Toys from the Past: #403 SCALEXTRIC UK/ SCALEXTRIC SPAIN

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

#403 SCALEXTRIC UK/ SCALEXTRIC SPAIN – BMW M1 (1982, 1985 and 1991)

SCALEXTRIC SPAIN vs. SCALEXTRIC UK

Scalextric was being manufactured in Spain since 1962. Lines Bros signed a contract with Exin to distribute Scalextric in Spain and Portugal. In this first contract it was specified, that the tracks and the transformers would be manufactured in Spain, while the cars would be imported from England.

After only a few years, Scalextric Spain started manufacturing cars in Spain. The first model that was manufactured there was the Cooper Climax in 1965 (using the casts from Triang). One year later, in 1966, Exin manufactured the first car created and designed by them, the Seat 600. From that year on, the history of Scalextric is a successful one until the early 90s, when Exin went bankruptcy, and had to sell the Scalextric brand to Tyco (read more here). Even at those hard times, the Scalextric line was profitable.

But back to Lines Bros., the British company would collapse in 1972 and many successful toylines were sold to rivals. At this point, Exin bought for itself the Scalextric brand for the Spanish, Mexican and South-American markets, while Triang kept the brand for the rest of the world (until 1980, when it was sold to Hornby).

Around 1985, Exin and Hornby sign a new contract in which they “open” their markets to each other. Exin would be able to sell it cars in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world, and Hornby would be abel to do the same in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and South America. Since both companies had the same name, they agreed to change names on rival markets.

The Spanish Scalextric, made by Exin, would be renamed SCX in England, United States and so on, while the British Scalextric would be sold under the Superslot brand in Spain, Portugal, South America and Mexico. Both Exin and Hornby kept Scalextric in their native markets.

Many collectors are confused when they see Scalextric models, since now, with the internet, eBay and international purchases, you can find the same car model in two different packages with two different brands.

Despite setting these rules to share markets, Exin manufactured some models for Scalextric UK and also the other way round. As seen in the previous entry, the Rover 3500 “Police” was sold in Spain in 1985 and 1986 with the reference 4020.

There are also some “Made in Spain” models which were sold in England under Hornby’s Scalextric brand, for example:
- Lancia 037 (various decorations)
- BMW M1 (various decorations)
- Audi Quattro (various decorations)
- Ferrari GTO “Cimarron”
- BMW M3 (various decorations)
- Ford RS 200 (various decorations)
- Porsche 959
- Ferrari F1
- McLaren Honda MP4-4 (not in the UK)

Plus several SRS references:
- C016SRS Lancia LC2 SRS
- C017SRS Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 SRS
- C018SRS Porsche 956 SRS
- C019SRS Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 SRS
- C020SRS McLaren F1 MP4/2B SRS
- C021SRS Ferrari F1 156-05 SRS
- C022SRS Porsche 956 „Mobil“ SRS

The first BMW M1 were produced in Spain in 1982. The car was available in 4 different colours (yellow, white, red and dark green) and with two different sticker sets each. The car presented here is one of these.

Other BMW M1 include
- BMW M1 “20th Anniversary” from 1982 in black (limited edition) - very rare!
- BMW M1 “20th Anniversary” from 1982 in silver (for customers only) - ultra rare!
- BMW M1 “Motul” (ref 4072) from 1985 in white.

The last version made of this beautiful car was the BMW M1 „Jägermeißter“ from 1991 (Ref. 8337). Since the letter “ß” is not available in the Spanish alphabeth, this model is often listed as “Jagermeifter”. This version is considered to be rare.

In England, this car was available in black with the reference C347 from 1984 to 1992. (this version is very similar to the Spanish “20th Anniversary” edition) and also in silver with Reference C405 from 1991 to 1992.