Shelby McLaren Williams Honda FW11

It was a chance encounter in 1994 with Nigel Mansell at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland that inspired Shelby McLaren to reflect upon not only one of his favourites drivers of all time, but also one his favourite cars, the Williams Honda FW11.

Shelby remembers the electric atmosphere and roar of the crowd at Silverstone in 1987 when Mansell chased down Nelson Piquet and overtook him with only 3 laps to go. Mansell’s grit and determination was inspiring and Murray Walker repeated to Shelby after the race, ‘if willpower was horsepower Mansell would have had another 100’!

The FW11 (FW11B) absolutely dominated Formula One at the time but it wasn’t until 2007 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that Shelby would be able to inspect the car close up (our recreation today). The Lotus 98T was also at Goodwood that day and can be seen in the background (Scalextric C.425).

When Scalextric released the Williams FW11 in the 1987 catalogue with the number C.374 it was an instant hit and would go on to become one of the most iconic Scalextric cars for a generation. The 1988 catalogue car (C.426) boasted of ‘magnatraction’ and ‘Turboflash’ and it really added something special to the cars. There were numerous variations of this car released by Scalextric, some had the Tuboflash light and some didn’t, some had the Magnatraction, some didn’t, and even how the magnet was applied varied. The car in our photos has catalogue number C.374 where the magnet is held in place via two body screws and a small plate. The FW11 car would be available for over 6 years. It was part of a number of sets that were Scalextric favourites, especially the Silverstone set and the World Championship set and it still remains a much sought after slot car. Whats your recollection? See our Facebook page for more.