What IS this?

[Rolex]

I've never seen anything like it. It just popped up in the random gallery. Any ideas? It's obviously a wheelie machine. The pic was labled 'Old Stuff'.

 

[vbgagnon]

Looks almost like a sand rail.

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

id say that somebody broke their chassis and decided to make their own.. lol, or they found bits and pieces and put it together. looks like an air or water engine. note that the engine weight is behind the rear wheel. means that it must be counter-weighting something pretty heavy in the front

 

[TalonOne]

Grasshopper????? Old custum build......????

 

[Coach Z]

Its a, ummm, custom.......vintage........something? Kinda neat but definitly didn't come out of a box like that.

 

[swarmjt]

custom built

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

Its a, ummm, custom.......vintage........something? Kinda neat but definitly didn't come out of a box like that.

lol if it did come out of a box, i think the person would be scratching his head and looking at it weird like a dog does when you make funny noises

 

[Rolex]

It's ALL aluminum. The front suspension almost looks like a torsion bar setup.
Definately not a grasshopper of any kind. I had 2, and I built many Tamiya cars for other people.
I'd also say the front suspension looks cast, and not machined. The engine looks like an oldie. It IS R/C. You can see the servo horn for the steering. Apparently all the electronics are in the black box. Swing arm independant rear suspension, with very thin shocks (?) or springs.

 

[HeartBreak]

I'm going to guess at a Kyosho Sandmaster. They had the engines mounted at the rear like that, with the trailing arm setup. Ahhhh the memories, lol.

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

whoa, whoa, whoa... you mean to say the thing really did come out of a box?!?!

 

[Rolex]

I really think it did. This was the early days of R/C, and they weren't punching out plastics by the thousands.

 

[HeartBreak]

Yup, the Sandmaster was the grand-daddy of that nitro you got sitting on your shelf. I have a catalog from Tower somewhere around here with the ad for that very buggy. If not, in Car Action. It was produced in the late 80's, if memory serves. I'll look around for it and post a scan if I find it.

I stand corrected; it's a Kyosho ASSAULT. I found an article in the June '90 Car Action where someone had made a nitro-powered RC10 by grafting the rear end of the Assault to the gold tub.

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

whoaaaaa, you guys must be a gazillion years old if you still remember the time where plastics were a luxury, lol jk

 

[HeartBreak]

It's not exactly an ad for the Assault, but here is a picture of that mutant RC10... Well, an article containing pictures; complete with ads from the time. These images are from the June '90 Car Action.

My apologies for the sizes of the images; it's the best I could do space vs quality etc...

 

[hvymetalalchmst]

lol did you need to dig in your chest of "childhood memories" and dig up the inch-thick layer of dust before you found that?

lol, j/k i would never of guessed.

 

[jon2]

I googled it and found this

 

[Rolex]

That's amazing. I don't know if this forum has ever had a question that hasn't been solved.
Thanks, HeartBreak, that's a great piece of info for a major mystery car.
Now take the chemists advise and take something for that dust allergy you're about to get.
................................
Jon, that's it. It also looks like the front wheel took some heavy damage. What is it being stomped by, and early Tmaxx? I don't recognize the shock setup or the shock tower, but the cooling head looks like the .15.

 

[jon2]

I hear ya Rolex. Great Article there HB. What's crazy is I think I still have that issue. I remember reading that when I first got it and thought to myself.. NO WAY AM I DRIVING "GAS" powered RC's!!! Pretty dang funny is how driving Nitro is what brought me further in the hobby. LOL

 

[HeartBreak]

Haha, I know what ya mean, Jon2; when I first read that article, it was more of a "whoa, that's cool!" reaction, followed by a "its nothin I'll ever get into". 17+ years later, here I am, with three nitros' hangin on the wall.

That's only a fraction of the memories in that same issue. Amongst them, the first Losi buggy (JRX2), ads for the first Kyosho Lazer ZX1, and even the 4wd conversion kit for the gold tub RC10. There's even the Traxxas Team sponsorship application (as seen above).

Rolex, hahahaha, I already take Fexafenadine (gen for Allegra), with the occasional Benadryl. It helps, but I still sneeze every now and then. I guess I should vacuum my bookcase, eh?

 

[jon2]

Now take the chemists advise and take something for that dust allergy you're about to get.
................................
Jon, that's it. It also looks like the front wheel took some heavy damage. What is it being stomped by, and early Tmaxx? I don't recognize the shock setup or the shock tower, but the cooling head looks like the .15.

I beleive its a USA-1. Doing that to an RC is just stupid.Then or NOW.

As far as allergies.. What the heck? I started sneezing up a storm this morning and have not stopped. Is this National Allergy Attack day?