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MK1 Grasshopper "offroader"

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Hello fourms. I recently picked up an very nice all original MK1 Grasshopper with the "Offroader" script under the Tamiya stars on the chassis.  It also has the black ball links and black resistor plate. 

The body is in surprisingly good shape and came with a brand new set of original decals, wheels and tires never mounted. 

I plan to do a cleanup and very basic restoration of the car. I'm not doing anything crazy or swapping out any of the original parts so it will stay 100% period correct. 

Any guesses on value? 

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Not yet. Car just arrived last night and I was too excited digging through all of the parts to take pics of it. 

Then of course I has to go away for work this morning. I will post some up when I getback home later in the week as I'm away for work..

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Couple of things that I did notice right away was that the stock front springs seemed stiffer than what is on the current re-release or even my orginal car from 1984.   The Side bars are also made of a softer material when compared to the later cars. 

 

 

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Finally got home.  Here are a couple of pics of the Grasshopper.  Note the black ball ends, black capasitor plate and the "Offroader" under the stars. 

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Took a quick look at my Grasshopper which I got in '84 and it has TAMIYA in the same spot.

Same thing with my Hornet, although I got that in the late 2000's had and can't be sure about it's age except that it came with the old 3-speed MSC.

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I still own my original Grasshopper. It was purchased very early in 1984. While I don't remember the exact date I can tell you it was shortly after christmas as I remember walking to the hobby store in the snow to see the car sitting on the shelf during my lay-away plan. I've compared my orignal 1984 example to this car and there are a few significant differences as stated earlier.  

I've heard rumor that these "Offroader" Grasshoppers were preproduction models. I have a buddy that owned a large hobby shop in the 80's and told me that he remembers Tamiya giving display models to shops here in the US for advertising and remembers that the Grasshopper was one of the cars that was used in the promotion. He doesn't remember specific details about the car so there is no way to confirm.

Does anyone have any idea on howmany of these early cars were made or their value today?

 

 

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