The first Tamiya you ever saw run?(pre1990)

[Supershot]

Hello from Australia!

I was wondering what was the first "Vintage Tamiya"(pre1990) model that you first saw running as a kid?Also,how old where you and where were you at the time and how has it influenced your thinking???

The first car I ever saw running was the Tamiya Hornet back in 1985 at a school playground in the Melbourne suburb of Kew.I was 11 at the time and hold that memory as one of the nicest in my childhood!The Hornet to my young eyes was going totally insane doing donuts,going through puddles and outchasing the fastest kid to all our amazement-I'v been totally hooked ever since!!

[J3cubfan]

The very first was the Holiday bugggy in 1982 or 1983 can't remember. I had just put this together with some help from my dad and off it went... I loved it...

[Bibbo]

I remember seeing a rich kid at school with a Sand Scorcher. He demonstrated it on the school stage during assembly ( we had school assemblies every morning I think. It's when the whole school gathers in the main hall, I put this in because otherwise it sounds like the kid demonstrated the car as he built it. []Which he did'nt[]). It would have been something like 1980 and I would have been 9. This kid chucked onto the ground ( on it's wheels ) and then pressed it down with his foot. God knows why he did this, and why I remember it, more to the point.

Anyway, that memory has stuck with me. I've even thought that next time I go home I should go and ask the kid ( I still know him ) and see if he still has the car.

[Shodog]

The owner of a Bicycle Shop/Hobby Shop I worked at had a Sand Scorcher. It was in 1982 and I was 12. That bug was so cool spinning donuts in the vacant lot across the street from the shop. I remember wanting one so badly. Finally for my 14th birthday my parents bought me a frog. I ran the **** out of it. I stayed working at the shop and eventually the owner gave me that Sand Scorcher. At the time I was into racing and had a pretty hopped up RC-10. I remember running the SS and thinking that the buggy drives like a turd. When I graduated from High School I gave most of my collection of R/C cars to my brother. His garage was burglurized an all the cars along with many of his expensive tools were gone.

[netsmithUK]

The first car I saw running in the flesh was my original sand scorcher back around 1981ish I think. My Birthday and Christmas day happen to be on the same day, so as a kid this meant lots of presents or one big present. That year I went for the one big present!

In all my childhood years until I stuck it in the loft I never came across another kid that had a Tamiya at all - even though lots used to come and watch me drive mine []

Prior to that the only place I saw them running was the promotional videos at Beatties that I used to stand in the shop for hours watching.

Thanks to Roby, I have them all again now on VCD.

[jacolouw]

The first one I saw was the old Pajero - man was hooked - got one a few weeks later at a Pawn shop - used up all my savings to buy it - never loiked back ever since

Jakes

[Bibbo]

Thanks to Roby, I have them all again now on VCD.

Anyway of getting copies of these?. Would love to see them.

[mr_lister999.]

sadly my 1st tamiya i saw was the tao1 (well, i am only 19) This was the 1st radio control i ever saw and since then (14 years old i think) i have always raced and collected Tamiya cars. The 1st one i owned was a Scorcher though. Told my uncle that i was going to get a car and he said he had an old buggy i could have as i only had to buy a battery and charger so i could save my money. Great condition with only minor damage and missing some trim but hey! (plus a rough rider that was mangled but alright for spares. Not a bad result.

[Pointy]

My brother got a Ford Ranger when he was about 10 (I was 12) in 82 or 83. I told him to get the Sand Scorher but he preferred the Ford. We had been looking at the cars and the Tamiya video's (thanks Roby) for months before he got one. We built it together with dad and finished it late at night. We drove it in the living room because it was dark outside and crashed it into a door. No damage luckily. We both drove it for years before buying Boomerangs and the like. My brother repainted the car several times and drove it until it almost fell apart. He still has it (and the original box and manual). It's in bad shape due to the years of usage though. He has mint Rangers in his collection but obviously the first Ranger is very dear to him.

