finally found one that spoke to me!
christmas, 1981 santa's come at last. I'd had the editions of Model Maker magazine with the rough rider reviews in it for months....it was falling to pieces it had been read so much! I had studied and studied the pics and construction of the car over and over.....and now it was mine!!!!!! wow. not one aspect of the car let me down, the box with the beautiful graphics, blister packs all over the place, a million hex nuts, bits of brass, electronics, fantastic build manual, 3 piece rims - and real tires! heaven. fast forwards through life, jobs, marriage, real cars, houses and stuff. the original long gone, lost along the way. then somebody invents e-bay! hooray.
I look at Tamiya and yes all is not lost. just have to break it to my wife that i am going to invest in some RC history. which is where i am now. i was going to use this as a runner just to mess around with.....but when it arrived, well, strip down clean and polish every piece like new, buy a set of stainless screws and fixings, full set of ball races, replace ali plate underneath with a stainless steel one i made, strip down and restore body, and do what i have always wanted, and that is to design and build my own bumper. the original never really went with the scale appearance of the car in my eyes. I am a sculptor and painter, so i have access to a bronze foundry. the one on the car is the prototype, but i am casting the real one in solid aluminium, along with a rear cage in a few weeks - should look sexy, i will post when they are cast. the body is white at the moment...it might stay that way. On that boxing day in 81, my originals maiden head-on collision with the kerb in the fading light was with the unpainted body. ahh memories. I am loving every minute of the re-build, and have even got used to the funny looks that my wife gives me!! I did not want a shelfer, but oh well, it is a piece of RC history. i will just use one of the other three cars i have bought to drive into the kerb at high speed!