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loco_oso

Optima Knock-Off/Cousin ID?

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Below are a few auction site pics of what appears to be an Optima, but upon closer inspection is quite different. Pics are below. Any thoughts? 

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s-l400 (1).jpg

s-l400 (2).jpg

s-l400 (3).jpg

s-l400 (4).jpg

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It didn't, no. That was just my best guess based on the overall look and similarities to an Optima.

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Might be a clone. A lot of Taiwan-made Optima knock-offs were made and sold under different names around the mid to late 80s. I believe Maplin even marketed one under their own brand, the name of which escapes me just now. Many had a degree of parts commonality with the real thing, meaning that they may have ended up being hybrids as components broke or were upgraded with genuine Optima parts, as appears to have happened with the Kyosho Gold shocks on this one.

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Really odd tyres on that car. They look like copies of the spiked tyres that came with certain later Kyoshos, like the Mid and Ultima II, but with some pins deliberately missing. Weird.

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12 hours ago, loco_oso said:

Apparently it's a Blue Bird Baja Growler.

Ah, excellent. Glad to help!

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Just an update - I won the auction and should have the car in about a week. Will likely be doing a rebuild thread once it arrives 👍.

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On 2 October 2019 at 5:15 AM, Yalson said:

Really odd tyres on that car. They look like copies of the spiked tyres that came with certain later Kyoshos, like the Mid and Ultima II, but with some pins deliberately missing. Weird.

think those same tyres were found downunder sold under Tartan brand. They're 2" to fit hotshot rear; worked well - grippier than Oval Blocks on grass and didn't wear out as fast as Pin Spikes. Only ever found rears, no front narrower width. 

 

As as for Blue Bird... did they go on to make those cheap metal gear servos? :) whose clear tinted cases were so brittle that the high torque mechanism just ripped the servo off its ears :P all the rage in mid to late 90s, they were half the price of Hitec for same spec (if you believed that guff)

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Interesting on the tires. Good to know that they wear slower. 

I'm not sure if it's the same brand honestly. It was also marketed through Aristocraft, but I'm not sure on the heritage of all of that. 

I just got the car in, and overall it looks okay. It's dusty and missing a few items. One front carrier, one wheel and tire, one dogbone, and one front shock from first glance. I think it crashed on the front left and the previous owner shelved it. Excited to rebuild it though :).

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