Scalextric was invented by engineer B. Fred Francis,[1] when he added an electric motor to the Scalex tin cars that were produced by Minimodels Ltd, his own company.

This wheel is found under the chassis behind the front axle, and works by pressing the car down on a hard surface and being pulled backwards.

The Scalex range expanded to include six cars: the MG TF, Austin-Healey 100, Aston Martin DB2, Jaguar 2.4 Saloon, Maserati 250F and Ferrari 375.

He experimented by putting small electric motors into Scalex cars and running them on model railway track.

Power was supplied by batteries hidden in a little cardboard hut, with players having their own on-off button to control their cars.

In 1960, plastic bodies replaced the original tinplate, and in 1961, production moved to a new factory in the Leigh Park area of Havant.

This powerbase includes a separate screen which aids set-up and also displays race information such as lap times.

[10] Warner Bros have licensed a number of Looney Tunes characters for use in the Micro Scalextric range of products.

Scalextric is typically sold as a set containing enough track to make a circuit, the necessary power supply and throttles, and two cars.

The latter, produced sporadically since the 1960s, have a specially made guide that enables the car to run back the way it has come by spinning through 180 degrees.

[12] Many other manufacturers, including the likes of Fly, Slot.it, SCX, Airfix/MRRC, Carrera and Ninco, produce cars that can run on Scalextric track with minor or no modification.

It was some time before Scalextric returned to licensing in the 1970s, first with The Amazing Spider-Man (the 1970s series), which had specially liveried TR7 cars and white track.

Then, in the 1980s, came the original TV series based Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Knight Rider and then Tim Burton's Batman film.

Since then the franchises have grown to include Batman Begins, The Simpsons, The Transformers movie, James Bond 007 films Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, GoldenEye and Spectre, Starsky and Hutch, The Italian Job (models from both the original and re-made films), Top Gear, Star Wars and the Pixar/Disney movie Toy Story.

Scalextric licensed the Need for Speed brand from Electronic Arts and has produced a set based on the popular video game series.

On 22 November 2004, thieves stole 2,500 Simpsons Scalextric sets from the back of a lorry which was parked near services on the M2 motorway in England.