one was missing its windshield, while the green one had its windshield but the chromed frame was broken and the upper half missing. In the green model, the extreme of the front bumper is still broken.

Since I like having my toys complete and in good shape, I decided to repair them (and many other scx cars) using the most suitable pieces I could find. Finding original parts is an impossible mission most of the times, so I had to look for repro parts. I am obviously talking about fragile parts, other parts like rims or axles can be found original at good prices anytime.

Well, these are the possibilities you have to complete your Spanish Scalextric cars:

1.- Use “modern” Altaya models for pieces:

Altaya is a Spanish publishing house. Since 1999, it has sold many publications by instalments (or fascicles) dealing with the world of Scalextric. In every of these collections, each instalment came with ¼ of a car, so at the end of the collection you have a few new cars, and some of those collections dealt specifically with vintage scalextric models. The retail price of these fascicles was of around 10 Euros (depending on the year of issue).

The usual sequence was:

-         fascicle X with body of the car

-         fascicle X+1 with chassis

-         fascicle X+2 with complete axles, magnet, screws

-         fascicle X+3 with motor

If you’re lucky to get one of those fascicles including the body of a certain car, then you can simple remove the small pieces from the body and use them in the old model you’re trying to repair. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find these “bodies”, since they’re in hands of collectors that keep them for pieces.

You can also buy the whole car, which can be seen very often on eBay and similar auction sites, although the prices of these cars are going up and it might be too expensive if you only need one or two small pieces.

It is important to mention that there are differences in the casts of this new versions and the old vintage models. Although Altaya promoted its collections saying that the cars were made with the “original Exin casts”, this was not correct, and many collectors have found (minimal) differences between them.

2.- Shop 1: Mark Scale Models

A Ebay shop offering a big variety of mirrors and windshields, has very good prices, better that the next two shops.

3.- Shop 2: Slotmania

Slotmania is a slot shop settled in Barcelona. They were the pioneers in cloning scx pieces, and after many years, they can offer almost any piece you might need to repair almost any car made during the Exin-Era. The prices of these parts are relatively expensive, but the reproductions are great and are available in different colours. They also offer some parts for Mexican and also for English Scalextric models.

I once ordered parts from them and I was very happy with them. As said before, This might be the only possibility to repair that car missing a very fragile part, especially if the colour of that part is different from the colour of the Altaya version.

4.- Shop 3: scalextric.car.co.uk

In this English shop there are a few repro parts similar to those in Slotmania. In this case we will only find some parts for Spanish cars, but much more parts for English Scalextric models.

And that’s all, I hope this article helped you find the parts you were looking for. Please note that I do not have any relation to the shops above, and I do not receive any commissions on the sales they make.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: MERCEDES 250 SL SPORT (Ref. 4033)
• Scale: 1:32
• Year: 1968
• Company: Scalextric Exin (Spain)
• Size: approx. 14 cm