Shell Motorsport Collection
I am still a little boy living inside a man's body!!
According to a website, Shell Australia or Viva Energy Australia launched the sale of the Shell Motorsport Collection of seven cars on 29.09.2022.
Before I start, I must say that I was not aware that these promotional products existed until one morning when I filled up my car at the Shell servo, and saw a sign displaying all the seven models of the cars. When I went in and paid for my purchase, there was this paper box stand stocked with two first models of the toy cars and out of curiosity, I bought the first two cars available and along with two batteries as well.
Technically, these are my first EV cars I ever owned.
Here is the story of this Shell promotional toy cars release.
Shell Australia for the first time, released a limited edition of seven cars, only exclusively at Shell Coles Express servos around the country. In all, a total of seven cars were released, and these are Bluetooth- controlled models. The cars can be controlled by a smartphone by downloading the Global Shell Racing app onto your phone for free, by simply scanning the QR quote on the box of the car or battery.
As mentioned above, this promotion was launched on 29.09.2022, with one car each per week. However, I am not sure if the first car was released on 29.09.2022 or was it released the following week on 06.10.2022. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the exact date for the first car released, and for the sake of the argument, I will use the date as 06.10.2022, until I can confirm the actual date.
The main body of the cars are made from die-cast metal with the scale of 1:41, with other smaller parts made of plastic, like the side mirrors, the driver's safety frame of the Ferrari, and of course for the wheels as well. Each model can be remotely controlled via a smartphone, with
gamification and engagement through the global Shell Racing
App. From the remote control of your smartphone, you have the options of three control settings for turning the car left or right, like with the left and right arrows, image of the steering wheel or by just simply tilting the smartphone whichever way you wish to turn. For those cars like the Ford Mustang, you can also turn on the front head lights in the dark, but no option for the tail lights. The sound of the horn is also included on the app, but not attached to the car itself.
These cars were released each week with one model until stocks last, with the exclusive motorsport
models starting with the Shell V-Power Racing Mustang GT Supercar. Below, I believe these were the released dates:
06.10.2022 - Team Ford Mustang GT
13.10.2022 - Team Penske Ford Mustang GT
20.10.2022 - Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC (limited edition)
27.10.2022 - Scuderia Ferrari SF90
03.11.2022 - BMW M4 Motorsport (limited edition)
10.11.2022 - Nissan Formula E Glen 2 (limited edition)
17.11.2022 - Team Penske Indy (limited edition)
The above cars were all sold at $15 each. However, you only have to pay $10 per car if you have purchased fuel at Shell servo for the minimum amount of $20 net i.e. after applying any discount that you might have from say Coles 4 cents discount voucher and Linkt 4 cents discount that you might be eligible for. If you did not purchase any fuel, you are still entitled to the discounted price of $10 each if you have purchased a minimum of $20 from the Shell Coles Express store at the servo. As long as you have spent $20 net at the servo, there is no limit of cars you can buy at the discounted price.
However, you can still buy these cars even if you have not purchased any fuel or items at the servo, at a price of $15 each. Again, there is no restriction as to how many you can buy.
As this is a Bluetooth control toy, you will need the special battery to power the car, and this costs $8 each, with no discount. All you need is just one battery minimum to power all the cars you have, as you can just swap them in between for other cars that you want to play or race with.
As the promotion was started on 29.10.2022, the offer will last until 30.11.2022 or unless all are sold out. Unfortunately, because some of the models were released in small quantities many servos only get between 5 or 6 cars on the day of the release, and sell out almost immediately. Obviously, many collectors were not too happy with this as many took this opportunity and resold it on the Internet at a humongous or ridiculous asking price. Some models were sold for $150+ per car, for a price of $10.
On 03.11.2022, Shell also released the full set in a display box for $124.95 with all the seven models of cars. In addition to the car, it also includes two battery packs. Again, this full set was also a limited edition, and it is nicely present in a box that you can have it displayed in your home. I believe these were also all sold out on the morning of its release too.
In my opinion, of all the seven cars released, the Scuderia Ferrari SF90 is the most impressive one. The look on this car is stunning and nice, and I was so impressed that I bought 3 cars in a box for my collection. The intention was to open one and try it out, but now I am not sure. It is prettier in the box than to take it out for a trial run. However, the quality control on these cars is a bit disappointing. Of all the cars I have purchased, some of them have scratch marks/lines on it. Then, what do you expect when you only paid $10 for the car?
The design or quality control is also another issue. If you have the Team Penske Ford Mustang GT in your collection, and if you have taken this car out of the box, have a look at the back of the car. On the back left side of the car, it has a straight finish. Now have a look at the right and you can see that finishing curved in, i.e. not straight. I am not sure if the real car is designed this way, but honestly I doubt it is.
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