March 782 F2

[René]

A very interesting car will be released soon as a 1:24 scale slot car, the Robin Herd designed March 782 Formula 2 car. I have always loved the design of this car so I will certainly purchase one of these. The first release will be a white kit but I think I will wait for a ready to race car. It’s at a bigger scale than most of my cars (1:32) but this is a must have, very cool. Oh yes, it’s made by BRM/TTS so high quality guaranteed. 

[charleselan]

It was a fabulous little car René, shame it is 1/24th but as you say for a slot fanatic it is a must have. The car to have would be F2 Champion that year Bruno Giacomelli, a fabulous little driver who never really got the best out of F1 except for that fantastic drive in the Alfa at Watkins Glen in 1980.

Oh Dear another model must have .

[mikael]

It's interesting that the "upright cockpit" concept worked so well with the March 782 Formula 2 car. It's really a beautiful car, in addition to being ultra-fast as well (at the time).

I imagine that the 1978 ATS HS1 F1 car was inspired by the March 782, but for the ATS, the upright cockpit didn't look good - to say the least.

If the upper half of the ATS cockpit "wall" had been replaced with clear plexiglass - just as on the March - it might have looked OK; certainly it would have looked much better.

[charleselan]

That ATS wasn't the best looking race car was it, I believe it was still based on the old Penske PC4 chassis that Scmidt purchased originally. Thankfully he then hired Gustav Brunner who came up with some really good looking cars powered by the BMW turbo motors.

[charleselan]

Last evening I tuned into Dave Kennedy's YouTube channel where he talked about the proposed new releases from Scalextric for 2022 which is always greatly anticipated. Some interesting new releases planned like Nigel Mansell's Williams FW11 Honda which should go nicely with Ayrton's Lotus 99-Honda and the earlier JPS 97 Renault when they eventually see the light of day.

Of great interest to me is the TWR Bastos Rover SD1 Vitesse which should be fantastic, a car very close to my heart as a friend and I commissioned a 1/43rd white metal kit of the Vitesse with every conceivable version available including the 1985 and '86 Bastos cars. They really need a Volvo 240 Turbo and BMW 630csi to go with these. Also on the list was a Andy Rouse "Kaliber" sponsored Ford Cosworth Sierra RS500 which should be excellent. However they have also planned a load of things that are of no interest what so ever to racing fans, but hey ho!

[René]

Jan 10, 2022 20:40:47 GMT charleselan said:

It was a fabulous little car René, shame it is 1/24th but as you say for a slot fanatic it is a must have. The car to have would be F2 Champion that year Bruno Giacomelli, a fabulous little driver who never really got the best out of F1 except for that fantastic drive in the Alfa at Watkins Glen in 1980.

Oh Dear another model must have .

Yes, Jack O’Mally’s car in the BMW colours is the one to have. They will certainly do that one. 

And the Alfa…   si…

[René]

Jan 11, 2022 12:45:35 GMT charleselan said:

Last evening I tuned into Dave Kennedy's YouTube channel where he talked about the proposed new releases from Scalextric for 2022 which is always greatly anticipated. Some interesting new releases planned like Nigel Mansell's Williams FW11 Honda which should go nicely with Ayrton's Lotus 99-Honda and the earlier JPS 97 Renault when they eventually see the light of day.

Of great interest to me is the TWR Bastos Rover SD1 Vitesse which should be fantastic, a car very close to my heart as a friend and I commissioned a 1/43rd white metal kit of the Vitesse with every conceivable version available including the 1985 and '86 Bastos cars. They really need a Volvo 240 Turbo and BMW 630csi to go with these. Also on the list was a Andy Rouse "Kaliber" sponsored Ford Cosworth Sierra RS500 which should be excellent. However they have also planned a load of things that are of no interest what so ever to racing fans, but hey ho!

Watched that also.  Yes Scalextric always has a lot of stuff aimed at another audience but they also still do models for the race fans/collectors like us which is great. The F1 cars look great and so does the Bastos Rover and also the Jaguar XJS in Motul livery looks good. Too much good stuff coming this year….

[René]

The March 782 slot car arrived and it looks great! As mentioned above, it’s 1/24 scale so a tad larger than most of my other cars at 1/32. But that doesn't matter as I race alone anyway.

I bought the kit with pre-assembled chassis and white body with separate decals. This makes it easier to add some additional detail myself compared to the ready to race car. Decals are for the Bruno Giacomelli works car so with the BMW color striping. Chassis is from aluminum and it has a steering front suspension. Very cool car! Wish John Charles could have seen it as he would have loved it!









Here are a couple of short clips of the 1978 F2 season with Jarier, Cheever, Giacomelli and more. Commentary is in French but that only adds to the atmosphere!

[mikael]

Nice! The chassis looks very good too - it appears to be of high quality. And apparently, it even has a movement function, similarly to what competition chassis typically have(?)

[René]

Jan 25, 2023 17:04:07 GMT mikael said:

Nice! The chassis looks very good too - it appears to be of high quality. And apparently, it even has a movement function, similarly to what competition chassis typically have(?)

Well spotted Mikael. The chassis is of high quality and consists of two parts so that you can make it stiffer or looser with the adjusting screws. Just like a competition chassis indeed. The front suspension is also adjustable in this way. I think this car will be very popular in clubs.