I have very clear memories about the car and it's the reason why I started collecting 2 years ago. I saw a SS on a Dutch auction site. Back then nobody collected them yet (times changed big time since then) and I bought it for $20,- for old times sake. Since then things got out of hand

[wldnas]

Back in the early 1980's my Family would allways go on holidy to north wales every year, and one year (I think it was about 1983) we visited Black Rock Sands beach on the north welsh coast, from what I can remember it was late afternoon and I noticed a kid playing with an RC car nearby, in curiocity I went over to have a look and he was using a Sand Rover, it was screaming around in the wet sand, and he was launching it off a demolished sand castle, after watching for a few minutes he let me have a quick go (I wasnt very good) and then hes parents called he over and they after a quick goodbye they drove off home. it took me a few more years before I got my first RC

[TWO STAR]

the first tamiya i ever saw was a grasshopper -i was pretty young and i was at a local fair in the summertime,they rented them to you for $5.00 for 15 min or so,i thought this is the coolest!,20 hoppers racing in the dirt on a big oval track,my parents must have spent lots of bucks that day,i didnt want to leave....this was in the early 80s as far as i could remember.

[raemin]

As far as I remember one day my father bought XR311, Hilux and a countach for my grand uncle. Maybe the hilux was bought later actually cannot figure it out precisely. Fact is I painted the xr311 with him (actually he just let me paint the fire extinguisher...) and I was even alowed to drive it. Lot of fun. Luckilly enough I was not supposed to play with the Hilux, which is why it is in such nice shape today.

On my side he offered me a toy that was pretty similar to the sand rover but yellow and ready to run, if anyone as some clues about this one I would appreciate.

Raoul

[BiggusDitchus]

The first vintage tamiya i saw running was a Renault 5 turbo, it was my dads he bought it when he bought me a holiday buggy but of course he got his running first... I remember it was painted in the same yellow and black colour scheme i had seen on full size 5 turbo racecars. I was amazed at its speed he arranged a deal a short while after with the model shop for a sand rover to race with me.

[bholio]

In the early to mid 1980s I took a trip to Germany to visit relatives. My cousin had a Sand Scorcher. I remember he let me drive it only once. I flipped it and he wouldn't le me drive it again. He only had a trickle charger so it only ran once per day.

I then convinced a friend to get a car (my parents would not buy me one). He got a Rough Rider which I bought from him when he lost interest. I still have the RR.

[DJTheo]

The first Tamiya is saw running was the Holiday Buggy my parents bought me when I was 9. But since it was a "very expensive" present for my generation, I didn't have and didn't want to ask also for a battery and RC, but wait for my name day.

So I tried it at home with a long cable where I connected a small 9V battery, which was emptied after a short sprint in 2 secs [][]

Then I got a correct 7.2 battery but still didn't have RC so I glued the steering arms with double tape to straight position and was letting it run in the garden on the grass with another guy on the other side to catch it. As you can imagine this was pretty risky for the car and not really fun, so I waited till I got my Futaba RC and drove it correctly, so much fun...

It is interesting to see how easily many kids get nowadays toys for +$500 and even get bored after few time... [:0]

[wildwillydriver(2)]

It was in the late 1979 (i was around 8 ) when i saw my first RC car and it was a Tamiya Rough Raider. I'm from Italy and in that period i lived in Milan, i completely fell in love for it!!!

I remeber also that a little hobbies shop near to my house has one Sand Scorcher and i wanted it really bad, but my parents never bought it to me since it was a too expansive "toy" for a 8 years old kid or at least this is what my parents used to say......

I had to wait until i was 13 (around 1983) to have my first rc car a "Mercedes" Playtron (gas powered off road buggy very RARE today...) and shortly after the first Tamiya arrived, a brand new Wild Willy, that i loved soooooo much!!

Bye

WWD

[c_a_r_t_e_r]

Hi there.

Ahh, such nostalgia! I remember my first time was back in '85-ish, when a friend of mine with much more generous parents than my own(!) got a Hornet deal from the local Beatties for his birthday. He didn't really have a clue how to build it (we were about 12), so I ended up putting it all together for him. I think the bodyshell was painted black with yellow lightning up both sides!

