Walkden Fisher Mercedes 300 SLR Replicas

At the start of this project it was agreed between myself and the other people involved in the project that we would create a series of replicas of Walkden Fisher’s Mercedes 300 SLR model. This car won the first rail race held by what was then the Southport Model and Engineering Club. This club still exists but is no longer connected with model cars. According to Roger Greenslade’s book this model is no longer in existance but fortunately the body still exists even though the chassis is not complete. The first step in making the replicas of the original car was to have the new bodies carved. The original car was carved from a block of balsa wood, so the replicas would have to be done the same way.

Charlie Fitzpatrick of Betta & Classic had sent me down the original body, pictures and several articles about the early rail racing days, including one written by Walkden Fisher as he was the assistant editor of Model Cars as well as being a landscape painter. Originally I had no idea who I was going to persuade to carve these cars as I was totally incapable of doing it myself. On the phone to Charlie Fitzpatrick one day he very kindly offered to carve me four replica bodies in exactly the same style and paint them.

I returned the original body and waited. I had already decided I was going to use the excellent Parma Excalibur 32 chassis in these models and Chas Keeling kindly agreed to suply me with six to build the four slot cars and two rail racing cars. Pendle Slot Racing supplied the wheels for the first car. Phil Barry offered to build the cars, using Ninco NC-2s. Everyone supplied their time and everything else free, this was a real team effort.

Approximately six weeks later I received a package through the post containing the bodies. When I unwrapped these I could not believe how good they were. The original model captured the curvaceous shape of the real car nicely - complete with a single driver figure - and was painted in the correct silver colour scheme. The replicas were absolutely identical in every line, every vent, every crease to the original car, even down to the grill on the front of the car with the Mercedes badge carved into it and the twin metal exhaust pipes exiting the side of the body.

I cannot imagine the amount of work it must have been to carve just one of these cars out of a solid block of wood. Every single person I have shown the first finished car to has been amazed at the standard it has been carved to. Somehow Charlie even managed to get them to look old, with a very mellow looking paint job and painted the drivier figure in a way I haven’t seen done in a very long time, with a very pale pink face, sky blue overall and black and white goggles with a plain white helmet.

I took the bodies along with a chassis and engine up to Phil Barry in Abergavenny to build the first car, having spent that morning trying to figure out the best way to build them as the guide was slightly too far forward in the chassis to allow it to fit within the bodyshell. Phil and I both agreed the answer would be to cut the front of the chassis back to the first two front axle mounting holes and to drill a new guide mount. I returned to Abergavenny to pick up the assembled car and found that Phil had done a brilliant job with the chassis. The chassis looked as if it had been made that way.

I quickly erected a test track as I was dying to see how the car performed. Even though these cars will only be used for one, possibly two races at Brooklands it is very important to me that these cars are perfect. The car has ballistic speed down the straight - not surprising considering it is a pretty light car with an NC-2 in it - and cornered surprisingly well, as well as any other non magnet car with narrow tyres that I’ve ever driven. The Parma chassis really work well, with all the weight concentrated about an 3/16 of an inch off the track, making the car extremely stable. After running the first car for about half an hour I was very impressed with the way it performed and it looked brilliant going around the track.

The Brooklands Memorial Races are to be held on the 20th of August at Brooklands Museum, Surrey. I’d like to thank everyone who donated items and their time to these cars.