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Mad Ax

Have you ever "lost" a car?

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A slightly odd question, I suppose, but a valid one.  I'm sure we've all lost parts before.  Back in the late 00s, I bought an NIB King Blackfoot body.  I prepped and primed the body while I was living in my flat in Bristol.  Then around 2013 we moved house, and when I unpacked the body a while later, the tailgate was missing.  In the last 9 years, I haven't found it.  I used to keep all my stuff in the loft above the flat, so maybe the tailgate fell out and went under a rafter where I couldn't see it.  Maybe it fell out while in transit.  Maybe it was part of the big parts haul that went into temporary storage, and somehow fell out there.

But I'd never lost a car before.  At least, I didn't think I had.

A few months back I did a monster truck tyre comparison thread.  I wanted to compare Wild Willy 2 wheels and tyres to those on the MST MTX-1.  I've got WW2 tyres on my Wild Mini (which is basically a WR02-C with WW2 rear wheels at both ends, and a few little mods), so that seemed like a logic car to do a comparison on.  But I've also got WW2 wheels on my G6-01 Truck of Many Wheels, and that's usually more accessible because it runs more often.

The problem here is that I have a terrible memory.  I honestly couldn't remember which wheels I'd used for the comparison.  Wild Mini?  or Truck of Many Wheels?

I had to ask myself this question because, a few weeks back, I was climbing up in the storage area and I found the plastic box that I keep my Wild Mini in, and it was empty.  Actually there are a lot of empty boxes.  When cars are on the display shelf, the boxes get stacked inside each other to save space. The boxes are labelled, because car-specific spares stay in the box.  There's usually enough space for spares, manuals, etc. to litter the bottom of the box while another box is stacked in it.  It's a really easy and efficient way to store things.

But a few months back we had some heavy storms, and my workshop roof got damaged.  Water was pouring in and stuff was getting soggy.  I grabbed a whole load of boxes, tipped all the parts out into a pile, and arranged the boxes to catch the water coming in.  It was an ongoing task - as soon as I caught a leak in one place, another would spring up.  Every day I had to go up, shift the boxes, empty some more, move them around again.  The whole storage floor got itself into a terrible state.

So it wasn't a surprise to me when I found the Wild Mini box with two inches of dirty water in it.  What was a surprise was that I couldn't find the Wild Mini anywhere obvious on the storage floor.  Well, maybe it was in behind my big rig boxes, or around the back by the wheels.  Never mind, it would turn up.  But somewhere in the back of my mind, I was wondering: what if it doesn't?  When did I last use it?  I no longer take it to Iconic events because there's no time for a lunchtime wheelie race, like the good old days.  In fact the only events I take it to are Tamiya Junkies meets, and I haven't been to one of those since the middle of last year.  Could I have left it there?  It's an obvious car, someone would recognise it if I posted a photo, someone could have taken it with the intention of posting on Facebook to find the owner, and I hadn't seen it because I don't check in to Facebook that often.  Or it could have rolled out the van when I stopped at the services, or pulled over on the way home, or whatever.  Maybe I took it to another event that I forgot about, left it on view and a bypasser took it.  Maybe it's just lost.

A week ago I had a tidy up.  The roof is repaired, so I cleaned up all my boxes and sorted the parts back into them.  The Wild Mini should have appeared, but it didn't.  By this time I was genuinely concerned for it.  Not overly so - I like it a lot, it's fun, but I don't get the chance to drive it much now.  Maybe it would be an excuse to do a different wheelie car.  I've always wanted to build a better pumpkin, but it doesn't seem worth it while I still have the Wild Mini.  I was mentally preparing my Facebook post, digging out some old photos and which groups I should post the Missing Car Photo in, remembering all of 2021's events just in case there was somewhere else the Wild Mini might have gone.