We ran it about 4 times a day all summer in his dad's scrapyard.. swept a dirt course in a big dusty area, and raced around... until the front shock mount broke on one side! I remember fixing it up with a metal plate across the front of the bathtub... that hornet made some pretty good jumps though! []

I also remember having the A4 posters of most of the cars, and the guidebook of that era, and craving a Celica or a Bruiser off the shelf in Beatties.. but the 3-speed was just too expensive, and my parents never got around to buying me such an expensive "toy"!

Tim

[SJoerD]

Ok, I am a little younger than you are, so I never really saw a Sand Scorcher...

The first real RC I remember to have seen was... my Fighter Buggy... [] And I don't even feel gutted by it! [^]

I always wanted a RC car, but not a crappy Nikko toy. My little brother had one of those but it was to slow. You had to drive it like you're walking your dog! [] I wanted a good, a little fast, repairable and durable RC car. I used to play Monster Truck Madness as well those days, god I loved the pick-up truck bodies, big wheels and tires... awesome!

Then my big brother told me about a store of a friend of his. When I walked in I was amazed. It was up there, on the shelf! That big box, with the monster truck! I was saying "WOW" all the time. It was the King Blackfoot high up in the sky, glowing with a mysterious aura (hey, I was small and the shelves were up high [] ) But I desided to go for a cheaper car first: the Fighter Buggy.

I got it with my savings and bought all the electrics with it as well. I was so proud when I walked over the street, carrying that big box of parts! When I got at home, my brother assembeled it right away (He didn't let me do anything... [] ) My dad applied the stickers for me (he has steady hands... [] ), and I was off! From that moment I was addicted to buggies as well.

I heared some vague stories that LHS guy had "a very old beetle, made of metal" somewhere. I really wanted to see it but he never took the time to show it to me... [] I always drove very carefully with my Fighter Buggy, I was soon pretty good at it. It made some flips though, the body has some scratches. but for the rest it's in reasonable shape today. I will always remember it, it's very dear to me. I am thinking of getting a New Built one as well, as well as a NIB maybe? I don't see the point. They will never be as good as mine... []

And the King Blackfoot? Got that a few years later. My ever dream car. Very dear to me as well. No Sand Scorcher or Hi-lux can ever beat that. And you are wondering why I am into more classic cars? (before I was even born!) Well, that's another story... [] []

Sjoerd

(You don't want to know what happened to that "metal beetle"... I only heared some rumors about it's dissapperance... It's to cruel to be true... [] [v] )

[koenc]

The first one I saw was . . . the Sand Scorcher from my friend. Bought me myself a brand new Ford Ranger 1 month later. We used to race toghether than with the FR, SS a Holiday Buggy (no match at all, bu with the 380 he drove 2 x longer) and a Cheetah. BIG FUN

[Guest Carsnboats]

The first one I ever saw running was a rough rider owned by a local kid whos dad owned his own business. My local model shop always stocked them and I remember they had a built up cheetah and xr311i in a case.

I also remember Dave Lee Travis doing a show at teatime and he had a load of people in with Sand Scorchers and Rough Riders racing around a course in the studio. I was hooked from that moment on. It was 4 years after that before I got my first car a grasshopper

[RichieRich]

Cool stories guys! The first time I saw an R/C car was 1983. I was 10. My friend and I were walking back to my house from McDonalds and there was an older kid playing with a Tamiya rough rider in the orange grove. I remember it so vividly (which is why I know it was a rough rider). I didn't get a car until 3 years later. I was still busy playing with Legos. []

[CarterTG]

Back in '84 or '85 during my first years in high school, one of the science teachers headed an after-school RC club. At one of the initial meetings I attended, he brought out a Tamiya Tank. As memory serves, he did an excellent job at building the model with it's weathered effects. Since the room's counter was limited, the model wasn't moved much. At some unexpected moment during his presentation, a huuuuuge BANG came from the turret. He intentionally set off the gunpowder he packed into the barrel earlier. I can understand the grin he got off of the years he shaved off our lives.

