I have been a fan of Formula 1 since I was a child, thanks to my father who never missed a race on TV. I knew the names of all the racers and some of the characteristics of their cars. I knew the names of the tracks. I knew a lot more about Formula 1 than any other standard 10-year-old girl in the 90s.

A few days ago, my husband came home from work with a red toy car that he bought from Shell for BGN 19.99 and some fuel points. I didn’t pay attention to it because cars are not one of my passions. The next moment he told me that the car is controlled by a Bluetooth smart device and charged with a USB cable. That’s when my eyes lit up. As you know I’m a huge fan of all kinds of controllable and programmable gadgets and robots, so I immediately jumped in and started unpacking the car. It turned out to be very cool, although a little basic and non-programmable! Let me tell you a little more.

There are a total of 4 cars from the latest collection of Ferrari and Shell (November 2021). You need 4 refueling stickers and BGN 19.99 to buy one car. The cars are scaled-down and extremely realistic models of real Ferrari racing cars, namely:

• SF1000 TUSCAN GP – Ferrari 1000 – no real price found, maybe not for sale. The real car is only suitable for racing, but not for city streets. Similar is the case with the mini version – it is the lowest car that requires a special even no-bump track. The only car of the collection that doesn’t have headlights.

• 488 GTE AF CORSE #51 2019 – The real one costs $900,000 and is strictly a race car. The mini version has headlights that glow white.

• 488 CHALLENGE EVO – The real one costs $370,000 and is strictly a race car. The mini version has headlights that glow white.

• FXX-K EVO – The real one costs $2.6 million and is the only one of the four that can be driven on normal streets, but not in professional racing. The mini version has headlights that glow blue, unlike the others. In addition, it is the tallest car, with the largest tire diameter, and even manages to get on the carpet. Something that others fail to do.

The cars are controlled by any smart device that has bluetooth and the option to download and install the Shell application – Shell Racing Legends. For convenience, there’s a QR code on the cars’ box that, when scanned, takes you directly to the Apple Appstore or Google Play, and makes finding and installing the app pretty quick and simple. They are charged via a USB cable that comes with the car.

This is the interface of the riding module:

In terms of controls, the car is not complicated, but it is a little unwieldy at first. Then, after a lot of driving, fun and racing with my dad and with my husband, it turned out to be quite maneuverable and not that complicated to drive. The joystick doesn’t offer 360-degree movement in one button. Instead, it’s in two parts – one for steering back and forth, and one for turning. There are two additional options such as turbo (I don’t see a difference with or without it) and turning on/off the front lights of the car.

The app also has an option to play animated Formula on different tracks with the model car you have, racing against other people and completing various objectives. There are even weekly prizes for the best.

There is also a QR code on the box of the car to open an augmented reality application where you can find additional information about the cars themselves, the history of Ferrari, etc. It’s cool.

The promotion for acquiring the cars is valid until January 16, 2022, but considering how cool, interesting, cheap, interactive and limited they are, I’m guessing they’ll start running out of cars as early as December. After a few weeks I managed to collect all four cars and I am very happy about this fact.

One evening I decided to surprise my father and show him my first car (I only had one at the time). I take out the car and he laughs at me and takes two out of the cupboard in his living room. I was very surprised instead of being able to surprise him. I had no idea that he, as a big fan of Formula 1 and Ferrari cars, would most likely have seen the Shell promotion. The evening was spent in laughter, fun, chasing and doing races in front of the freshly put up Christmas tree. It was an unforgettably nice event.

My opinion of the cars is extremely positive. The manufacturers have thought out their whole concept well, their presentation is great and I really like that I don’t just get the car, but also additional details that enhance the experience. For example, the interactive app and the game inside, as well as the augmented reality experience. I like the idea of having QR codes everywhere, which can be done literally in seconds and save a lot of time. The cars are fun to play with and seemingly pretty sturdy (my daughter, a year and a half, has already tested the cars several times by throwing, hitting and stepping on them – all survived). For a controllable branded toy, they are quite cheap. They are made beautifully and in detail, it is clear that they are not just another Chinese garbage, they are heavy and metal. I like them a lot. I’m even currently in the process of collecting cardboard from various boxes to make a cool track to race with my family around the merry, warm and cozy Christmas holidays.

I also made a short video while testing the cars for the first time. You can watch it on my YouTube channel at this link –> https://youtu.be/3IB2g46IbEs