58039 Willys Wheeler
1/10 Scale On Road RC Car
Released way back in August 1983, the Willy’s Wheeler (Honda City Turbo Racing) was Tamiya’s second stunt model on the merits of the successful Wild Willy, Willy’s M38 (#58035). Making use of the same “Wild Willy” chassis but with much smaller on-road wheels and tyres, plus slightly higher gearing for faster on-road speeds. Tamiya originally based this model on the Honda City Turbo Racers as used at the Suzuka GP for a ladies demonstration race back in the 80′s.
Just like the Wild Willy, the Willy’s Wheeler was a fun car to drive. Fitted with a powerful RS-540S motor it had more than enough power perform its stunts time after time. For the collectors among us, the Willy’s Wheeler models can be very hard to find in NIB condition and they really do command high price, but good quality examples do from time to time become available at auction.
Related Models:
- 58035: Wild Willy Jeep
- 58039: Willies Wheeler
58038 Subaru Brat
1/10 Scale Off Road RC Car
Tamiya released the Subaru Brat in July 1983 and it was the first to be based upon all new Space Frame chassis. The suspension configuration on the Brat uses a Trailing Link set up at the rear and double wishbones at the front, complete with coil over friction shock absorbers to soak up the bumps. Unusually, this RC Car had a fixed drive (no differential) making its turning circle maybe a little wider than necessary, but improving its performance on very rough terrain, and semi pneumatic tyres.
It was also supplied with a somewhat underpowered RS-380S motor, but it was probably a wise choice by Tamiya as anything more powerful could have made the Brat trickier to drive as it hopped and bounced along the track.
The body shell however shows off Tamiya’s ability to produce accurately accurately styled scale replica models. It’s one of their most realistic shells ever in my opinion. For collectors, it’s possible to pick up an un-built NIB occasionally, and mint condition shelf display models are often cropping up. Good “runner” versions come up for sale regularly too and spares are pretty abundant thanks to the compatibility with some of the re-release components. The Brat’s popularity has never waned and it was re-released in March 2007.
Related Models:
- 58038 Subaru Brat
- 58040 Lancia Rally
- 58041 Frog
- 58058 Blackfoot
- 58060 Monster Beetle
- 58077 Mud Blaster
- 58101 Bush Devil
- 58110 Super Blackfoot
- 58192 King Blackfoot
58037 Opel Ascona 400 Rally
1/10 Scale Off Road RC Car
Released just four months after that 58036 Audi Quattro, and utilising the same chassis, Tamiya released the Opel Ascona Rally in November of 1983. The model is based on the Championship winning rally car that won the World Rally Championship (WRC) title in 1982. As with its predecessor, the body shell is Lexan polycarbonate is highly detailed as you would expect from Tamiya. Again two hard plastic sections secured to its front and rear, and perched high up on top of the bathtub chassis, it doesn’t quite have scale looks!
The centre of gravity on the Ascona, just like the Quattro, is pretty high, making the car unstable and the hard plastic body parts on the Opel Ascona are again very fragile indeed. This has resulted in decent examples of this car becoming very rare indeed and quite high priced too.
Related Models:
- 58036 Audi Quattro Rally
- 58037 Opel Ascona 400 Rally
58036 Audi Quattro Rally
1/10 Scale Off Road RC Car
Originally released by Tamiya back in July 1983, I remember this release vividly. They ever stylish Audi Quattro Rally car. One of my favourite cars of all time, both in 1/10th scale and 1:1! This particular model is based on the car that raced in the 1982 WRC driven by the French Female rally driver Michèle Mouton.
The chassis for the car is actually based on that of the 58035 Wild Willy, but the body shell that makes this car quite unusual for Tamiya. There are two hard plastic sections for the front grille and rear lights, plus the wing is screwed onto the lexan body shell. These particular features make the car very fragile resulting in quite catastrophic damage if you’re not careful, even from the slightest knock.
Also, the model has quite a high centre of gravity meaning the Audi Quattro is a little challenging to drive and very easy to roll and damage. A few quality examples of the Audi Quattro Rally car still exist though, but you can also find quite decent examples to rebuild coming up for sale from time to time.
Related Models:
- 58036 Audi Quattro Rally
- 58037 Opel Ascona 400 Rally
58035 Wild Willy M38 Wheelie Jeep
1/10 Scale Off Road RC Car
Released way back in November 1982, the Tamiya Wild Willy, Willy’s M38 Jeep was based on the renowned US army Jeep. The incredibly tough chassis uses blend of nylon and ABS resin injection mouldings for a resilient construction.
As with all Tamiya kits, the builds are very well documented in the manual, but the Willy’s Jeep requires that you keep your whits about you and take your time so as not to make mistakes.
The rear wheel drive model uses a sealed rear gearbox with a gear differential and with coil spring friction suspension, two part wheel hub assemblies equipped with large sand tires. These all blend together in that famous Tamiya style to make the car one of the most exciting and fun of the Tamiya First 100. It’s out and out Fun all the way!
Wheelies are easy to pull with the 2WD Wild Willy, just give the throttle a nudge and you’re away – it’s quite simply brilliant. Whilst this model is a prominent one in the “Tamiya First 100″ the number of Wild Willy M38′s purchased for simple build and display purposes is crazy. This is a car that’s built to be driven! If you’re after a model that you can drive and have great fun with, then you can pick up road-worthy second hand ones for very reasonable prices indeed.
Related Models:
- 58035 Wild Willy M38
- 58039 Willies Wheeler
58034 Super Champ
1/10 Scale Off Road RC Buggy
The rather splendid looking Super Champ was Tamiya’s first true attempt at making an off road racing buggy. Originally released back in 1982, the Super Champ is one of Tamiya’s most endearing models. This prized RC Car has a monoshock rear suspension arrangement with an oil reservoir for smooth damping, making it handle bumps and jumps much better than earlier off-road models. The Super Champ was supplied with a new design of spiked rear tyres too and several uprated parts for improved performance. The original radio box was also removed in favour of a much lighter tray assembly arrangement.
The chassis was a double decked fibre glass plate design. The model is powered by a standard RS540 silver can motor.
Related Models:
- 58015 Rough Rider
- 58016 Sand Scorcher
- 58027 Ford F150 Ranger XLT
- 58034 Super Champ
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