I can't really attribute my Tamiya fever to that moment though...

One or two meetings after that, one of the older members of the club brought his Tamiya Subaru Brat. We all headed to one of the lots behind the school and that's where I was awed by this "toy" that blazed at an amazing pace and featured a suspension that let it climb over speedbumps and rolling curbs without hesitation. The fever begins.

A subsequent meeting had us going on a field-trip to a Hobby Show. In addition to examining more Tamiya cars, I had my first glimpse at RC Helicopters.

I was so completely hooked into RC... and afterwards discovering that the school's library carried Radio-Control Modeller Magazine didn't help. I certainly made the librarian earn her keep by making her retrieve backissue archives for me almost on a daily basis.

Within a month or two of being exposed to the Subaru Brat, RCM Magazine reviewed the Tamiya Frog with praise. And that became my baptism into the Tamiya cult. The Frog & Futaba Magnum Jr was purchased via mail order, but the LHS made a small fortune from my repeated visits for accessories, spares, hop-ups and future kits in the years that followed that.

I can't credit Tamiya for being my first RC though. When I was around nine or ten, an uncle I was visiting took me to a toystore and told me to pick any item I wanted. Among all the fancy die-cast robots, cars, games and action figures, I picked out a radio-controlled silver Lamborghini. It had a lever underneath the chassis that would flip up the nonworking headlamps and was fairly detailed right down to the treaded rubber tires. It was controlled through a stick transmitter, but without the proportional movement found today. It would be roughly the equivalent of a current-day Nikko, but pricing for an RC toy waaaay back then must have set him back considerably.

Fast forward almost to present-day and his son, my younger cousin, has reached his pre-teens. I have returned the favor by buying him a Tamiya Humvee kit complete with Futaba radio, battery and charger. It feels great to be able to continue the cycle.

Another cousin on the other side of the family hasn't quite reached that age where he can understand cause & effect principles of suspension setup, but I plan propulgate the Tamiya agenda when I feel he's ready.

[] [] []

[sgt.barnes]

very early eighties beatties in blackpool used to put barriers up on the road and have open days running the tamiya's for the public just outside the hounds hill shopping centre,the obligatory sand scorcher and tyrell 6 wheelers etc were wheeled out to the little green eyed monsters (me) delight and demo'ed.soon after the counter top vids where introduced and many an hour was spent gawping at rc nirvana. most of my school bags where beatties car bags and some of my other freinds! (how sad lol) I recently got one from ebay and used it for my hand luggage on my honymoon, very sad.still managed to sneak my tbo2 along in the bottom of it below my personals ;)the first I actually drove was an old battered brat I managed to convince the owner that it would be a great idea to let me have a go and Ive been hooked ever since,23 years!

[_4-0_]

Yeah, some rich kid at school brought a Hornet into assembly in front of the whole school. I s'pose i should thank him for getting me hooked on Tamiya.. I'll post him my credit card bills too []

[EZ_78]

I really can't remember when i saw my first Tamiya run. I remember when i saw my first tamyia. I was with my Dad in a LHS and that is where I saw the Grasshopper on a shelf next to the Marui's (golden Eagle, Big Bear).

I must have been 8 or 9 ('85or '86)years old, it was soon to be my birthday. That year I got A Marui golden Eagle for my birthday. My Dad built that for me. He also made the first testrun (no body Mounted). I told him not to run, the batteries in the transmitter where nearly emty. The car wheelied away full throttle and it never stopped and crashed into the wall[]

From that day, that car was run every other day, i only had one battery. I still have the car, it has been in my family for 20 years, recently got it back. It was in a bad state when i perted with it, but is even worse now.

One of my best friends Dad en his brother had tamiya's and Marui's (i think one of them had WW1), so that must have been the first tamiya i did ever see run.

I recently got hooked again (Ã am now 27 years old), and in 7 months i now own 6 tamiya's and 1 marui.

(Wild Dagger, PreRunner, XB Mini Monte Carlo, XB Pajero rally sport, Re-release Hornet, XB TL-01 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI).

Sorry for the long story[|)][|)][|)]