Who knows about the history of my Willy 1 (pics)

[DerAlex]

I got this Wild Willy 1 from the Bay. It is my first one. The decision to buy a Wild Willy 2 came spontaneously. I always wanted to have a Wild Willy 1 but was to afraid of high prices , difficulties to get spare parts etc pp.

Finally I ended up buying a NIB Wild Willy 2 in April on the Intermodellbau in Dortmund - at a very nice price. And I love this car. Now I think everyone should have a Willy (1+2) - don't know who I am qouting.

But instead of beeing satisfied I wanted a Wild Willy 1 more than ever.[] (I think that is quite normal if you are a "member" of TC). [8D] And for worse, i kept watching the Wild Willy 1 Tamiya advertising spot over and over again. This spots make you really want the car - the japanese really knew to market their products.

The way I got my Wild Willy 1 is quite funny. I first got the lid for the rc box, just by accident - I got that part even before I had my Wild Willy 2.[V]

Later on "Pfingsten" (I think that is called Pentecost in English), I was partying on a festival all weekend from thursday to monday ........ dooing camping, having some barbecue and drinking some! German beers and swedish vodka [] It just so happend that I got to a pc with internet and checked my ebay account ......... well and then I saw this car , placed my bid and went back to party with my friends . You can call it "bidding under influence" [|)]

I think I (maybe) paid to much but I am not sure .

I didn't even ask the owner about the condition. Just placed my bid because the price was nice, I had some money and I had this "must have" feeling. Well finally on monday in the evening I looked at my account again and saw that I won the auction. I know , that is not the way you should buy Tamiya's vintage cars. But It was the same with my Pajero MTV and for my luck all ended up fine afterwards. []

Well, that is how I got to this car. Maybe the same feeling that children and some women get when they see a little dog alone on the street and think they have to take it home with them

Ok, enough useless background information. [)]

Does anybody know about the history of my Wild Willy 1 (pics inside) & question(s) Maybe some one knows the before owner. Maybe this car is known around here - though I haven't found it in the showrooms.

I think this Willy had a kanvas top when it was younger. There are very tiny holes that may indicate this.

The grill is broken - which seems to bee normal with this car but I think this car was abused a little bit. Of course it could be worse but the fotos in the auction made me think of a better condition.

Windowframe, window, MSC, steering servo mount, plastic switch cover and one lamp are missing. One or both mudguards are damaged (but that is no big deal as I can easyly get some new ones from WW2).

What I like is putting some tape and "plastic" around the roll cage as protection. And of cours the canvas top (seen on kaindis and simens WW - excellent job .

The idea of restauring the car to the maximum still is in my head but on the other hand I think it might be better to restore this car until it is in perfect technical condition and look for one in better shape for my vitrine.

What do you think ? How much would you have paid for this car or what do you think is a fair price ? What would you think. For some seconds the Idea of selling this WW1 at the bay again came to my mind. But I think I will keep it. Besides I know someone who spent a lot more money buying a bruiser on ebay just because he "had to have it" And now he seems to be quite happy with the car.

Here are the pics.

PS: How can someone damage the motor mount [?] It looks quite twisted. [V] Same problem with the front left stay of the roll cage [] Sometimes I wonder what people do to this old cars ( but then I start thinking of what I did to my Monster Beetle, Midnight, Hot Shot ... when I was a kid [:I]).

[mr_pushrod]

Lol, drunken ebaying, great fun! I ended up buying 100m of bubblewrap when I checked ebay whilst trolleyed[:I]

[wildwillydriver(2)]

Wellcome in the WW club!

Be careful because they are addicting.... []

Thake care and try to restore it, it will give you a lot of fun as a runner.

Bye

WWD

[]

[Onetenth]

Hey DerAlex, that is a very nice WW1. Just don't worry about the prices, you got the car you wanted so much [] Have some fun restoring or playing it[]Is there a technigold motor in it? The camo. paint job looks good too [^], IMHO Gary

[WillyChang]

there's a TechniPower in there..!! []

[DerAlex]

Willy Chang is right.

It has a Technipower Motor - RX 540 SD . That is my first Technipower Motor.

Not Technigold - RX 540 VZ.

btw the RX540VZ is my favourite Motor.

My Wild Willy 2 is powered by one of these.

Altough I buy them from "Graupner" and not Tamiya.

Most of my car's have this Motor. Except for the Toyota Hilux Monster Racer - it has a Dynatech 01R (it can fly )

BTW: Anyone had problems with the RX540VZ in a Midnight Pumpkin or Lunchbox. I am afraid the Motor has to much torque for this car . Had some gearbox problems. [V]

Thank you for your comments about Willy. I think I will keep him and drive him. [8D]

[DJTheo]

MP and LB gearbox is pretty robust so it should stand a Technigold, the biggest problem is handling those cars with a fast motor... [8)]

Cheers

[DerAlex]

Then I do not know what killed Pumpkins so called "bullet proof" gearbox []

I also try to never land with "full throttle" after small jumps.

Handling was more ore less ok and quite good for a Pumpkin.

I drove and still drive Pumpkin with long yellow CVA shocks and soft silicone oil.

Thank God it's no problem getting Pumpkin spare parts .

Still have a new unpainted body (for shell), a nice runner body (former shell) and an unpainted lexan body (nice copy of the original one).

Another question regarding Willy:

What battery packs do you use for your Runner Willies?

[wildwillydriver(2)]

quote:Originally posted by DerAlex

Another question regarding Willy:

What battery packs do you use for your Runner Willies?

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I run some custom made hump pack with 2400 sanyo battery, with the same design of the old Tamiya pack, since it's the only way to run it without modify the chassis.

Bye

WWD

[]

[DJTheo]

quote:What do you think ? How much would you have paid for this car or what do you think is a fair price ? What would you think. For some seconds the Idea of selling this WW1 at the bay again came to my mind. But I think I will keep it. Besides I know someone who spent a lot more money buying a bruiser on ebay just because he "had to have it" And now he seems to be quite happy with the car.

quote:The idea of restauring the car to the maximum still is in my head but on the other hand I think it might be better to restore this car until it is in perfect technical condition and look for one in better shape for my vitrine.

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Yes, its always much cheaper to buy a mint one then restore a used one to mint condition, I would also make this one into a nice runner, you will have more fun with it then with the shelf queen if you buy one later.

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Fair price is as much as something is worth to you.

Rule #1 on buying:

Never ask questions of how much something is worth AFTER you bought it [], doesn't bring anything, no regrets! [8D]

Rule #2:

Better avoid buys you aren't sure for, especially buying and then selling again directly brings usually only losses.

Cheers

[DerAlex]

Thanks for the advice.

Now that some days have passed by I don't regret nothing.

I enjoy just seeing this old car on the shelf next to my other Tamiyas. I*ve decided to replace only what is broken and HAS to be fixed to make a runner out of it .............. camouflage paint hides a lot of the scratches and dents if you look at it from a distance [] Maybe some day I will strip and re-paint it. That's all.

As I told Martin, I'll keep my eyes open until I find another WW in a better condition. Oh my God, now I've reached a point I never wanted to reach - I wish to have one runner and one shelf queen , next step will be mint condition and then NIB

Fortunately it's only with Wild Willy and not with all other cars.

Now I am a Willy addict too. []

PS: What would you do about the grille? Repair and drive it or use a new WW2 grille. I do not like the look of it , that's the problem. But on the otherhand I think it is not possible to repair the ww1 grille and make it last - maybe same problem as with monster beetle nose - once the mounts for the lights are broken they will alway break again. []

PPS:

Rule 2.1 - There is no unique opportunity to buy on ebay [8D] (I know)