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 | | Friday, 17 August, 2001, 18:02 GMT 19:02 UK Hornby teams up with Megabowl  Hornby hopes adults as well as kids will want to try the 70-foot track Fans of Scalextric model cars will be able to race them on large-scale, pay-per-use tracks under brand-owner Hornby's plans to win a new audience for model car racing. Scalextric cars are usually raced in enthusiasts' attics, basements and bedrooms but the brand's owner, Hornby, has teamed up with Megabowl to open tracks in bowling alleys. The two companies have launched a six-lane, 70-foot super-track at Megabowl's bowling alley in Croydon, where enthusiasts can pay �2 to race the cars for 10 minutes. They hope it will be the first of up to 57 circuits at Megabowl sites. The Croydon track has webcams and plans for big plasma screens to broadcast the races. Racing certainty "We are confident players will get hooked when they play with a large scale set," said Hornby chief executive Frank Martin. Mr Martin, who is already hooked and has a Scalextric set in his own attic, expects sales of the model cars to rise "as players buy their own to play with at home".
The alliance with Megabowl is the model-maker's latest move to reposition its toys as collectors items for adults by targeting middle-aged men with large disposable incomes, rather than children. Hornby, which is best known for its toy trains, said the switch contributed to a 15% rise in sales in the company's last full year financial results. Its Scalextric USA subsidiary provided more than half of a 63% increase in pretax profits in the year to 31 March 2001. Pre-tax profits were �2.3m for the year to 31 March. China switch The company also moved production of its model trains to China, which it claimed helped to achieve the improvements in quality needed to target the adult collector market. The first Scalextric cars were made in 1952 and were known as Scalex. The cars were motorised in 1956. Megabowl is jointly owned by Georgia and Duke Street Capital. | | See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Business stories now:  Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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