What’s the coolest wedding gift you can think of? If money were no object, I guess we could all think of some crazy ideas like a gift-wrapped Lear Jet or a pearl-encrusted Bugatti Veyron, but when I tied the knot with my other half a few years’ back, one of my dearest chums surprised me with an absolute cracker of a present - a customised Scalextric set.
He’d swapped out the standard rally cars for versions of our own road cars, a VW Beetle and a SEAT Ibiza, which he’d painted and correctly number-plated for added authenticity.
Well it seems that VW’s marketing gurus have been thinking along the same lines in seeking out target customers for their new Golf GTI ahead of its launch on May 22. They’ve created a massive virtual Scalextric layout in a hangar in a secret location where you can sneak in and test the new car’s ‘on-track’ performance.
The track is the work of a team of 60 modellers and features over 200 scale buildings in a space occupying 25ft by 30ft. My only gripe is that VW have created the car in 1:43 scale rather than the 1:32 of my classic boyhood sets (anorak alert) - but this in no way spoils the experience.
You’ll have to take it a little steady at first since the lab-technician will only replace your car a limited number of times when you come off.
If you set a decent lap time you can enter a draw to win use of the real GTI for 3 months. Log on to GTI Project to take a speedy Scalextric trip down memory lane without having to go into a dusty loft and then spend hours setting up your track. Enjoy!
Interesting stuff! The new Golf is amazing, but I think a bit pricey. But I guess it is probably worth the money
4X4 Parts | 29 May 09 - 12:07