Why Sand Scorchers?

[Spike]

What is about Sand Scorchers that make them so desirable that people are willing to spend loads on just about anything to do with them?

Some of the prices they go for on ebay amaze me. The chassis is the same as the RR and Ranger, so it can't be for the handling and raw speed! I think the Beetle body looks as ugly as sin. Yet I feel obliged to get one for my collection (which secretly annoys me)

Am I missing something?

[Shodog]

Some people consider the Sand Scorcher the Holy grail of Tamiya R/C cars. It certainly isn't for the chassis as it's perfomance pails in comparison to whats available today. It has to be the Body. I think the reason the Sand Scorcher is desireable is that the Volkswagon Beetle holds a special place in peoples heart. Many people have had some connection to it. Either their parents, a relative, friend, or coworker had one. My childhood friend was all into bugs during High school. he had a thrasher that we mad into a baja bug with a cutting torch in metal shop. One day we went down to the river. We were jumping it, rolled it a couple of times. It just wouldn't quit.

I think the the body on the Sand Scorcher is very cool. The first time I saw one when I was 12, I knew I had to have one. The shop owner I worked for bought one. He was doing donuts in the dirt with it. It was just too cool. Eventually I got that car and drove it for a while. I fitted the body to my frog also. I remember thrashing it to no end.

While Tamiya sold tons of Sand Scorchers, many of them are very thrashed. Just take a look at the examples that pop up on Ebay. It is few and far between when you see mint examples up for sale. It is really nice cars that garner the big dollars.

[volksrod68]

each to their own,but i love the scorcher, i am a big fan of vw's.

i think just the realism of them, the body detail, the rear tires fetch a lot bacause there are hardly any good ones left still.

there isnt much rubber in contact with the ground so they will wear quickly.

i get what u are saying, rangers and rr's dont go for as much as scorchers, i think its just the body and wheels/tires that get the prices going.

did that make sense?

ive got 2 scorchers with bodies, i love em!

[DJTheo]

I love the Scorcher and grew up in an aircooled VW, but agree with Spike, lately the money doesn't stand in relation to what they are, don't forget that the main body is almost the same still produced (something you cannot say for the Rough Rider) and even the $80 the wheel sets cost don't make the $300-$400 difference between a mint SS and a mint RR or XLT. I think somehow we all have been brainwashed a bit about the Holy Grail (maybe http://www.toyexchange.addr.com/tamcars28.html did it?), there are also other rare and collectable cars, maybe even more...

Cheers

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[netsmithUK]

Its got nothing to do with performance or cost at new or anything like that, for most its just nostalgia.

None of the prices for any of the cars actually makes sense when you look at it. There is already another thread on the go that points out that you can buy life size cars for about the same price as these model ones. And when you look at it the very early cars had very few bits in them, chassis and a motor connected directly to the reat axle but people still pay hundreds for them

The prices are just Market Forces in actions, as for why everyone wants one there are lots of reasons.

For me it was the first rc car I every had, so it was a natural purchase to make when I got back into collecting 20 years later. Difference is this time around I had a bit more money to spend.

I guess this is the case for a lot of thirty-somethings, they all want them for nostalgia reasons. It just so happens some of those thirysomething have a bit more money to spend than others...

And yes I think there are other collectors out there who are buying them just because they have become the 'must haves' of any collection.

[raemin]

Personnaly I've bought my used-yet-nice SS for 120Euro, which is a reasonable investment. I have to say this is my favourite car.

When you compare it to the hilux that offer similar aluminium frame & abs body design the driving experience is a real pleasure : with softer torsion bar, the car just behaves as my grand'ma 's one...

All in all this is an extreemly realistic RC display model together with a pleasant runner.

Last but not least this is my son's favourite, and generally speaking this particular model is the one that receives most awards from my non collectors friends : most people who had the opportunity to see my collection prefer this runner to my mint Hilux... This car has a something really special.

Raoul

visit my replica traderoom

id=size1>

[Dazmeister]

Sand Scorchers are great, it was my first proper R/C car back in 84 bought used from my LHS when I was 9. In nearly two years of collecting I must have found over 15 of these either out of the local paper or from friends. They look great as a static model and in my opinion it is the definitive all round Tamiya icon - period !

Daz

[jacolouw]

For me its about

- a piece of history (real and R/c)

- VW fan in general

- My second r/c I ever had (bashed it to death...sniff sniff)

- Scale looks - second to none!!!

