Category:Formula 152

Formula 152

1960 -

1963: Real Racing with Formula 152 [image info]

Wrenn's Formula 152 slotcar racing system was in production between 1960 and around ~1966 (ish).

Features

Where many of the competing systems were 1:30 or 1:32 and were almost "clones" of each other, Formula 152 was unusual in a number of respects: it used a significantly smaller scale, 1:52 (hence the name), and although the two-slot road sections looked standard, the slotted track had multiple power lines per slot, with the cars' small pickup brushes adjustable to be able to choose which "rail" to use. This allowed the use of multiple independent cars on the same track, nose-to-tail, which only made sense in conjunction with the special "deflector" lane-changing sections – these had red buttons when, when depressed, raised ramps within the slots so that a car passing the section was lifted out of its slot and deflected to the other lane. This added an extra level of competition – when activated, both drivers got to switch lanes every circuit, and there were "interesting" consequences of the cars being alongside each other when they passed the "special" section. The deflector section could also be remote-controlled (like model railway points) via a lever, which allowed further complexity if a third person operated the deflector control according to pre-agreed timings or rules: if one was "ahead", and could reach the deflector section when activated, one could get onto the other driver's track and block them.

Motor

In order to create a sufficiently small motor, Wrenn rejected a conventional rotary motor on the basis that any rotary design with sufficient power would be too bulky, and instead produced a motor based on a single solenoid repeatedly pulling on a sprung hinged arm, connected to a ratchet-type mechanism. This pulled against a toothed wheel on the "inward" stroke to force the rear axle to rotate, and slipped over the teeth on the "outward" stroke.

The miniature motor was granted a patent in August 1960 ( GB844436 (A) ― 1960-08-10 )

Product life

Wrenn's system was launched at the Brighton Toy Fair in 1960, and was well -received, but in a market where almost every major toymaker seemed to be trying to promote their own competing slot-car system, some product lines were inevitably not going to survive. With the Lines Brothers takeover of Meccano Limited, and the resulting cessation of production of Hornby Dublo (which was passed to Wrenn, which then became a semi-detached part of the Lines Brothers empire, and sold Dublo products as Tri-ang Wrenn products), Wrenn's business model changed to shift more emphasis onto the model trains, and some conspiracy theorists have suggested that perhaps killing off Formula 152 (which competed with Scalextric, which Lines Brothers now owned) may have been part of the deal.

However, Wrenn was already having difficulty with finding ways to cut manufacturing costs to make Formula 152 more profitable, and may not have needed much persuasion to drop it in favour of a new Dublo-related business, with the Triang Wrenn products being marketed and distributed by Lines Brothers – this may have seemed a much safer and more lucrative enterprise.