Tamiya's Most Successful Chassis ?

[berman]

I hope this does not turn into a "USA" vs the "World" thread.

Being the only one who mentioned America and World in the same sentence, would you please enlighten me as to why you think this thread would turn into a competition? I cant for the life of me, imagine why you would think someone might seperate the two.

[SteelRat]

Think it depends on how you define "most successful". Would that be "most popular" or "used on most kits" or "longest running"

If it's the former, I'd say the Hornet / LB chassis or ORV. Both of these have been used in various forms since the 80s hay days in one form or another and are enjoying new popularity with the re-res.

As for the second, I'd say the TL-01. Used as the basis for a staggering number of different cars, and there are even non Tamiya branded cars that use an almost identical clone of it.

[Henk4Focus]

So while it's the States against the world, let me enter South Africa into the fray and say if we have to go on volume then the TL01 and TT01 would be king of the hill. Then the Clod, Hopper, Frog and the rest can go and sleep.

Okay, thank you for letting me get that of my chest.

You all have a great weekend and I'm of now to have my eyes tested so that I can see what I'm doing.

Henk

[highflyer]

Being the only one who mentioned America and World in the same sentence, would you please enlighten me as to why you think this thread would turn into a competition? I cant for the life of me, imagine why you would think someone might seperate the two.

I was joking my friend, making a funny - sorry it came off in a negative way.. I would never try to seperate the TC brotherhood..

I love your avatar ..

Think it depends on how you define "most successful". Would that be "most popular" or "used on most kits" or "longest running"If it's the former, I'd say the Hornet / LB chassis or ORV. Both of these have been used in various forms since the 80s hay days in one form or another and are enjoying new popularity with the re-res.

As for the second, I'd say the TL-01. Used as the basis for a staggering number of different cars, and there are even non Tamiya branded cars that use an almost identical clone of it.

Well said. Not sure what to think anymore personally, its all subjective it seems.. Is there a correct answer????

So while it's the States against the world, let me enter South Africa into the fray and say if we have to go on volume then the TL01 and TT01 would be king of the hill. Then the Clod, Hopper, Frog and the rest can go and sleep.

Okay, thank you for letting me get that of my chest.

You all have a great weekend and I'm of now to have my eyes tested so that I can see what I'm doing.

Henk

We have "South Africa" vs the "World" ..(I am joking).... Good follow up on SteelRats response. Should we have a poll??

Love your avatar Henk

-Rob

[JAnderson]

Mr Anderson, would you care to elaborate on your post? Being a recognisable figure (and probably the most knowledgable with regards to your stature and position) within TamiyaUSA and sales and service within America.

You said so much, yet so little with one word

for example:

Bingo = Longest running unchanged chassis?

Sales, if you had to place the Clod Buster chassis on a podium in regards to sales, where would it place? and other notable mentions/chassis's you care to divulge in?

I realise Tamiya America doesn't negate worldwide sales, but much like Tamiyaclub showrooms, it could give us somewhat of an indication of how things may have panned out for Tamiya globally.

Cheers

I do also wonder if America being the home of Monster Trucking, and both Clod chassis shells being American based (Chevrolet and Peterbilt?) did or didn't sway sales figures within the States compared to the World. It would be easy to say yes, but I cant help but feel that the whole world was in on the Monster truck buzz aswell in the eighties

I suppose regardless, Tamiya knew what they were doing when they tooled up for the Clod.

As I can not comment on sales for obvious reasons. I said "bingo" because no kit we have produced in the R/C lineup has had the life of the Clod chassis (3 vehicles). Since the questions was "Tamiya's Most Successful Chassis ?"

It would be crazy to say that the Clod would not be it. Others have come and gone, and come back in some form, but no other kit has been there since #65 as the Clod has.

I would have to say as a Tamiya Employee, I am proud how long the Clod keeps going, with no end in sight. kind of like that energizer bunny.

Hope that clears it up.

Joe

Long live the Clod

[berman]

I was joking my friend, making a funny - sorry it came off in a negative way.. I would never try to seperate the TC brotherhood..

I love your avatar ..

-Rob

Oh ok thanks for clearing that up, I assumed it was a dig of some sort, *climbs down from high horse/puts toys back in cot/tail between legs etc etc*

Sorry Rob

I just wondered if the mid eighties C10 (and the likes of Samson etc) being a US icon had an effect on Clod sales in the US during the peak(?) of Monster trucking in the late 80's/90's. I know we loved them over here, I remember going to watch Bigfoot vs Kiwi Thunder (a Nissan King Cab) as a kid, so I bet that helped with my addiction

My avatar? I have to turn my screen brightness down everytime I view your ex comp 'lux

As I can not comment on sales for obvious reasons. I said "bingo" because no kit we have produced in the R/C lineup has had the life of the Clod chassis (3 vehicles). Since the questions was "Tamiya's Most Successful Chassis ?"

It would be crazy to say that the Clod would not be it. Others have come and gone, and come back in some form, but no other kit has been there since #65 as the Clod has.

I would have to say as a Tamiya Employee, I am proud how long the Clod keeps going, with no end in sight. kind of like that energizer bunny.

Hope that clears it up.

Joe

Long live the Clod

Haha that's understandable, thank you for elaborating on your previous post, much appreciated

[MadInventor]

How about the Pajero/Lunchbox/Pumpkin chassis? Got to be one of Tamiya's most produced chassis of all time!