My first 1:1 was a VW Beetle - Had one in our family ever since I can remember. At a later stage some friend and I restored the 1:1 cars - had 18 registered on my name at a stage.

Bought my first Beetle 1:1 in 1984 for $90 (nintey) - After working on the engine (1600cc singlecarb twinport) it came out as a 2400cc Duelcarb Weber36 DCD baby kicking out 132 Kilowats!!)

Man I miss that Beetle!!

For ma its about nostalgia and the main reason why I love the SS -

BECAUSE!!!!

Jakes

Of all the things I Lost - I miss my Mind the most

[bholio]

The first High-performance RC car I ever saw was my cousins Sand Scorcher when I took a trip to visit him in Europe. I didn't know stuff like that existed. At the time I had a few toy-store RC cars (6AA, 9V battery types).

A real eye opener. My parents wouldn't get me one (too expensive), but I convinced a friend that he should get one. He got a Rough Rider. We beat it up and then he sold it to me. I still have it.

I think the Scorcher Body is great. Wish I had one. I'm also impressed with the hardware of that platform. At the time, we cursed the radio box and it's lack of space. Now, I'm impressed at the attempt at waterproofing.

[J3cubfan]

I'd have to agree with the general concensus here. I remember when I first saw the Sand Scorcher in my neighborhood hobbyshop. I remember see this as NIB kit for $150 USD back in 1982. It was either save another month for the Sand Scorcher or by the Holiday Buggy for $65. We'll I opted out for the Holiday Buggy. Oh well, live and learn. But it has always been a favorite of mine. It would be great to limited re-release of this on its 25th aniversary.

John

[retro]

The thing I like about the Sand Scorcher is the way it's construction parallels the real thing. I guess partly because both the r/c's and the real cars were simpler back then.

Although its was meant to be a good performer at the time, the design was obviously still inspired by the real cars. The front suspension assembly looks and works a lot like a real Beetle. The rear suspension has the same torsion bar design, and the 'engine' is hung out the back driving the rear wheels.

I think most fans of the real VW Beetle would recognise the similarities in design, and everybody loves the scale appearance. So, you get lots of people who couldn't care less about a Superchamp going out and buying Scorchers. The laws of supply and demand kick in and suddenly, Scorchers are worth ££££.

Which is bad news for me, 'cos I haven't got one :-(

Gary.

[retro]

Just another thought....

I wonder how many Roughriders, Superchamps and Rangers have given up their lives to become Sand Scorchers. More than a few I'd say.

Gary

[rc-martin]

In reply to how many Rangers and Rough Riders have become Sand Scorchers, the last Sand Scorcher i aquired has become a Ranger!!! This should balance it out a bit.

The Sand Scorcher is still my first and last though.

[SJoerD]

I don't really know why I like it anyway....

Maybe it's because I know someone throwing one away 1 or 2 years ago...still wonder why... Or it is because my dad like's old (real) cars? I guess that's the reason why I love vintage cars in general. I bet used ones aren't that rare, there are about 70 of them on the club, compared to only 6 Martini Mk.22 Renaults (of which one is mine)

I guess we're all hypnotized by it's great looks (so am I). Really really want to have one if I don't grow up (don't worry, I won't) I don't think there's one good reason why to have a Sand Scorcher, maybbe it it's because we're all kids (only bigger...) Hey, I'm supposed to be a kid, I'm only 16 years old....

Oh yeah, Spike, you're not missing anything if you don't have one AND you don't like it. You should collect what you like, not what others like...

Sjoerd

I love Sand Scorchers, but I don't have one... Please help this poor collector...id=size1>

[Spike]

In a strange twist of fate......

My dad was talking about his eldest sons' obsession with "toy cars" (my dad's a philistine) to a friend from work. His friend told him that he had TWO old Tamiya Beetles that he started to build years ago but never got round to finishing and that I was welcome to have them. He was going to throw them out otherwise!! I'm sure you can imagine how my tiny brain and beating heart were racing when my dad relayed this back to me. In my heart of hearts I just KNEW they were SS's. IMAGINE TWO partially built Sand Scorchers for free........... . Heaven. I had visions of selling them and being able to retire to the Bahamas on the proceeds of the sale.

