SCALEXTRIC Tinplate Maserati 250F

My wife Lise and our younger son Olivier just got back from a weekend trip to Toronto to take in the Real Madrid/Toronto FC game on August 7th. Though it was a lop-sided win (5-1), it was still a very entertaining game!

While their stay was quite short, they had the pleasure of brunching with my friend Peter and his wife Huguette. Unknown to me, Peter had picked up a little something for me.


He found out that SCALEXTRIC had just release a 1/32 limited edition tinplate Maserati 250F; my favorite Grand Prix race car, driven by my favorite driver Juan Manuel Fangio, in his most famous race, German GP, Nurburgring 1957.


Peter knew very well how to pick them! It is a stunning slot racer, with all the right detail. It�s displayed in a very nice presentation box, and includes it�s own numbered card for each of the 5050 produced. SCALEXTRIC also offers a tinplate Ferrari 375 limited edition.

Needless to say, this gem will hold a special place in my collection �

Maserati 250F - A Masterpiece of Speed & Beauty

Polistil-Tonka 1/16 1980's (Italy), Matchbox Models of Yesteryear #Y10-4 1/36 1980's (England), Mercury #52 1/43 1950's (Italy), Solido R�-edition 1990's (France)

If you ask knowledgeable Grand Prix (or general racing) historians what is the greatest race car of all time, 9 out of 10 would say the Maserati 250F.

Conceived with little funding, but much enthusiasm, dedication and know-how, the 250F was built along fairly conventional lines, but with an incredible visual aesthetic. The car looks fast just siting there, and with it's balanced light chassis and powerful inline 6-cylinder engine, it was!

It's first victory came in 1954 at Aintree in the capable hands of Sir Stirling Moss, and it's last major win came in the legendary 1957 German Grand Prix at N�rburgring in the hands of the Argentinean master Juan Manuel Fangio, giving him his last of five World Championship titles.

The image above includes the Maserati 250F diecasts in my collection. Below, I've included a few of sketches I did of Fangio driving the rolling masterpiece, the heart of the masterpiece, and a paper model I created.





Fangio at N�rburgring 1957, pencil on paper
� Paul Chenard 2006
Charles McCabe Collection


Fangio at Monaco 1957, pen & ink on paper � Paul Chenard 2006


Prismacolor and pencils on red archival stock
� Paul Chenard 2008

Paper model that I created using Adobe Illustrator on a Mac
� Paul Chenard 2001

Paper Model: Maserati 250F

A few years ago, I designed a paper model of my all-time favorite Grand Prix car, a Maserati 250F. I did it completely from scratch,
drawing it a vector-based illustration program (Adobe Illustrator) so that I could resize it easily without compromising quality.
It takes about 3-4 hours to build it, but the results are
pretty satisfying.