Opel Ascona 400 Rally
Model Number: 58037
Released
7-Nov-83
Drive
2wd rear
Suspension
Coil sprung all round, front indepentant rear solid axle
Chassis Description
Plastic Bathtub Design
Body Type
Lexan with ABS front and rear additions
Motor
540
Virtually identical to the Audi Quattro rally car, difference being the body shell which is another Tamiya masterpiece!! lexan shell with ABS plastic front and rear sections for amazing detail. A great looking model, but lacked the handling of it's full size counterpart.
Reviews
MvT
At the time one of the best looking cars that were on the market, but driving it is a bit tricky. When going full speed and suddenly turned a corner, 8 out 10 times it went on its roof because of its not very low gravity point. You really need to learn to drive it.
The maintenance were only the tyres. It was a tyre eater. Especially the front tyres got really worn on the side due to steering and gravity point. I had always a new set on the shelf.
The radio control compartment (chassis) was just horrible to get access to, and in those days you needed to get there quite often to charge the AA batteries (they where only 1000 Mamp I believe). Remove the battery pack on top, unscrew the driver, unscrew the lid, bend the strips of the battery pack. Finally access to the AAs. This is the reason why a lot of these cars today are missing the radio control compartment lid as it was so easy to drive without it. These days a very wanted item.
The looks of the car is just great! And when you look at the 1:1 scale, driven by Jens Ole Kristensen in the Danish rally 'Ford Sierra Rally' 21st august 1981, it looks exactly like his big brother. A very good replica by Tamiya in that time.