At this point I would like to acknowledge a couple of negative things:

1)I'm a capitalist b*****d

2)I'm a hypocrite

3)I was prepared to do ANYTHING to get my grubby little hands on those cars

I'm not proud of the above facts but I don't deny them

Naturally I pursued my dad relentlessly to take this bloke up on his offer. To cut a long story short the night came when I was due to go round to this blokes house to pick them up. All day at work on that day I was so excited I was as good as useless, I couldn't focus, I couldn't function - I was pathetic. Shoot me.

I turned up at the address and was showed in. The bloke apologised and said he hadn't had time to get "all the ****" out of his loft but he would get it out after we'd had a cup of tea. (I could've punched him there and then in frustration). I drank that cup of tea in about 30 seconds flat. The scorched (no pun) tongue,lips and gums didn't bother me, I wanted those cars. He eventually rose and went upstairs with me following like a faithfull dog. He climbed up into the loft and handed me........................................

two Blitzer Beetle boxes.

I was choked - no I was more than choked I was f******** gutted

IT IS NOW MY LIFE'S SOLE MISSION TO GET A SAND SCORCHER

The morale of this story is never put your opinions on public record and always assume the worst

[Shodog]

Spike while I feel for ya, there is nothing wrong in getting two free blitzer beetles. It could have been worse, it could have been two Nikko or tyco bugs

Jim

[mr_lister999.]

They are so detailed for a radio controlled car. You cant get anything like that now which is a shame. I love the engineering of the all metal chassis. I wish cars were still like that but sadly not. Not to mention the scorcher is the same age as i am

[SJoerD]

Yeah Spike,

That's what you get when you want a Sand Scorcher so bad and you think they're as ulgy as your mother-in-law. 2 never driven Blitzer Beetles isn't that bad either, since it's for free! (If you're not happy with it then at least pretend to be... )I was very happy too when I got my Indicar F103L, although this stupid guy threw away a Sand Scorher before . Now there I felt really screwed, he KNEW I wanted those, I'm positive! Well, no sence crying over spilled milk, I've just got to get myself a good one these days and look harder as possible. I really need it!!!

Sjoerd

(See you around in Battlefield 1942 Spike!)

I love Sand Scorchers, but I don't have one... Please help this poor collector...id=size1>

[jacolouw]

I dont know what it is with the SS's - But I just got 2 more!!

Jakes

Of all the things I Lost - I miss my Mind the most

[DJTheo]

Sand Scorcher here, Sand Scorcher there, if you check the board half of the topics are about that -sweet I must admit- car, isn't it a bit too much? There are also other nice Tamiya cars out there, hope everybody will find soon his 3-5 wanted NIB, new built, blue, red and runners, otherwise we should rename this forum to the Sand Scorcher forum...

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[mr_lister999.]

People are free to choose whatever car they want. Just so happens that most people love the scorcher. Don't you have one? Great idea about a scorcher forum though...

[RETRO R/C]

I often really wonder if in fact it is more of a "ME TOO" factor that creeps in here as well.....

I have spoken to allot of new people lately in collecting - and when I asked one individual why he wanted one - it was because he "wanted to be taken seriously" as a collector......

Dont get me wrong - I really do like the Scorcher very much but for me it is 3rd on the list - I prefer the Ranger - then the Rough Rider......they are better looking in my opinion......specially the Rough Rider for its "real" off roader looks.....thats just me.

Alot of it has to do with the fact that EVERYONE seems to love the real car - this helps alot.

Cheers

Darryn

Visit my Web Page !!

[snollan]

For me its not just the SS, its the racing buggy family. I want to be at a point where I have Shelf versions of all of them. I've got projects of all of them but not shelf versions. Then I want to make one or two runners. Most likely a SS with somesort of blitzer body and a RR or SC. Other than that I treat the SS like any others, I look for a deal and then spare parts for my runners.

[DJTheo]

quote:People are free to choose whatever car they want. Just so happens that most people love the scorcher. Don't you have one? Great idea about a scorcher forum though...

id=quote>id=quote>

Yes I have actually 2 and love them, but love also other cars. Btw, half of the Sand Scorcher topics are started by you and not sooo many people

http://www.vintagetamiyarc.com/

[RETRO R/C]

We certainly do in this case mate - I reckon the Ranger is easily the prettiest of all of the RB series......scale realism - looks from any angle etc etc .......luv it !!

Cheers

Darryn

Visit my Web Page !!