Around the same time as I was doing the monster truck tyre comparison, I was also testing a variety of different wheels and tyres on the F150 tow truck.  I had about 5 different sets of wheels and tyres from various storage boxes and NIBs that I'd tried out on the chassis, and when I was done, I threw them all into a cardboard box and left them on the storage floor for sorting out later.  Then the storm damage occurred and they got pushed out of the way to they didn't get wet.  I found that box while I was tidying.  I knew it contained only wheels and tyres, so I left it to one side to sort out later.  That later came, and recollection came flooding back to me.

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Yep!  There it is!  A trick of scale means the box doesn't quite look big enough from the outside, but it is.  The Wild Mini was in there all along, with the wheels and tyres on top and stuffed all around it.  I had indeed grabbed the Wild Mini down for the monster truck wheel and tyre comparison thread, and to save making multiple climbs back to the storage floor, I'd thrown it in the same cardboard box with all the wheels and tyres.

Riddle solved - Wild Mini located!

Have you ever lost anything without an obvious explanation, and has it ever resurfaced in an unexpected place?

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Oh yes, I was building a nicely hopped up M04. It has some nice trinkets such as heatsink, turnbuckle steering and oil dampers, maybe even a quick releae battery holder.

I have more than one M04 (why???) so now seem to be playing 'find the lady' between the boxes in my loft and the cars in the garage.

Pretty sure I found it a few months back but now can't remember where I put it.

One day it will get a nice Giulia body (also in the loft in one of too many boxes).

The water-related verbs were quite appropriate given the context :D 

2 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

  That later came, and recollection came flooding back to me.

 has it ever resurfaced in an unexpected place?

 

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RC stuff is a bit different, but I tend to toss things I had not used for 5-6 months so if I "lost" something it was due to my own wrongdoing.    :lol:

I have to admit I've tossed things and then had to rebuy it later.. :ph34r:

RC stuff I usually box them up and mark them so I don't think I've lost anything, but my memory gets fuzzy at times and keep hearing voices in my head to buy more RC stuff so never know.. 

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Never lost a car in that I've gone, 'Bleep, where's that car?', but have opened a box with the reaction 'Oh, I'd forgotten I'd got that'. 

Plus of course, I'm always putting a tool down in the garage, and then can't find it 2 minutes later despite having not left the garage, then proceed to waste 20 minutes looking for it. Also making tubular spacers / shims on the lathe, cut off the part with the parting off tool, only to then find it's disappeared under the lathe bed somewhere. Then it's the conundrum of 'Do I spend 10 minutes looking for it and cleaning under the lathe, or do I spend 5 minutes making another part and hope I don't lose that one.....'

 

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Hopefully it's not totally lost, but I'm still looking for a pale blue SG Coyote that I've misplaced... somewhere in my parents attic or garage? Now I'm kicking myself for separating it from the rest of the RC stuff over a decade ago. I have an idea of one last box I suspect it might be in, but all the other boxes/places so far have turned up empty. I'm sure I'll stumble on it at some point. I don't think anyone would have gotten rid of it. It's just frustrating not knowing where it is!

I did "lose" Tamiya guy amongst some other detritus from my childhood bedroom when everything got boxed up, but I knew pretty much where he was, so it didn't take long to find him :D

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1 hour ago, Willy iine said:

I have to admit I've tossed things and then had to rebuy it later.. :ph34r:

I'm bad for that one too.  About 3-5 years ago I did a big "purge" of my basement work area.  I was frustrated with a lot of things, and my own "clutter" was one of them.  I went into it with the logic of "If I have used it for X-period of time, then it should go".  Boxes of vintage RC stuff got chucked.  Old TX/RX's.  Bins of extra tamiya parts and shocks.  Old servo's and MSC's.  I'd sold off most of my vintage RC cars, so what did I need the extra bits for right?  I did the same with bike stuff..... vintage XT and XTR groupsets went straight into the trash.

