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is this the ugliest tamiya release ever?

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I still think the ugliest (compared to boxart) has to be the Ford Ranger - the finished model bears little resemblance to the artwork and the "jacked up to clear the chassis" body is just laughable

The boxart truck is excellent, the finished kit is an abomination - where did the leaf springs and live axles go?

It's like they were going to make a 3rd model on the HiLux/Blazer chassis, then cheaped out and put it on a VW chassis. Laughable! I think I'd have to build the F150 body onto a Hi-Lux chassis if I ever added one to my collection. VW Ford Pick-Up just seems so wrong.

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I've always thought it was gonna be a 3Spd then they changed their minds - the boxart on the early kits was pretty much representative of the finished item, except for the Ranger - even the Sand Rover box art has the kit-version suspension drawn in, so it wasn't like there was any drive towards the boxart resembling the real version.

Having said that, there must've been a few Audi/Opel/Lancia builders screaming into buckets when they test-fitted the shell on the chassis for the first time :)

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I'm no fan of the Street Devil. But it marks one of those interesting times in Tamiya's history where they try and do something special to appeal to the US Market and somewhat miss the mark. Tamiya is very much a Japanese company and being Japanese is what they do best!

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I like the Street Devil. The body is not up to Tamiya standards, but it was cool that you could buy a rc hot rod (with more drivability than the Hemi Coupe).

My fuggly award goes to the Madcap - Body on or off, it's the most gruesomely ugly thing ever.

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Not only one of the prettiest Tamiya models ever made, but because of the genre of vehicles it represents, it's also the one that opens the most opportunities for customisation! I'm tempted to buy one if I'm honest. Metallic candy blue with stylised flames coming off the front, a set of wide 5 spoke chrome effect wheels. Fantastic!

If you want ugly, buy an Avante, or any of the other roller-skate buggies of the 90s.

As for Clod vs Bullhead.. I don't the Bullhead is ugly, I just don't think a lorry cab shell looks right on a SWB monster truck chassis. If it had its own longer wheel base three axle chassis, then it would look much better (at least imho)

*Edit* Didn't realise this was an old ltd edition kit, thought it was a new one! Quick search around ebay reveals that with the price that people are asking for it, I probably won't be buying one any time soon :) . However, I'd imagine it could be the inspiration for an up coming project - once I've finished the other half dozen that I've got underway at the moment :wub:

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You want butt ugly ? I'll throw this turd into the pot in that case .Its like seeing a stunning woman in ugg boots - just wrong :)

+1

I thought I was the only one that thought there's something seriously not right with it. On paper it should be the coolest thing ever made and that the space time continuum bends ever so slightly to accommodate its coolness whenever one is built.. a VW Camper van on a Lunchbox chassis. Awesome! Right? Er no. There's something just not right about it and I can't put my finger on exactly what it is.

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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this monstrosity

top.jpg

To be honest, I think the Vajra is the reason people have forgotten about it.

Bulldog sucking a wasp;

You owe me a new monitor sir. This one does not work well with sprayed coffee.

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Just a note on the little devil, they obviously altered the dimensions from the Parma body to fit it to a group C chassis. The Parma is wider and longer, however and this is the good news. The Parma is a perfect fit for a F103 chassis. The F103 comes with wheels and tires that would look right too and they're everywhere. Real low to the ground as well. I'm really tempted to do this one.

As for ugly in most ways, I'm thinking B2B. Drivers head on a bobble head spring was just special too.

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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this monstrosity

top.jpg

I'd forgotten about that one too! I often think that the reason it's called the "Zahhak" is because the designers came to Mr Tamiya struggling for a name for it. Unfortunately he was eating sushi at the time. When he saw the picture and asked "What should we call this sir?". "Zahhak" was the noise that was made when a bit of semi chewed fish got caught in his throat. They thought he was giving it a new name, when in actual fact he nearly choked in disgust.

Even more unfortunately, the factory had made 25,000 by the time he'd finished his lunch, so he couldn't do much more about it.

True story!

