For Sale/Trade: Tamiya Buggy Champ 2009

[Grastens]

Greetings:

It has been over a year since I first built my Buggy Champ. In that year it travelled to the beach, to the schools, to cottage country and dozens of other places, leaving trail marks from two heavily-cambered rear wheels everywhere it went.

However, this hobby is cyclical, and so I am exploring the possibility of putting up my beloved machine for sale.

This car has been very well-used. The bodyshell is broken at the front rollbar - the top left corner (when viewed from the front) and the right base. The rear brace is also broken and held with glue and electrical tape. There are tears in the decals at the top of the body and a chunk missing from the front left quarter. The body is also chipped in several places, has had abrasions on the inside and the driver is rather weathered as well. No light buckets remain on the car; I only have three of the four and all are broken at the base.

The chassis is solid but far from show condition. Aftermarket parts include a custom aluminum chassis painted black - it is all marked up with silver dots where paint has chipped - and GB-01 Aeration Oil-Filled Dampers, bolted on using non-stock screws and O-rings. The rear gearbox has four seized screws and is quite dirty. The bearings were rusted solid a few months ago; they were restored with lubricants and light-machine oil, and the gears are all greased with molybdenum grease. However, I cannot comment on their current state other than that the gearbox runs well. The car also has the Tamiya SRB Ball Differential which is not as effective as the Thorp unit but it still provides some differential action and can be adjusted. The right rear arm (viewed from the rear) is slightly-deformed lengthwise but still works.

The radio box has been modified to omit the rubber steering sleeve; instead the sleeve holder has been sealed to the radio box and the steering shaft runs through it. This setup has worked for some time. The car was recently equipped with the aluminum chassis plate, new torsion bars and rear shafts.

Despite what its appearance suggests, this car can and does run; I tested it with excellent results just yesterday as of this post. I will include all spare and used parts for this car except for the original dampers which are completely broken. These spares include the original FRP chassis plate and aluminum stiffening plate. The car will also feature all electronics required to run it, including the three Ni-MH stick packs that I converted to hump packs to fit the radio box, a 2.4 GHz radio and receiver, a modern Acoms servo, the kit-supplied Tamiya TEU-101BK ESC and the kit-supplied silver can motor. The stick packs are rated at 2400 mAh, 2400 mAh and 3300 mAh and all hold charges quite well.

This car could make for a decent restoration project, or it can be left mostly as is and be used a full-on basher - just as I had used it. Feel free to request additional pictures or to ask any other questions about the car - I have tried to give a detailed report but I have not described everything about it.

My asking price is currently $275 CAD before shipping or your best offer if I approve of it. I will also consider a straight trade for a new-in-box Mitsubishi Montero Wheelie, Fast Attack Vehicle or Hotshot. Please let me know either on this thread or a PM.

As I am leaving for school on September 4th, I will be shipping it before then if a sale is made quickly or a deal can be negotiated for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend when I am back in town and thus with my car.

Some pictures of the car; this is more or less its current state:

The car as it is today (albeit a bit cleaner).

The newly-installed aluminum chassis plate. Cap screws hold the well nuts which hold the radio box in place. The result is a much-stiffer chassis than the original.

The front bumper gives an idea of the kind of wear and tear this car has undergone. It was not used lightly...

The car's nose...

The crack in the rollbar is evident here.

But this car can still take a lot of what you can dish out to it!

If the price seems a bit high for the car, maybe I am just a bit sentimental... I have been through a lot with this machine, including this photo shoot with a Ford Model A. This car has memories. Remember that I am open for negotiation!

Thank you for looking! You can also find my F103 15th Anniversary chassis for sale or trade on this forum.

[Grastens]

A bump to lower the price to $260 CAD before shipping, and an offer to also send all electronic files and photos I have saved of this car. Upon request, a summary of the car's history can be put together.