simensays

Andy, you knowledge is broader than mine - I know absolutely nothing about the big rigs, awesome as they are...

Haha, you are correct about the hiccup - I meant 2000 - I got mine in 2002, but I was still mistaken either way then...

LOL, yeah not very original, half the WW threads has one or two jokes on that theme But yeah, get yourself a Wild Willy, both original and WW2 - you probably won't regret it!

The Wild Willy 2 is beloved, but it was released in 2002 and not as a reissue of the legendary Wild Willy. The Wild Willy 2 was the model that got me back into Tamiya collecting as I always wanted a Wild Willy as a kid. It was soon apparent that I needed to get the original one - well, quite a few actually - as there were too many differences from the iconic first release. It is also reasonable to say that there were not that many vintage Tamiya collectors in 2002 as there are today, and with all the rereleases people opted for the cars they once had or wanted, as i.e. the Lunchbox that you mention. Still the Wild Willy 2 has a huge following as fun runners, so saying they do not get that much love is somewhat incorrect. From my knowledge, it has the longest running model in Tamiyas production? I might be wrong, but at least i do not know of any models that was in production for close to 20 years. The waves of reissued kinda killed my enthusiasm for vintage Tamiyas, but I still love my Wild Willy 2, albeit I've customised i to resemble the original Wild Willy.

nope

Well, the fix you mention you'd rather do is already out there - it's called 40 years of design evolution. The zip ties you refer to are part of that evolution, and historically accurate if you want to build an old SRB. If you plan on building a kick *** runner, well you should not be basing the build on a SRB platform?

Score! Two excellent WWs to bring back to their former glory - or to enjoy as is I've restored a few of these over the years, and had 17 at one point in time, but am down to a humble 10 or so now. Unless you're going for a true original and hence very expensive build, you can find some nice replacement parts on Shapeways, like the grill.

All I know from my local ventures for old Tamiyas back in the early 00s - mostly a hunt for Wild Willys and Sand Scorchers, is that I turned down something like 10-15 Porsche 959s, usually at a cost around $60-75 at the time... Hindsight is 20/20 and today I naturally wish I'd picked up a couple back then, as the model fascinates me much more today than it did then. Then again, lexan bodied models is not my thing...

Old thread, but might give you some info...

They're expensive, but the coolest model Tamiya ever made, so just get one!

Probably one of the worst promo videos by Tamiya when watching it now, but I really wanted this car back in the early 2000s. It is still a cool car, but probably more of a collectable than a runner? I don't think they sold too many of them, so they don't show up that often. I'm tempted to bid on your auction myself

nothing much, but wheels painted...

This GF01 is slowly looking more and more like a Wild Willy...

Some quick shots with the roll bar (temporarily) mounted, just to check proportions... I can easily adjust the tilt angle of the body.