Subaru Brat
Model Number: 58384
Released
Drive
RWD
Chassis Description
ORV
Body Type
1 lexan and 1 styrene body included
Motor
540
Width
220mm
Length
453mm
Height
175mm
Weight
1840g with resin body
Scale
1/10
Tires
front:35mm width 82mm diameter
Rear:35mm width 82mm diameter
Re-release of 58038, now with differential and other improvements over the original release.
The Subaru Brat was made solely for export and achieved tremendous popularity in the U.S. market in the 1970's
Tamiya first produced an R/C version of this popular little truck back in 1983.
In addition, both a super-detailed resin body for shelf display and a lightweight durable polycarbonate body for racing are included.
Above information taken from Tamiya's website
The Subaru Brat was made solely for export and achieved tremendous popularity in the U.S. market in the 1970's
Tamiya first produced an R/C version of this popular little truck back in 1983.
In addition, both a super-detailed resin body for shelf display and a lightweight durable polycarbonate body for racing are included.
Above information taken from Tamiya's website
Reviews
mrbiccies
I would have to agree about the 'brittle' feel to plastic Stu, a bit dissapointed with that....but all said and done at least this will give me a Brat runner to play with
and I do like the Polycarbonate shell - nice touch.
Brat Attacks
It's here! At last! We should all be celebrating! but I'm not. Despite this being the Brat we all wished for 25 years ago with oil shocks, differential and servo guard (which the instructions fail to list in the build up) it just doesn't feel the same.
The chassis is all fine and good but the usual Tamiya plastic quality isn't there. It all feels brittle and cheap. The wheels now come with locating lugs no doubt to help you assemble them properly though how one can get these wrong or need help is beyond me. Sadly the sweet smell of rubber is now different too. l opened the bag and sniffed deeply like a junkie but it just wasn't the same.
l know we can't expect it to be 'as original' as times do change but some things should have remained. One of them being the steering set up. Having had a Frog and remembering the awful angle the wheels turned its not going to be long before a new set of tires are needed due to inner wheel drag.
But once on the shelf the chassis really is the last thing you want to see (unless you are lucky enough to have got the one of the first editions with chrome plating it's the beautiful Brat shell that you want to look at. This thankfully hasn't been altered apart from the fact that in reality it's a Mud Blaster shell complete with body posts and darker tinted windows. Everything on the moulds are the same so good news for those who wish to give new life to a well worn original. What is different is the decal sheet. No longer do you get a choice of stripes and there is only one set to go round 2 shells. The gold is not backed with white making it transparent and the red outlining has been discontinued too though it was always lost on a red shell.
l opted to build the polycarbonate shell as I've built many of the hard ones and l was keen to see how it looked next to the original. And I'm really impressed with the moulding. It will never be as good as the original but it's close and it's also much better than Parma shell. The change in the rear bed should make it more durable and should your new Brat get shunted or you reverse into a tree, the rear panel won't end up looking like it's half open. It's also nice to have a polycarbonate shell that needs more than one colour to paint it even though there are decals for those little bits like lights and name badges.
In all l sort of like the re-re. It has started to bring down the price of the ones on Ebay et al to a more realistic price and will give others the oportunity to enjoy one of Tamiya's finest RC models, you see for me it will be nice to see more Brats on TC and there really can't be anything better than that. Though l won't stop playing with my original and why should I?? parts are now so plentyful.