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Remember when RC buggies/Truggies looked realistic?

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The really modern stuff just has no appeal to me at all. It might work better than the old stuff, but even the top force looks too modern and unrealistic to me. Can't see me getting more modern than a fox, hotshot, boomerang, or similar any time soon! 

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Old skool every day of the week.

Why make something technically better, but looks like I designed the body shell after a skin full of beer and some crayons.

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As much as i dislike modern buggy bodies, I think it is an inevitable progression of competition. I was lucky enough to race 10th off road during the late 80's and all through the 90's, and even then there was a notable difference in the look of buggies by the time i stopped racing. In the beginning most people had scale looking buggies with driver figures, and by the end ALL the figures had gone, and the bodies were definitely more 'stream lined'. I drifted away from racing, but when i took it up again around 2009 I was surprised at just how much things had moved on. With lipos and brushless cars were way faster and I guess bodies changed to help with the new speeds.

However, even though I had fun, it just wasn't the same. I missed the look of a field full of scale buggies. I don't think we'll see the likes of that again. Re-releases have helped revive it a little, but it's short lived. Most manufacturers are interested and most clubs don't have enough vintage racers to make up a single heat. And the ones that do have a heat, just end up with people buying RC10's and putting lipos and brushless in them. Then the cycle of looking for that 'competitive edge' starts all over again.

So, now I just do my own thing. 

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2 minutes ago, Problemchild said:

Erm....

image.jpeg.bfd88c82a4b6df22a6c2762ef0c47ebf.jpeg

JJ

Exception rather than the rule I'd say :D

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This is what happens when winning is everything and you don't race 'real' cars any more. And yes, IMO, the cobra still looks better.

ac-cobra-petrol-2007.660e2d.jpg

 

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7 minutes ago, toyolien said:

And the ones that do have a heat, just end up with people buying RC10's and putting lipos and brushless in them. Then the cycle of looking for that 'competitive edge' starts all over again.

My thoughts exactly on that.  It was great when Tamiya began rereleasing their old buggies, and there was a little interest in clubs having dedicated events for vintage and rereleases.  People like John Weston helped in no small part to get vintage class racing a real thing.

But as always, Tamiya started a trend and other companies followed suit.  Before you knew it, vintage class racing became more and more like it was back in the day - which is excellent in some ways, but in others, not so much.  Someone brings an RC10 to the track and kicks backside all day and to be in with a chance of keeping up at the next meeting, more people race an RC10, and eventually, the entire line up is full of RC10s.  This might be an exaggerated version of events, but you can't deny that the fun and quirky side of vintage racing has been replaced with the serious and competitive side of things where, once again, race proven technology is the thing to have and beat at the track.

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6 minutes ago, Fruitfly01 said:

Someone brings an RC10 to the track and kicks backside all day and to be in with a chance of keeping up at the next meeting, more people race an RC10, and eventually, the entire line up is full of RC10s.  

My experience too. I found that the vintage heats were made up of drivers who weren't good enough get in the A final in the modern 2wd class, and weren't brave enough to drive a Frog in the vintage class. So, out came the RC10's.

I always imagine a whole race day where you can only use pre 1988 Tamiya buggies, brushed motors and nimhs...

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36 minutes ago, toyolien said:

Exception rather than the rule I'd say :D

image.thumb.jpeg.d91de1d9934e5fd911372d8efe3fe8ff.jpeg

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hahaha
 

I think it’s a 4wd vs 2wd thing tbh ;)

 

JJ

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To grow RC racing I feel as though realism has to return. Lets face it, what are RC cars? Radio Controlled CARS. They may be buggies. They may be trucks. That's the connection the average consumer needs to get interested. Its being able to own and race a smaller version of a car or truck that you couldn't afford in full-size. That's obviously the draw that makes scale trail trucks so popular today. Cliff Lett was drawn into RC when he saw an RC race for the first time back in the day. A person witnessing the current crop of off roaders is probably thinking "What the heck is THAT supposed to be?"

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I hope there is a classic class at one of.my new tracks. I'd love to my RC10 and Astute. 

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Pretty unrealistic (yet still cool minus the Durga: Worst looking tamiya buggy ever IMHO) if you ask me.

 

While I dislike the cab forward look as much as the last person, it's simply what they have evolved into with high traction surfaces and a mid-motor layout. I also find it mind-boggling that the ROAR rulebook still states that a 1/10 buggy body must "resemble an actual off- road racing non-truck type vehicle". I guess that the people who write the rules have traveled time and this is what a full scale buggy will look like in the future.  

alien mid.jpg

durrga.jpg

vanning.jpg

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DB02 was a good attempt at cheaper TRF buggy but man that thing hit every branch of the ugly tree too!!

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image.jpeg.629b9d2a84202399ebf811f2c8c6e9c1.jpegimage.jpeg.8b7249d24d26fc77c45d1d5329a88fbe.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.47cdffdaae741c445059b70ad7136dde.jpegimage.jpeg.e4cdfa13de5ccd86c0feecee0796fba0.jpeg
 

show me an ultra fast car where the driver isn’t up front ;) they have to be as mid engine layouts are essential.

these are RC whatever. Buggy, truck, car etc. What defines cars? 
 

the good thing about tamiya is they do something for everyone. I’m sure the touring car guys look at the buggies within distain ;)

 

JJ

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4 hours ago, Problemchild said:

image.jpeg.629b9d2a84202399ebf811f2c8c6e9c1.jpegimage.jpeg.8b7249d24d26fc77c45d1d5329a88fbe.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.47cdffdaae741c445059b70ad7136dde.jpegimage.jpeg.e4cdfa13de5ccd86c0feecee0796fba0.jpeg
 

show me an ultra fast car where the driver isn’t up front ;) they have to be as mid engine layouts are essential.

these are RC whatever. Buggy, truck, car etc. What defines cars? 
 

the good thing about tamiya is they do something for everyone. I’m sure the touring car guys look at the buggies within distain ;)

 

JJ

Man, don't get me started on ugly touring car bodies. I never thought that I'd think the Stratus looks better than what's being raced now. The new Zoo body looks like a dump  truck.

