Most "Tamiya" Tamiya of late

[Saito2]

While the debate of the pros and cons of Tamiya re-releasing their old catalog of models may never be settled, the re-releases do allow us some unique views of Tamiya's design past. A clear difference in those old models vs. the current ones is Tamiya's "different" ways of approaching design issues back then. The Hot Shot's monoshock setup stands as one example. Yes, much of this is the immaturity of the industry as a whole back then and the willingness to experiment. Still, it got me thinking about which relatively modern Tamiya vehicles still carry on that spirit. One of the few that comes to mind is the CR-01 chassis. It's different from the proven crawlers, employs some "interesting" design approaches and is purely Tamiya. If one were to dig deeper and look at the whimsy that was characteristic of some earlier vehicles such as the Wild Willy, Pajero and even the Lunch Box, we could point to the GF-01 chassis. Granted the Lunchie (now CW-01) and WW2 (WR-02) have been rehashed in various bodies for some time now, but the 4wd GF-01 sports some pretty neat packaging and sideways thinking in these modern times. Any others that come to mind?

[t3garett]

For me it would be the ta06 and ta07 on road chassis, both are unconventional to say the least and go against modern on-road theory. The ta06's half belt / half gear drive train and centered batteries have a few design faults but are rewarding in their uniqueness and remains a very interessting chassis to drive. I peronally love when tamiya take a kind of "side step" compared to the rest of the industry and I always try and buy those sort of odd-ball cars because I like to see for myself what that chassis conception feels like to drive and what the drawbacks are and what the advantages are.

[Theibault]

I would have to say the MF-01X. Typical Tamiya design philosophy that harkens back to some older models such as the TL series. Second would be the CR-01 (I love mine!) as it's typical Tamiya overthinking and over engineering a la the Avante. 

[speedy_w_beans]

Here's my line of thinking...

First, how do you define "Tamiya-ness?"  I suppose one way is to look at the first 100 or 150 models the company introduced and think about the attributes they have.  These are the models most Tamiya fans recognize and love.

For on-road cars, most of them were F1, Group C, or Racing Master simple pan car chassis with realistic bodies and liveries.

For off-road buggies and trucks, the earliest of the releases tried to be realistic as well (think XR311, Buggy Champ, Sand Scorcher, Ranger XLT, Toyota Pickup, Blazing Blazer, Super Champ, Bruiser, etc.) with complex chassis and realistic bodies.

Over time things changed, and on-road cars featured mostly touring chassis (TA, TB, TL, TT, etc.).  Later buggies and trucks diverged quite a bit with all sorts of unrealistc buggy models and "Big Wheel" fun designs.

If I look at the first 100-150 models and then look at the latest releases, the most "Tamiya" Tamiya include the following for me:

• 58617 Nissan GT-R LM Nismo (simple F103/pan car chassis, realistic body)
• 58555 Mazda 787B No. 18 (simple Racing Master chassis, realistic body)
• 58414 and 58405 Unimog and Land Cruiser 40 (complex CR01 chassis, realistic bodies)

I do have a soft spot for some of the fun designs that seem as exciting as the original Lunch Box:

• 58622 Heavy Dump Truck (GF01)
• 58586 Tumbling Bull (WR02G) 

Honorable mention to the XV01 chassis -- it's a blend of old-school TA03, modern suspension, sealed chassis.  It's pretty unique among the other touring chassis.

Not to downplay the other models; these are just the ones that stand out the most to me as modern quintessential Tamiya.

[volvotech]

I think speedy hit the nail on the head. I'd have to add the CC-01 to his list though. It's fairly basic, but uses some familiar components from way back when, and the realistic bodies add to my interpretation of genuine "tamiya-ness".