Mitsubishi Pajero
Model Number: 58044
Released
10-Jul-84
Drive
2WD rear, gear differential
Suspension
Friction Coil Springs, front swingarms, rear live solid axle
Chassis Description
Black Plastic
Body Type
White ABS Plastic
Motor
RS-540S
Width
214mm
Length
355mm (with wheeliebar)
Height
approx. 215mm
Wheel Base
190mm
Tread Front
180mm
Tread Rear
180mm
Ground Clearance
10mm (minimum)
Scale
1/10
Tires
front:Semipneumatic rubber tire
Rear:Semi pneumatic rubber tire
An dual purpose stunt vehicle with a detailed Pajero bodyshell. The receiver battery can be moved to allow endless wheelies or to balance the car better for fast running. (Original description by Michael)
Reviews
J3cubfan
The Mitsubishi Pajero made it debut in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1983 and Tamiya was there to capture this in full detail form as their 44th R/C 1/10th scale model. The 1:1 scale Pajero was introduced in Japan in 1982. The kit offers the Tamiya enthusiast something in the way of an unique vehicle plus it allows the modeler to really test their detailing skills. I brought one from Ebay last January and not really knowing what I was in for, here’s what I found.
Initial finds and this does what????
When I received my Pajero from the mail, I couldn’t wait to open the package up. What I found was a rather short and stout type of vehicle. I could tell that the thing was going to be top-heavy if I where to drive it and make any abrupt turns. Plus I also noticed a wheelie bar on the back. Wow it looks like this thing does wheelies!!! I am thinking to myself that this should be interesting to drive, but would not get the chance to do for a while.
As with all of my cars that I purchase used, I took this apart for inspection. I notice that this thing shares a lot of parts with the Grasshopper, mainly the front suspension and the transmission. The only difference in the transmission department is the fact this vehicle has the RS540 motor versus RS360 in the Grasshopper. Other similarities are the Ranger Tires and wheels and that’s basically where it ends.
When I brought the Pajero, this was going to be my first restoration project. I asked around to see just how hard it would be to come be a chassis and a body shell and it turned out they do come up, but its once in a blue-moon. The chassis has a tab that is in front and has a nasty habit of breaking off upon impact or repeated body shell removal. The body shell has its own set of problems with broken bumper corners and it appeared that someone used 30-grit sandpaper on the thing. Man I thought that I really got screwed on this deal. No problems though, I found a chassis for the Pajero. I must note, the Pajero has its own chassis and does not share one with the Midnight Pumpkin, the Lunch Box or Wild Willy's.
Houston we have a body shell and chassis.
I finally found a body shell and chassis. Everything started to come together. I detailed my by using Testor’s Flat Black on the front grill, bumper ends, roll bar and floodlights. The body shell was painted in a household Krylon Gloss White and Bare Metal Foil was used for the front and rear bumpers. The decals are the Pajero that appears in the 1983 Paris-Alger-Dakar Rally and those where applied.
Driving this thing… Oh boy…
When I finally finished this vehicle I decided to take it for a spin. I put my trusty Novak ESC in and off it went. Let me just say that I was not ready for how this thing was going to handle. Before driving this thing, I drove my Blitzer Beetle almost non-stop. So when I started out this I realized early on just how top heavy this thing is. There is no abrupt turning while maintaining break-neck speeds for this buggy. When making turns especially on grassy, bumpy surfaces, you need to slow down or else it will rollover. Luckily I caught on early, and I didn’t tip the car. On a straightaway, you could do wheelies. A small amount of acceleration would lift the front tires off the ground.
Conclusions.
I must admit, I learned a lot from the restoration project. It was here where I came to understand that Tamiya is a firm believer in utilizing parts from other vehicles in their designs. I really got to hone my detailing skills with this body set. Although, I must admit the novelty wore off for me. I sold this car in September. All in all the Pajero is a car that nicely detail, but if the modeler insists upon a detailed car, then caution should be heeded while driving so as to avoid rollovers.
rcfanatic
This is a very fun model, pops wheelies with little effort. Pretty durable as it shares the same gearbox as the grasshopper and hornet. The body did tend to crack arount the rear wheelwells. Overall a very realistic and fun car to drive.