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just released from Tamiya , their new offering . Style , form and function :) yes its the 911 turd sandwitch

post-37759-1334864201_thumb.jpg

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If there's any justice, it's a 924. Biggest turd since the 914.

just released from Tamiya , their new offering . Style , form and function :) yes its the 911 turd sandwitch

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If there's any justice, it's a 924. Biggest turd since the 914.

:) good point . 924

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Actually, that's a 928. You can tell by the flat folded head lamps.

Not that I'm a Porsche geek or anything.

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1. Add me to the ranks of those who hate the street devil.

But we should seperate things a bit - it's not Tamiya's fault - its the fault of hot rod culture itself. To me, hot rods have never appealed. It's a subset of car enthusiasm that a subset of the American population seems to love, but personally I just don't relate to or care for it. It just seems pointless - insanely overblown custom performance, and for what? They're not for racing. It's like a muscle building contest for the cameras, rather than actually lifting anything heavy. This must be the British side coming out in me :lol:

2. On the other hand, there's the R/C designs which are original Tamiya ideas, but are so devoid of imagination and effort they're just meaningless in any design concept sense. See: the buggy above, or practically any recent buggy from Tamiya - Sand Vipers, Gravel Hounds, Plasma Whatevers etc etc etc you know the ones. All are shapes that deviate barely 5% in shape from one another, and rely more on typefaces and stickers to distinguish themselves, than anything exciting in a modeling sense.

3. Thirdly, there are the original designs by Tamiya that are actually quite original and unique, but are less aesthetically appealing than we'd like. This is where you have the sonic fighter and so on. But at least they were trying! At least they had character and clearly involved effort and thought, attempting to derive vehicle styles from other mechanical or organic inspirations. And I personally think Tamiya had far more hits when they use to do this, than misses.

4. Fourth option is when Tamiya simply trades on past glory - rereleases and other rehashes. The cheapest way to sort-of-satisfy the people unhappy with point #1 (ugly source material) or #2 (pathetic efforts).

As such, like any once-great but hasn't-had-a-hit in years rock band, the faithful will still show up to the concerts, and #4 has become a big part of their line-up, and you lot seems to be eating it all up willingly without demanding anything more :)

Honestly, there's nothing stopping Tamiya going and producing another ORIGINAL classic vintage buggy model based on some glorious 70s or 80s desert racer except fear and the cost of new tooling.

Final note - would all those who love the street devil pay the current $1400 asking price on eBay? ;)

cheers,

H.

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Final note - would all those who love the street devil pay the current $1400 asking price on eBay? :lol:

cheers,

H.

No I wouldn't pay that price for any model no matter the brand.

One thing you missed in summing up the hotrod era of cars is that most weighed in around 4000 pounds and if lucky had maybe 200 horse power. They earned the nickname "lead sleds". As young adults got these cars they simply did what they could in an effort to make them funner to drive. Picture your first car as an original mini with a chain drive and bicycle pedals for power. You wouldn't mod it to let the passenger help pedal? Or toss out everything you could to lessen the weight? It started with kids doing what they could, before bolt on performance engines and body panels. When was the last time you saw a fender hand curved on a french rolling machine? And yes they were raced and produced some of the best drag racing drivers ever.

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No I wouldn't pay that price for any model no matter the brand.

One thing you missed in summing up the hotrod era of cars is that most weighed in around 4000 pounds and if lucky had maybe 200 horse power. They earned the nickname "lead sleds". As young adults got these cars they simply did what they could in an effort to make them funner to drive. Picture your first car as an original mini with a chain drive and bicycle pedals for power. You wouldn't mod it to let the passenger help pedal? Or toss out everything you could to lessen the weight? It started with kids doing what they could, before bolt on performance engines and body panels. When was the last time you saw a fender hand curved on a french rolling machine? And yes they were raced and produced some of the best drag racing drivers ever.

They were the "tuner scene" when all cars were heavy gas guzzlers.

