Category:Airfix Motor Racing: Difference between revisions

Airfix Motor Racing / Airfix Motor Ace / Airfix MRRC was a slot-car racing system introduced by Airfix in 1962, and sold by the company until the Airfix company's failure in 1981.

1951-1962 MRRC (pre-Airfix)

Model Road Racing Cars Ltd. was incorporated on 10 August 1951. The company apparently started out selling equipment for "rail-based" car racing, then migrated to slotcar racing (and conversion kits for "rail" cars), and modified metal bodies of clockwork cars by Scalex to make some of the earliest slot-cars (Scalex apparently then realised that this was a good idea and produced the famous Scalextric system).

MRRC Ltd became part of the Airfix group in 1962.

1962-1968: Airfix Motor Racing

1968: Airfix Motor Racing set M.R.11 [image info]

Airfix Motor Racing was launched in February 1962, without an obvious logo for the name, but with a modified version of the Airfix "banner" logo that had the two rear "wings" of the banner in black and white chequers, to represent motor-racing's "chequered flag".

1967 advert text:

Thrills, spills, excitement ... all the tense drama of Grand Prix racing. Airfix brings you such realism. Press the throttle and you're racing away in a Mini-Cooper or a Ferrari. Lap after Lap it's high speed fun. Real driving skills (and daring) needed to win! Runs off mains or battery. Every Airfix set has a rigid, double-lane track, two speed-controllers and banking supports. One includes a PERFECT FIGURE 8 with a swooping, road-hopping flyover. All Airfix authentic 1/32nd scale models have Ackermann steering for natural cornering. Join the Airfix racing drivers!

— , -, , Airfix Motor Racing advert, , 1967

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  MR11 1968

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1968-~1973: Motor Ace

For the 1968 catalogue, the system was rebranded MotorAce, still with the chequered-flag version of the Airfix logo, but now with a proper logo for the new name with MotorAce run together into a single word leaning rightward, and the peaks of the "M", "t" and "A" leaving streaks to the left to indicate speed.

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1973-1981: Airfix MRRC

For the 1973 catalogue the system was rebranded again, as Airfix MRRC, with credits being given to MRRC Ltd., or Model Road Racing Cars Ltd.. The MotorAce name was still being used on some materials, but the brand emphasis was now on MRRC, and the advertising we've seen in Airfix Magazine for this period just uses AIRFIX MRRC for branding and no longer mentions MotorAce.

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  1976

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External links

• Airfix Motor Ace (airfixcollectorsclub.co.uk)
• Model Road Racing Cars Limited, company listing 00498376 (companieshouse.gov.uk)