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Renault's latest advertising campaign has now brought the dreams of many eight-year old boys to reality - to pilot two life-sized Scalextric cars around the streets of London. And, just to make the experience even cooler, they're driven from the comfort of a helicopter. The black and white Zoes used for the event aren't exactly the Porsche and Ferrari you're used to hurtling round your typical Scalextric track, but it still made for an awesome spectacle.
The cars themselves were ordinary Renault Zoes; albeit with specially-designed braids that turned the front wheels as they went around corners. The Zoes were also fitted with long-distance aerials to make sure the drivers had full control as they hovered above the 1.9-mile track.
Ah, yes. The track. A total of 570 pieces of life-sized Scalextric roadway was set up overnight; beginning at the London Eye, passing the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, the BFI London IMAX cinema and finishing up alongside the River Thames. The course also featured two of the most fun aspects of Scalextric racing - crossovers. Thankfully, neither of the cars were damaged as these were negotiated.
The pilots of the racers were winners from a Facebook-based competition who used conventional Scalextric controllers hooked up to the Zoe's iPhone app to control each car's speed. Needless to say, there was some fighting talk and a huge amount of fun involved on race day.
"We really wanted to create something attention-grabbing for our electric vehicle range," said Phil York, Renault UK's Marketing Director. "Given our passion for motorsport, particular Formula 1, racing our flagship model around the streets of the English capital was a perfect scenario."
Anything else?
The Zoe advertising campaign comes a few months after the launch of the Clio's, in which four unsuspecting people experienced a romantic Parisian scene complete with scantily clad models during their individually arranged test drives.
The video for the Renault Zoe Scalextric race can be seen here:
James Giddings - 18 Dec 2013