Tamiya‘s tradition of fine plastic model craftsmanship extended to R/C Cars in 1976, starting with a Porsche 934 RSR Turbo. This poster was created a few years ago to mark their 30th anniversary. We would commit great crimes to get our paws on a mint condition Group 5 Toyota Celica Liftback.
The chevy monster truck is nice. So is the stepside 4×4 (Datsun, Toyota?). Also like the Honda z and the Fiat 500 Abarth.
Oh man – I remember saving every dime I had in order to purchase the Toyota pickup with the working 3 speed gearbox. What a great kit that was! I think I still have a partially assembled big rig kit with the same sort of 3 speed gearbox setup somewhere in storage.
I built a blue Rodenstock Group 5 Celica when I was a kid! I recall my little brother might have stepped on it or something 🙂
Funny how this picture spreads like wildfire! 😀
http://www.banpei.net/blog/repost-30-years-tamiya-rc-cars
Apart from the Group 5 Celica Celica liftback A28 I identified in the mid left a Group 5 Nissan Fairlady S30 240Z, a Honda City Turbo, some Skyline R32s in the mid right and a Supra JZA80 at the right bottom. 😉
Too bad the image quality is low so it is hard to identify some others. 🙁
they also show the PIAA accord and Motul Mugen EG6 hatchback. i have the civic hatch. and yes that is a toyota stepside. i recently sold off a lot of my old tamiya stuff, including a bruiser.. almost had one of the celica rally cars, but didn’t snatch it in time. it wasn’t mint, either. have a lot of the minis though. cool poster. 🙂 and it’s an “S”, not a honda “Z”.. the first “touring car” that tamiya released was the R32 Skyline in 1992. this would be the first interpretation of the touring car in the fact it had the TA01 shaft driven 4wd chassis which really paved the way for parking lot racing and the current crop of shaft driven and belt driven “touring” cars.
They’re all iconic kits from over the years. On the left, I can see Sand Scorcher (VW), Rough Rider, the Kamei MkI Golf, that awesome 4×4 Hilux with the gearbox, Wild Willy (Jeep and Honda City), Hornet and Frog, Lunchbox, Porsche 959. I had quite a few of these!
On the right is the newer stuff, I can see the 1/12 Mini Cooper and Mugen Civic (which are both fwd), Alfa GTa (also 1/12) and the last RC car I bought was the blue Esso Supra at the bottom corner. It’s a TA05 4×4 touring car racer (great chassis!).
Hey, you guys said all the good ones. Oh wait I see some cool Group C cars at the top right.
the mercedes, jag, mazda, and porsche? i believe they are all based on a specialised chasis of the F101’s of F102’s. it’s sad that they show the lunchbox, but not the midnite pumpkin! honestly, i have a midnite pumpkin, and it is perhaps the most fun RC car that i own. and the mini isn’t 1/12, it is “M-scale”. because technically, it is for the most part 1/10’th scale…
i’m glad tamiya is celebrating there 30th anniversary with re-releases of a lot of models. since 06, they’ve released things like the midnite pumpkin, the tyrell 6 wheeler and the original porsche. some on updated chassis. maybe that group b celica isn’t quite out of reach!
They really made all these? All we get is ToysRus specials! America sucks sometimes!
You needed to get them from a Hobby store. I’ve had a lot of Tamiya kits over the years. Definitely my favorite to assemble.
they just go together so well. especially if you are like and purchase the special tamiya phillips head screw drivers. they really are worth the money. when i was 14 i worked at a hobby shop as a manager. 🙂 was quite fun for a true first job.
I never owned a Tamiya R/C set but I did spend plenty of time gazing adoringly at the boxes. So what’s the deal with the Tamiya screwdriver, more precision?
i guess the screws they use aren’t true Phillips #2/#1 and the screwdrivers seem to just lock in perfectly to whatever they use and do not slip out like a standard #2/#1 bit would. hard to explain unless you use them, but they make life so much easier when you have as much tamiya as i do.
hey it shows the Hot Shot. I got that when i was a kid