It all felt good at the time....... but now?  The retro bike stuff has seen a HUGE spike in value, and what was worthless and ended up in the trash 5 years ago would have easily fetched hundreds-thousands now.  Whoops!  The RC stuff.... well, that's more of just a kick in the pants as now that I've re-found my love of RC/Tamiya... I just wish I had it all back.  But... hindsight is 20/20, shoulda-woulda-coulda, and a bunch of other cheesy sayings can get entered here.

Bringing the blabbing full circle back to the topic at hand.... yes, I too have "lost" RC stuff.  I bought a body set for a Thunder Tiger MAN truck sometime around 2006-2007, with the intention of doing a scale 6x6 truck, or maybe a Dakar-style 4x4.  It sat on the shelves for years while I focused more on the comp crawling scene, and 1/5 gassers, and then a return to bike trials.  The years passed... I got separated and stuff got split and boxed up.  Years later I sold the house and moved.  10 years passed, and I never did find that body.  I even went as far as to check with the Ex, and she didn't have it.  Oh well.... $h!t happens, right?

Well, skip ahead (or back?) to a year or two ago when I'm trying to sort out the last of my basement junk, and I come across a box labeled "files/office junk".  Open it up, and under a bunch of (you guessed it!) files and office junk I find the NIB Thunder Tiger MAN body!  Woot!!!

Now If I could just figure out where I put my sanity...

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I kinda forget I have a  expert built hornet...still in box....when ya have so many...haha

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I built a 2002 chevy camaro based on the tamiya 58481 Ford SVT F150 kit (third party body that i don't remember the details) more than 2 decades ago.  The ex-wife specifically asked for that in the divorce, knowing it would ******* me off to lose it.

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Ummmm, from time to time I've really got to sit down for a while and think about where I've put certain parts. It usually comes back to me and I find it/them.

The only time I lost a car was when it got stolen. An original Ultima with the body painted Hot flouro pink before I owned it. It was the 80's.
I kept my RC car stuff in a back shed back then. Pretty easy yard to access. I went out there one day and gone.
I still regret losing that one.

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I rarely lose anything, pretty much know exactly where all of my cars/parts are and what they looked like when I last put them there.  I haev a photographic memory and it definitley helps in this case :)   I would love to "lose" an RC just to find it years later forgetting that I had it, but unfortunately just not in the cards for me.  

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Never a whole car, but parts, yes. I fact I am kinda famous for saying "ah I will put it in this special place, as I know exactly where it is" then forgetting about said special place 🤦‍♂️🙄. And it's not just RC stuff either. 

One time I put my spare car key and reg document in the safe place. Needless to say come change of car time it was squeeky bum time for 4 hours the day I picked up my new car, until we found them. At the back of my bottom drawer in the bedroom 😂, what kinda safe place is that !!! 

James.

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Usually when I'm hunting high and low for something I'm sure I've got , it turns out I've sold it or swapped it and forgotten all about the sale / trade  . The other problem is moving things from the 'that's where it is' place to another 'I'll remember where I put that ' place , then forgetting where that place is.

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I've 3 cars I'm not sure what happened to.

My first car , the Tamiya Frog. I've found the front wheels, rear wheels and rear shock arms (?), But not chassis/ body etc.

Tamiya Lunchbox, found wheels, but nothing else..

Tamiya Holiday Buggy, I remember melting the body with fireworks in my mid teens, strapping a rocket to it to make it faster (even almost 35yrs ago, a 380 was slowwww), I think I've front arms with wheels attached,  but nothing else.

I can't imagine I'd binned them, they're in my folks loft which they rarely go up, and certainly wouldn't randomly bin anything, so....🤷‍♂️

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37 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

I've 3 cars I'm not sure what happened to.

My first car , the Tamiya Frog. I've found the front wheels, rear wheels and rear shock arms (?), But not chassis/ body etc.

Tamiya Lunchbox, found wheels, but nothing else..