One other thing, this reasoning:

1. Add me to the ranks of those who hate the street devil.

But we should seperate things a bit - it's not Tamiya's fault - its the fault of hot rod culture itself. To me, hot rods have never appealed. It's a subset of car enthusiasm that a subset of the American population seems to love, but personally I just don't relate to or care for it. It just seems pointless - insanely overblown custom performance, and for what? They're not for racing. It's like a muscle building contest for the cameras, rather than actually lifting anything heavy. This must be the British side coming out in me smile.gif

doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me on a site dedicated to the purchase and collection of toy replicas of cars.

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I really do like the old school bodies, I'm still looking for an old rally car body for a frog. This one did catch my eye for the following reason.

IMG_1216.jpg

It is a perfect fit and with the intro of my F201 the 103 doesn't get much time. I got this body for maybe the frog or vanning and it fits neither, too wide for the TA02 as well. Until I saw this thread it was just hanging around.

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I really do like the old school bodies, I'm still looking for an old rally car body for a frog. This one did catch my eye for the following reason.

IMG_1216.jpg

It is a perfect fit and with the intro of my F201 the 103 doesn't get much time. I got this body for maybe the frog or vanning and it fits neither, too wide for the TA02 as well. Until I saw this thread it was just hanging around.

NOOOOO!!!! dave don't do it !!! :lol:

that lotus is fantastic. but if you do, I'll take the body off your hands :)

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NOOOOO!!!! dave don't do it !!! :lol:

that lotus is fantastic. but if you do, I'll take the body off your hands :)

It's just there to see if it fit and if the tire and wheel combo was doable. An F103 chassis used can be had for 50 to 75 dollars. I may have paid as much as 10 for the body so a devil under 100 is looking good right now. I tried that body on all the loose chassis here but until I saw the chassis for that devil I hadn't thought of the formula cars. F101 an 2 would be too short and the 201 too long but the 103 or 104 are perfect, but come to think of it maybe a kyosho formula chassis? I know of two for sale with a dirt price tag, it's just an idea. I really don't need another car.

Todays rationalization. I already have the body and don't intend to get rid of it. If I put a chassis under it, then I'm really just utilizing space not adding another car to the fleet.

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I still think the ugliest (compared to boxart) has to be the Ford Ranger - the finished model bears little resemblance to the artwork and the "jacked up to clear the chassis" body is just laughable

The boxart truck is excellent, the finished kit is an abomination - where did the leaf springs and live axles go?

Yes I dislike the Ford F-150 Ranger for this very reason. It does look like a long-lost brother to the Hilux and Blazer, but they changed their minds and released it with the SRB chassis to make it a 'cheaper' entry level pickup truck kit.

And it's the same reason I dislike the Brat (well, that and the Brat body is ugly anyway). The Brat body looks totally wrong on the ORV chassis. But the thing that I really disliked about the Brat is the fact that the real Brat is 4x4, but the Tamiya version on the ORV chassis is RWD.

- James

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For me, any model based on the vw beetle is the joint ugliest tamiya release.

The beetle is a disgrace, worst looking car ever made, I know the sand scorcher is popular on here but I could just never bring myself to buy one.

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For me, any model based on the vw beetle is the joint ugliest tamiya release.

The beetle is a disgrace, worst looking car ever made, I know the sand scorcher is popular on here but I could just never bring myself to buy one.

Crikey Wez-li your a brave lad :lol: do you want to borrow my tin hat !!!! :)

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The beetle is a disgrace, worst looking car ever made, I know the sand scorcher is popular on here but I could just never bring myself to buy one.

Well now, you went and said it!

Balls-of-steel man! :lol:

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Haha yeah sorry guys, in my defence the problem I have is with the 1:1 cars, not the tamiya models that came after, I just don't like beetles, never have done really, awful car imo.

I've considered getting a sand scorcher to see if I can be converted but I never go through with it, I even have a beetle shell that I got with a job lot that I've not used!

And don't get me started on camper vans!

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just released from Tamiya , their new offering . Style , form and function :lol: yes its the 911 turd sandwitch

Let me guess , It's on a TT01 chassis :)

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