Ami I correct in thinking that the original pajero chassis is not the same as the lunchbox chassis. Didn't the original pajero mount the battery over the rear axle, whereas it's down in the bottom of the chassis on the lunchbox ??

[highflyer]

Oh ok thanks for clearing that up, I assumed it was a dig of some sort, *climbs down from high horse/puts toys back in cot/tail between legs etc etc*

Sorry Rob

I just wondered if the mid eighties C10 (and the likes of Samson etc) being a US icon had an effect on Clod sales in the US during the peak(?) of Monster trucking in the late 80's/90's. I know we loved them over here, I remember going to watch Bigfoot vs Kiwi Thunder (a Nissan King Cab) as a kid, so I bet that helped with my addiction

The Kiwi Thunder is cool, thanks for mentioning (googled it). It clearly looks like Kyoshos inspiration for the 'Double Dare' truck which used the USA-1 chassis. And thanks for understanding.

I think you are bang on about Monster trucks here in the states and I am sure it helped Clod sells among the other trucks from Kyosho. Tamiya and Kyoshos timing was perfect as the Monster Truck craze was starting to peak.

My avatar? I have to turn my screen brightness down everytime I view your ex comp 'lux

Haha that's understandable, thank you for elaborating on your previous post, much appreciated

It does shine. Your Clod convoy avatar is awesome

-Rob

[berman]

Cheers man, I agree, kyosho's DD was pretty close. Yeah Kiwi Thunder was awesome to watch IRL, I googled it aswell as I hadn't looked for it for as long as i can remember.

Now it's been changed to a Demon Energy Drink promo vehicle, probably after Demon Energy saw V Energy Drinks RC Monster Truck ad here:

I've had that avatar for a year now, I want to change it to a KC/H-MR pic hehe

:edit: sorry to go off topic guys...

[HunterZero]

I have to say... For me, the TA01/TA02/DF01 series must rank as the most evergreen and successful Tamiya chassis of all-time. The same drivetrain was used equally well in onroad and offroad configurations, for fictional vehicles and real-world scale vehicles, and the TA01 Skyline kickstarted the whole Tamiya touring car line. It has been in production for a long, long time, and has featured in dozens of kits.

- James

[Brooklyn Nights]

I have to say... For me, the TA01/TA02/DF01 series must rank as the most evergreen and successful Tamiya chassis of all-time. The same drivetrain was used equally well in onroad and offroad configurations, for fictional vehicles and real-world scale vehicles, and the TA01 Skyline kickstarted the whole Tamiya touring car line. It has been in production for a long, long time, and has featured in dozens of kits.

- James

I have to say I agree with the TA01 chassis and its on road/off road flexibility!

Love my TA01's

Cheers

Rich

[pikachoo-75]

I too agree it has to be the ...well ...how would you describe it?

DF01-ta01-ta02-ta02w-ta02sw-hummer-trophy truck....maybe its more of a pair of gearboxes rather than a chassis!

it certainly seems to be the most flexible chassis type Tamiya has made.

its a basher buggy (Dirt Thrasher,Manta Ray,Blazing Star)

a RTR sealed chassis buggy (Neo-Top Force,Super Manta Ray)

a club buggy (Top Force,Terra Conqueror)

an exotic component racer (Top Force EVO)

THE intro to 190mm touring cars (all of them )

200+210mm wide GT racing cars (the Ta02w Toms Supra,Nismo GTR LM,300zx )

The Taisan 911 Ta02sw one of a kind drool fest

190mm rally car (again pretty much all of them...and no Impreza!!)

scale military models (Hummer and JGDF armoured doo da)

three Trophy Trucks ..kinda scale stadium racers and possibly forerunners to short course trucks (Chevy s-10,Ford f-150,Toyota Pre-runner)

and now its latest form , a Paris Dakar style rally body version (Porsche Cayenne,Mitsubishi Racing Lancer)

and im sure HPI had a go at "nitro"ing it!

all in all quite an acheivement in terms of R/C!

[slimmy]

My two cents. The ORV chassis is the most successful fallowed by the clodbuster chassis That was started in 1987 and has never stopped being made since. I say this over the TA-01 chassis because growing up everybody had frogs and blackfoots and clodbusters and i never once saw a TA-01 or 2

[Hibernaculum]

IMHO, no chassis has introduced more kids to the fun of RC, than the Grasshopper chassis. And what better measure of "success" could there be?

Therefore, it is the clear winner for me .

It's easy to take this chassis for granted, mainly because it is:

- Simple

- Tough

- Has been around so long

- Has been copied countless times.

But let's not forget that it did not exist before the Grasshopper. Tamiya invented this simple, versatile, cheap, lightweight, robust bathtub chassis-with-fixed-axle layout way back in 1983. Only 2 Tamiya cars used it - the original Grasshopper and Hornet.

But then it evolved a little bit for the Grasshopper II and the very long production run of the Super Hornet (1993 - 2007)

Now it lives on in the Rising Fighter - nearly 30 years later.

But in addition to all that, are the countless buggies and toys from other companies who copied it directly. Nearly every 2WD Nikko buggy produced after 1985 (including the Nikko Rhino, Radio Shack Golden Arrow, etc) owes something to the Grasshopper chassis. The Tyco Turbo Hopper also copied the design in miniature - and that is quite possibly the biggest selling R/C car of all time. Plus there were 1/10 buggies by Panda, Academy and many others that copied it.

When you add up the total sales of cars influenced by this design, it's a huge legacy...

cheers,

H.