Tamiya Holiday Buggy, I remember melting the body with fireworks in my mid teens, strapping a rocket to it to make it faster (even almost 35yrs ago, a 380 was slowwww), I think I've front arms with wheels attached,  but nothing else.

I can't imagine I'd binned them, they're in my folks loft which they rarely go up, and certainly wouldn't randomly bin anything, so....🤷‍♂️

Get in that loft !!

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1 hour ago, KEV THE REV said:

Get in that loft !!

Aye, it's on my list...😬

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Not a whole car, but I tend to lose parts WAY too often.  :rolleyes:  Just this week I have been prepping to build a Traxxas Sledgehammer this weekend, and I have lost (almost certain thrown away) four of the shock bodies!  I literally have 5-6 hours of hardcore searching for them in this house, and nothing.  I have been *******ed about it all week because original plastic white shocks are hard to come across, and I thought my build would have to be shelved for awhile.  But luckily, optional Traxxas black aluminum shocks were available back in the day, and the same model number shocks are readily available today, so easy fix. B)

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Other than my oft repeated story of my folks tossing my original Tamiya Super G, Marui Land Cruiser and Aristocraft Dolphin in the trash while I was at college (all so they could repurpose the cheap particle board cabinet they were stored in), I haven't lost any cars. My mind, yes, but cars? No..

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That was close !! . I would have sorted the trash too to find those parts , in fact I probably have done that looking for missing parts . I've been in and out of my 2 lofts many times on the 'hunt ' for stuff that I've lost count. 

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7 hours ago, Tamiya_Cars_4_Life said:

But yes, I am a professional at forgetting an item’s location only minutes after I place it there… and then I proceed to spend an hour searching for it… :lol:

How old are you? I only ask because I promise you this problem only gets worse with time. It falls into the same category as me wandering over to my toolbox while working on a car and thinking "now, what tool did I come over here for?"

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12 hours ago, Tamiya_Cars_4_Life said:

My mom was “cleaning” up my room one time, as the RCs were “too spread out and messy” and so she decided to take a bin of spare parts (they weren’t in bags so she assumed they were unneeded) and chucked them.

My wife is under strict orders that nothing in the workshop is to be touched, moved or "cleaned".  period.  no exceptions.

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When I first saw this thread I was thinking ‘lost a car’ as in out of range and the car kept going like an Energizer bunny..

Yes, multiple times as a kid running AM radio.. :ph34r: 

Luckily back then my neighborhood kids were all into RC so a bunch of kids on bicycles down the street would catch it for me.. 

Now imaging the 158mph speed demon RC guy’s car going out of range.. :blink: :lol:

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Nearly did.. after taking this shot of my brushless B4 I was on my way home and suddenly had a terrible feeling I’d left it in a busy public park :wacko:

Following a U-turn and rather ‘focussed’ 20min drive back I was very relieved to see it still sat where I’d left it! 

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6 hours ago, Mad Zero said:

suddenly had a terrible feeling I’d left it in a busy public par

Ah mate, you must've been freaking out! Lucky you that it was still there.

In my late teens I used to use a skateboard to get down the pub in town and I'd bung it in a hedge or bushes or whatever and grab it on the way home. One morning I woke up and realised I'd left it in the bush. I went down there and it was gone and I was gutted. That was 20 years ago. Then about 2 years ago I was routing through some stuff in my parents garage and there was the skateboard. I was utterly amazed, and can only assume I was so wasted that I had no recollection of bringing it home, but obviously I did and had lobbed it into the abyss that is my Dad's garage!:lol:

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14 hours ago, Mad Zero said:

suddenly had a terrible feeling I’d left it in a busy public park :wacko:

Following a U-turn and rather ‘focussed’ 20min drive back I was very relieved to see it still sat where I’d left it! 

on  more than one occasion, I've parked my motorcycle in town, wandered around for an hour, then put my hand in my pocket and thought "where are my keys..?"

A quick 10-minute jog across town in heavy motorcycle clothing to find, yes, they're still in the ignition.

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