Any love left for the Hot Shot?

[TurnipJF 9183]

The Hotshot is the oldest 4WD design in my stable, and as such bears a special place as the benchmark to which subsequent designs are compared. If I want to get a feel of how much more advanced a more recent buggy is, I run it back to back with the Hotshot. It helps me appreciate my other buggies more. 😁

[frameskip 63]

To answer the initial question, definitely run it!

I never had a Hotshot growing up, but I had a single issue of Radio Control Car Action that featured the Hotshot II. I thought it was the coolest thing EVER. I didn't discover the re-release until 2011, but even then it was the sole reason for me getting back into the hobby. I've since picked up a few vintage Hotshots as well as that HSII I dreamed of as a child.

If there's any love lost for the Hotshot, it definitely hasn't lost mine  I think they're quite fun on loose dirt and small jumps, but then again I'm generally a "silver can" kind of guy

[NWarty 1325]

I'm fortunate enough to own and run a restored HS. I was never really a big fan of the Hotshot, until I bought a vintage one from ebay and held it in my hands. They are MUCH better looking in person, than photos. It really is a neat design in engineering and the suspension system is definitely "plucky". They have a distinctive sound for sure and with a Technipower and 8.4v battery, they get up and go. Not as fast as my rere Bigwig, but still quick. Unfortunately I broke several of the original plastic parts in the first couple of runs, but replaced them with NOS vintage parts. Chalk it up to the car being in a garage attic for 20 years.

 

 

[NWarty 1325]

And holy smokes, the edit function REALLY DOESN'T WORK right now on either Chrome or Firefox...

[WillyChang 1814]

4 hours ago, NWarty said:

And holy smokes, the edit function REALLY DOESN'T WORK right now on either Chrome or Firefox...

pulling down smiley window keeps it down permanently  on safari 32-bit though

[JYCM3 236]

I had the Hotshot when it first came out. Would drool the coming soon poster. It look really tough and cool. But after owning it I was really disappointed many flaws. Lots of parts worn out extremely fast (suspension/steering joint, drive shafts, propeller shaft, speed control) as young kid I don’t have much $$ to keep buying parts. Shortly after I lose interest and start saving for something else. A friend got the boomerang later on and it’s much improved but not as cool looking. I do love the Super Hotshot best looking of the series. Would love to buy one some day.