Sand Rover
Model Number: 58024
Released
22-Aug-81
Drive
2WD rear
Suspension
front trailing arms with coil springs, rear swing arms with FRP torsion spring
Chassis Description
plastic tub-type
Body Type
white ABS
Motor
RS-380S
Original Price
9800 Yen
Width
202mm
Length
410mm
Height
175mm
Scale
1/10th
The body is styled like the VW 'Beetle' based buggies which were very popular at US west coast. Simple chassis with independent rubber damped suspension, open gearbox with no differential and stepless mechanical speed control are the same with the Holiday Buggy, only that the motor mount for the optional RS-540 motor was included.(Description originally entered by DJTheo)
Reviews
Scorchio
My first RC car was the sand rover, it was bought for £30 off a mate as a holiday buggy, but got the s rover treatment before the wheels hit the tarmac.
I'd messed about with frinds srbs before and was expecting Rover to be a real slug so went for 540 motor bracket and humpbacks. How overjoyed I was when it went like stink!
FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN! is the only way to describe this car and at the time parts for it were cheap and redily available. The plastic front suspention was a constant pain with many chassis being purchased along with front swing arms. I think every owner of these chassis cars had at least three broken tubs in a cubboard somewhere.
At the end of the day it was used and used HARD! and today I'm finding it harder to complete my shelf queen rover than the scorcher was. A future classic without a doubt.
stulec52
When this car came out it was just one of those ones you just had to have !!
For me the main reason was that I knew a guy who had a full sized beach buggy that looked identical to the Sand Rover, and I'm sure most people had seen a real one too!
The car itself was, when compared to the Racing Buggy series, pretty primitive, but it was so tough and rugged that it would bounce its way over pretty much any surface.
Basically this car was just a re-bodied Holiday Buggy, but that is no bad thing as the Holiday Buggy was so much cheaper than anything of this quailty at the time, that it got a lot of kids started in the hobby.
From a collectors point of view, this a great car to try and find, it has wonderful scale looks, the shell is ABS and so it fairly easy to work on, although finding the extras like roll cage, driver, steering wheel, windscreen, and decals can prove tricky, so if you are looking for one be sure to check as many of the body extras are there as possible. The body shell itself can be fairly easily repaired, but the other bits are tough to find !!!!
I always had fun using this car, with the wee 380 motor it would run (slowly) for over half an hour ! take out the 6 volt battery, and convert to 7.2 and it would get a bit livlier, you then could covert to 540 motor, and if the gearbox could take the strain you had a flying machine !!!
Great fun car!