Category:Magicar Motoring

The Magicar Motoring system is something of an oddity, and seems to have been a "junior" slotcar system, perhaps meant to introduce small children (suggested ages four to eight) to the joys of slotcars while they were too young to appreciate a "proper" system.

Apparently contemporary with the Wrenn Formula 152 slotcar system (the two appear together on the back of a Wrenn catalogue), at least some Magicar Motoring sets have "A Tri-ang Product" and "Made by Spot-On Models Ltd., Castlereagh Road, Belfast" inside the lid, suggesting that Triang may have taken over the product when they partnered with Wrenn over the Hornby Dublo range in the mid-1960s.

Promotional Text:

Powered by WRENN's new MAXIMISER electric motor with exclusive MAGIC-TOUCH stop & go! Extra-long battery life!

This set gives you all the fun of running FAST CARS on SLOTTED ROADWAY Track PLUS the excitement of operating realistic TRAFFIC HAZARDS.

CONTENTS OF THE SET

• 1 Motorised power chassis
• 1 Ferrari Superfast car body
• 1 Bentley car body
• 8 Roadway curves
• 4 Roadway straights
• 1 'Horse' traffic hazard
• 1 'Road-up' barrier

— , Tri-ang, , Set MG1 box lid,

The Magicar

The Magicar consisted of a motorised chassis with space for a pair of batteries, and came with a choice of two plastic clip-on shells, Ferrari or Bentley. Once the batteries were fitted and the cover clipped in place, a hidden switch arrangement allowed a child to start and stop the car by clumping it with their hand (the "Magic" aspect).

The car was usable as a stand-alone toy, but had a removable guide peg at the front which engaged with the slot in the middle of the (single-slot) track. Spare pegs were included with the sets.

The track

The Magicar track was plastic, unpowered, designed to be easy to clip together, and pale grey with the slot interior photographed as coloured red, with curves, straights, and (with accessory packs) crossovers, three-way junctions and red flyover bridges with yellow columns.

One could, or course, have multiple battery-powered Magicars on the same track.

Hazards

At some point the designers seem to have decided that this wasn't enough to sell Magicar sets to parents of small children, and decided to give it an educational "road safety" element. The sides of the track had small notches, and the sets included squarish "hazard" pieces with flat, and concave and convex sides to allow them to be clipped to the roadside against either straights or curves. The two standard hazards were a barrier that could be raised with finger pressure on the counterweight, and a horse that could stand on a (sprung?) swing-arm and stand in the road.

The sets therefore introduced young children to the horror of seeing their car approach a barrier when they had no way of getting to it in time to stop it, or the trauma and guilt of seeing their car hitting and killing a horse (after which the red channel running down the centre of the roadway took on a new potential meaning as horse blood).

It wasn't entirely clear from the instructions whether it was the job of the driver to thump their car to stop it before it hit a hazard, or whether it was the job of their friend to get the hazards "made safe" before the car arrived, or whether this was supposed to be a matter of negotiation. Either way, the temptation for children to play by deliberately closing a barrier or pushing a horse out in front of a moving car was perhaps not the sort of educational play that the designers intended.

Sets

MAGICAR MOTORING

All Magicar sets can be extended. Build one of the thrilling circuits overleaf. All twist-fit Roadway sections can be bought separately, there are Straights, Half Straights, Curves, exciting 'T' and 'Y' Junctions each with the built in self setting Auto-switch for extra thrills. You can also switch the cars by hand. Use extras of these fine items and remember too, you can go up and over where you wish with the Hi-level Flyover, Track Supports and Bridge Sides, Ask your retailer to show you these Magicar items, and the extra Cars and Body Shells; its great fun to design, build and operate your own Motorway.

MAGICAR SET M.G.I.

• 1 × Motorised Power Chassis
• 2 × Car Bodies
• 8 × Roadway Curves
• 2 × Roadway Straights
• 1 × Horse Traffic Hazard
• 1 × Road Up Barrier
• 2 × Traffic Road Signs.

MAGICAR SET M.G.2.

• 2 × Motorised Power Chassis
• 2 × Car Bodies
• 12 × Roadway Curves
• 6 × Roadway Straights
• 1 × Criss Cross Roadway
• 1 × Police Stop Hazard
• 1 × Road Up Barrier
• 1 × Horse Traffic Hazard
• 4 × Traffic Road Signs
• 4 × High Level Flyover Supports
• 2 × Low Level Flyover Supports

MAGICAR SET M.G.3.

• 2 × Motorised Power Chassis
• 3 × Car Bodies
• 16 × Roadway Curves
• 8 × Roadway Straights
• 4 × Roadway Half Straights
• 1 × "Y" Junction
• 1 × "T" Junction
• 1 × Criss Cross Roadway
• 1 × Police Stop Hazard
• 4 × Traffic Road Signs
• 1 × Road Up Barrier
• 1 × Horse Traffic Hazard
• 2 × Bridge Sides
• 8 × High Level Flyover Supports
• 4 × Low Level Flyover Supports

MAGICAR ROADWAY PACKS

• MG/21 – Criss Cross Roadway, 2 Straights. 2 Traffic Signs.
• MG/22 – T-Junction Auto.switch.
• MG/23 – Y-Junction Auto-switch.
• MG/24 – Flyover Pack. Supports & Retaining Walls (Cars & Track not included).