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To avoid the RC10 'problem' in vintage racing (in an ideal world!!!), I think we need a 'spec' class, for a certain chassis, say DF01 or Hotshot.  All racing 1060 esc & say a sport tuned or a Super Stock, and 2S, keep the costs down and the playing field as level as possible.  I'm dreaming I know, but...

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I thought that tracks that did have vintage classes did run different classes of them? Classed as different eras and 2 vz 4wd etc.

As to the ugliest Tamiya buggy ever as was mentioned a few posts back, I see your Durga and raise you the 501x.

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3 hours ago, thegorf said:

To avoid the RC10 'problem' in vintage racing (in an ideal world!!!), I think we need a 'spec' class, for a certain chassis, say DF01 or Hotshot.  All racing 1060 esc & say a sport tuned or a Super Stock, and 2S, keep the costs down and the playing field as level as possible.  I'm dreaming I know, but...

There are a few clubs that do this sort of thing.  I've seen videos of races in other countries - Castle Hill and Boondall in Australia spring to mind - where all the cars are of a certain chassis type - for example, Hotshot. For those races you have a choice of six different cars on 3 slightly different platforms.

There was also the Tamiyacup for off road racing.  Official races maintained by Tamiya for Tamiya buggies in the 1980s.  I think it still goes on today with the Eurocup for on road and Fighter Cup for DT02/03 off road chassis.  And of course, in Japan, Tamiya's get raced all the time at all levels of competition.  I've heard talk of the Avante coming in 7th in the grand final of the Japanese off road nationals. I have no idea what the competition consisted of though.  Kyosho Optimas? 

Other clubs group by time period.  For example 1979 -1983 followed by 1984 - 1988, etc.  That way, you'll tend to get more of a mix of cars, especially in the earlier year groups.  However, certain cars from each era will still dominate.  An A main line up in the early year groups might consist purely of Frogs or something similar as they are certainly a more capable buggy compared to Hornets or Sand Scorchers.  The rest is down to the drivers.  Come to the later years and the Tamiya brand disappears in favour of more popular makes for that time time period.  But this is exactly what happened  at national level back in the day, so to group cars by period today makes for some pretty accurate racing that follows the old trends.  

Whereas Tamiya Dominated the formulative years of off road rc, they never kept up with the Joneses as things changed and didn't evolve far beyond the Hotshot for years, until the Avante.  But we all know how far that went outside of Japan.  This still continues in modern vintage races.  Tamiya are so dominant in the early classes, it's a rare treat when someone dares to run their Marui Hunter or Hirobo Zerda. And heaven forbid a breakage on a car with no spares backup.  

There are also seems to be differences of attitude among the different year groups.  Unless it's at national level, then it's all fun and giggles to watch a fleet of Sand Scorchers bounce their ways around a track and everything seems, to me, a lot more light hearted.  Break out the RC10s and Schumachers, and suddenly there's a goal to reach and a prize to be had and it's every man/car/sponsor for themselves. 

I think all of us Tamiya fans lament the lack of any true Tamiya competition on the tracks during the golden era, and it bugs a lot of us to see history repeating itself with modern day vintage class racing.  But unless you separate the makes and classes even further, Tamiya's dominance on the track will always be fond memories for most rc enthusiasts. 

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4 hours ago, thegorf said:

To avoid the RC10 'problem' in vintage racing (in an ideal world!!!), I think we need a 'spec' class, for a certain chassis, say DF01 or Hotshot.  All racing 1060 esc & say a sport tuned or a Super Stock, and 2S, keep the costs down and the playing field as level as possible.  I'm dreaming I know, but...

There was a uk class running, i think under the Iconic banner. It was any Hotshot gearbox car (so you got some bigwigs in there), 2" tamiya wheels, schumacher cat block tyres, sport tuned motor, lipo allowed, only tamiya parts. 

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4 hours ago, Pablo68 said:


As to the ugliest Tamiya buggy ever as was mentioned a few posts back, I see your Durga and raise you the 501x.

That's fair, and it took a few years for those to grow on me, but the proportions are there. The cockpits are between the wheels, it looks futuristic but still car like. Now the cabs are over the front shock towers, have right angles everywhere, and bleh.

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I build vintage and re re buggies, not out of nostalgia, but because the modern cars are: 1. not much use except on carpet; and 2. they're hideous looking. Modern buggies, truggies, whatever, look like they were designed by bros for WWE enthusiasts.

The problem is that, even if they don't race, an awful lot of buyers want that look. 

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6 hours ago, Mrowka said:

I build vintage and re re buggies, not out of nostalgia, but because the modern cars are: 1. not much use except on carpet; and 2. they're hideous looking. Modern buggies, truggies, whatever, look like they were designed by bros for WWE enthusiasts.

The problem is that, even if they don't race, an awful lot of buyers want that look. 

I agree, modern truck/ truggies are getting more extreme and becoming a parody of themselves.  The wheel track is too wide, body too low and horrible wheels with low profile tyres. 

I've no doubt they are faster and stronger than a tamiya but the appearance puts right off.  Also, I've no interest in repeatedly jumping one 20' in the air off a skateboard ramp.

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