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Cult_IMT

Remember The Turbo Panther?

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Man,I had lots of fun with it in the days....

retro3bz6.jpg

Still going strong!!

You guys like???

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Yea, the Turbo Phanter is a real Nikko clasic! Yours looks verry nice with a box and all. It is sort of like a mini Rhino witch they had to name turbo because it was so slow:-) I have a 4wd Nikko in this size witch also has the turbo function. That was my first RC ever and I thought it was funny back then. Verry nice colectors item you gott there CULT_IMT.

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Man,I had lots of fun with it in the days....

retro3bz6.jpg

Still going strong!!

You guys like???

I had one of these about a million years ago, and it was quite quick for what it was. I ran it untill it was absolutly worn out. Happy days ;) It's a total classic to me. I will get one for the collection one day.

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I Sure this was the first R/c car i ever owned! Thanks for posting this. Ah the memories of buying ever AA battery the local garage had...

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Nice photos guys! Love the ones c/w box - it brings back memories of Christmas 1987 or whenever it was!

Was just about to ask if anyone had one in white (since that was the colour I had) until I saw your old photos! Great! I bet you were as pleased as punch that day!

I too pretty much wore mine into the ground - then my older brother took the wreckage and made an R/C battleship with it!

Of course it was the Tamiya models that were the real "desirable" back then, but my folks couldn't afford it. Luckily I can now, and have just built the chassis to a reissue Hornet!

Looking back, I'm glad I had the Wild Panther - I don't think I could have coped with building a kit form Tamiya buggy back then - a kid on Christmas morning is too impatient!

Least I can take my time and make a nice job of the Hornet now!

Thanks for posting up the pics of the Wild Panther - they were good little (budget) cars at the time!

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My first was a Turbo Panther too! I had one in red, got it for Christmas probably in 1986. Back in those days rechargeable batteries were really expensive, and my mother is the world's best "budget buyer" - believes that all products are identical, only the price changes.

I unwrapped my Turbo Panther on Christmas Morning, and was given a set of eight Blue Seal batteries. Remember those? They were those really cheap lead batteries from Eveready, the ones that always leaked if you left them in your pocket radio. A brand new unopened set was unable to get the panther from one side of the living room to the other - and of course all the shops were shut, so we couldn't get any better ones (Gold Seal or Duracell were the only batteries to use in those days!)

In fact I had to wait until my birthday in February, when I was given a set of ni-cads and a slow charger, before I could really use the Panther to any degree at all.

After that it got hammered regularly. In fact it was a surprisingly sturdy little beast, and despite heavy use from a 7-year-old boy it survived for many years - in fact it only really expired when I had it on top of a wall for maintenance, and accidentally knocked the throttle control. It launched off the wall and landed upside down, smashing the roll cage :)

Still many fond memories of that car, tho...

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ah good memories, I had many hours pass with this buggy, still have it, here is a picture

panther.jpg

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The chassis and transmitter is identical to the Nikko Venus buggy. Would like to get my hands on one of these and do the same to it as I did to the Venus. These things out handled a Jethopper/Turbo Hopper because of the diff. Very cool!

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Thanks for posting glad to see some others made there first steps into rc with these great little cars. Here is a photo of mine on the day i got it. <_<

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp...006212921_1.jpg

Quality pic!! Where was that taken, not in Nottingham by any chance was it? Just looks wfully famaillar!

My mate at school had a Turbo Panther and I wated one SOOOOO badly! You are right guys, the rechargeble batteries were the only way to go with these old RC cars, they seemed to give out more power than even the duracells!! I loved the 'turbo' function on the controller, quality :)

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Hello,

I have two of these, operating on different frequencies. However, the gears are not in very good condition. Does anyone knows how to remove the back wheels so that I could access the gear-box?

Thank you very much!

heres my old one...

dsc04517wi6.jpg

dsc04518eo5.jpg

got a mint black one as well

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Does anyone knows how to remove the back wheels so that I could access the gear-box?

You need to brace the back side of the rim and drift the axle from the centre of the press fit hex.

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Will try that. Thanks!

You need to brace the back side of the rim and drift the axle from the centre of the press fit hex.

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Careful you don't drop the car when the axle comes out. And be careful the hex doesn't fly off accross the room, happened to me lastnight while dismantling the Jet Hopper gearbox (same setup).

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Hi guys, a quick question, on the box, does it state 1/16th scale by any chance?? If so what was the turbo panther actually based on? Was it a real buggy??

Thanks B)

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Update - I now have a Turbo Panther and a Turbo Panther II, sourced them both from ebay, both in excellent condition :)

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Turbo Panther wasn't based on a real buggy, but was a miniature version of Nikko's flagship 1/10 scale model in 1986, the Rhino (aka Bison, aka Frame Buggy)

cheers,

H.

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heres my old one...

dsc04517wi6.jpg

dsc04518eo5.jpg

got a mint black one as well

This picture brings back memory's. :)

had one of these probably back in around 1985.

it was my first R/C car although it was,nt my first choice i got it for xmas.(what i really wanted was a tamiya hotshot or boomer).

father christmas was on a budget that year. :(

i had it for years and it got some real hammer,i remember the rear tyres turned to slicks. :)

wish i still had it now though.

cheers Karl

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got my turbo panther in bits starting to sort out parts to get brushless rig and servos in it then sort the shocks and drivetrain

any advice or help would be welcome . trouble is its in a very long to do list

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got my turbo panther in bits starting to sort out parts to get brushless rig and servos in it then sort the shocks and drivetrain

any advice or help would be welcome . trouble is its in a very long to do list

You only need extremely light springs on the rear, or only one spring and two dampers. All the rear weight is unsprung in the gearbox.

If thinking brushless, bearings in every location in the diff is a must. The higher rpm and much, much longer runtimes will see the plastic bushings melt. This will require cutting out sections of gears and the gearbox to fit the bearings in there.

The original motor only runs on 6.0v (5 cells) of the 9.6v of the battery compartment (8 cells). Be aware of this if trying to run the toy motor on an ESC powered by the full 9.6v. It will burn out in only a few minutes on 9.6v.

Fitting a steering servo (1:18 micro) is relatively easy. I stood mine on it's side with the mounting tabs cut off, and carefully cutout the chassis so it clamps in there tightly as you screw the front end together. Length of the servo horn you use is vital to get the correct throw in the steering. Too long and the servo will bind, too short and you will not have enough steering.

Fitting a micro receiver and micro esc is easy and will fit where the original circuit board was. ESC switch with a styrene sheet mounting plate will fit where the original switch was.

The biggest problem I've found is finding replacement rear tyres. They do chew through pretty quickly when the buggy goes 3-4 times faster than it was ever meant to.

***Note: My brushless mod was done to the Nikko Venus, but this is the same chassis as the Turbo Panther.

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thats my worry was looking at making new axle and fitting 1/16 hexs but got to find 6mm hex bar to make the diff out put + more time would be nice

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Was my first RC car which my dad bought me from Hamleys back in 86. Fond memories though and the turbo function was nice! I then discovered Tamiya kits and bought a Boomerang 3 years later.

I still have it, how ever the bumper and wings are broken in half possibly from storage and going brittle. Spares available?

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I had one of these too. Loved it. Thanks for reviving this old thread I probably wouldn't have remembered otherwise. :lol:

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