A company that I’ve just become aware, initially via a friend of mine, is Racing Replicas, run by Pete Shepherd from his family farm in rural north Essex.
Said mate has a huge collection of slot cars – not just Scalextric stuff, either – and is very keen on scratch built slot cars and drew my attention to the Race Replicas website.
Pete Shepherd has had a lifelong interest in slot cars, collectiing, buying, selling and restoring them for well over 30-years and turned his hobby into a full-time occupation in 2020.
He can offer support and advice to fellow enthusiasts and supplies a few accessories like mirrors and filler caps, the sort of stuff that it’s hard to find and that make a real difference to a period correct-looking slot car.
No disrespect to the products of Scalextric or others brands but if you’ve tried out a purpose built slot car on your layout, it is massively different. Night and day, in fact.
If you have a desire for a particular car, Pete accepts special commissions and can almost definitely produce a slot car from scratch for you to your exact specification.
I guess it’s Pete’s range of painstakingly created slot car kits that he’s best-known for and the current range have a real specialist and kitcar slant and features Elva Courier, Sebring Sprite, Shelby Cobra, TVR Grantura Mk3, Frogeye Sprite and Triumph Spitifre Le Mans. Prices start at around £40, which is a small price to pay considering the level of detail, accuracy and general quality.
As an enthusiast just like me dear reader, I am sure you’ll appreciate Pete’s work.
Find out more at www.racingreplicas.co.uk ENDS.