Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
- dinglem
- Approved Member
- Posts: 1376
- Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:45 am
- Location: Lichfield, UK
- Has thanked: 243 times
- Been thanked: 629 times
Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
I have posted this up on a couple of Fb group pages earlier today and I was rather surprised at how many people studied and comment upon it.
A friend of mine was a freelance journalist who wrote for the two big RC magazines in the UK, and was at the Reedy Spring International held at Romsey in 1987.... basically a practice run for the Worlds later that summer. The event itself was dominated by the then new LWB Schumacher CAT, and British driver Glyn Peglar seemingly ran away with the event and won it. This was a fairly controversial result as he had not been selected for the British team for the up-coming Worlds event at the same venue.
Anyway - both UK mags mentioned that Jay Halsey and Cliff Lett were running a very secretive prototype 4wd RC10, which was not seen without the bodyshell it seems. They were also not allowing photographs to be taken, but it turns out he managed to take this one, albeit with the bodyshell in place. The mag pictures were of much worse quality, so i thought this might be of interest to folks on here..... there is more than a hint of Optima from what I can see(!)
A friend of mine was a freelance journalist who wrote for the two big RC magazines in the UK, and was at the Reedy Spring International held at Romsey in 1987.... basically a practice run for the Worlds later that summer. The event itself was dominated by the then new LWB Schumacher CAT, and British driver Glyn Peglar seemingly ran away with the event and won it. This was a fairly controversial result as he had not been selected for the British team for the up-coming Worlds event at the same venue.
Anyway - both UK mags mentioned that Jay Halsey and Cliff Lett were running a very secretive prototype 4wd RC10, which was not seen without the bodyshell it seems. They were also not allowing photographs to be taken, but it turns out he managed to take this one, albeit with the bodyshell in place. The mag pictures were of much worse quality, so i thought this might be of interest to folks on here..... there is more than a hint of Optima from what I can see(!)
CAT SWB&XL, Meteor (x3), RC10 custom, RC10 Graphite, Goldpan, 870c (x2), Works 91, Samurai, Pro Radiant (x2), Mini Mustang&Maxima, Mid Turbo, TOP Hybrid , Coyote, Hot Trick Optima, Supercharge, Brimod, 'Rory Cull' Hotshot, SRB.
- Frankentruck
- Super Member
- Posts: 2551
- Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2021 9:59 am
- Location: Texas, USA
- Has thanked: 1563 times
- Been thanked: 1724 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
Hmmmm... using an Optima donor car could be an interesting way to make a 4wd RC10
Frankensteined RC10T3 / Franky Jr RC10GT-e (x2) / A+ stamp / Toy Story RC / Graphite replica / B1.5 BFG 5LTi / Clonewald / Hyper Hornet
"I love the effort, but it sure looks like you took the long way around to a tub again"
"I love the effort, but it sure looks like you took the long way around to a tub again"
- MarkyDents
- Approved Member
- Posts: 1019
- Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:52 am
- Location: Staten Island, N.Y.
- Has thanked: 1335 times
- Been thanked: 509 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
Very very cool stuff, is that this car ? I’ve always wondered what it really looked like if so.
Who do you race for ?
Me……. I race for me.
That’s impossible, I was told you need a sponsor to race.
Hey Cru ! Go balls out
Me……. I race for me.
That’s impossible, I was told you need a sponsor to race.
Hey Cru ! Go balls out
- MarkyDents
- Approved Member
- Posts: 1019
- Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2021 11:52 am
- Location: Staten Island, N.Y.
- Has thanked: 1335 times
- Been thanked: 509 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
Another screen grab from the same vid. Definitely looks to be a different setup.
Who do you race for ?
Me……. I race for me.
That’s impossible, I was told you need a sponsor to race.
Hey Cru ! Go balls out
Me……. I race for me.
That’s impossible, I was told you need a sponsor to race.
Hey Cru ! Go balls out
-
- Approved Member
- Posts: 530
- Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:10 am
- Location: Auckland New Zealand
- Has thanked: 548 times
- Been thanked: 380 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
Lol looks more like he put rc10 rear arms on a optima and a custom chassis, whole front end and rear gearbox look to be optimaFrankentruck wrote: ↑Fri Mar 24, 2023 5:31 pm Hmmmm... using an Optima donor car could be an interesting way to make a 4wd RC10
- terry.sc
- Approved Member
- Posts: 843
- Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:58 pm
- Location: Stockport, UK
- Has thanked: 6 times
- Been thanked: 80 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
The Trinity and Hot Trick chassis for the Optima were flat plates like that Associated car. A lot of conversions for the re-release Optima change it to a flat plate chassis.
The photo of Cliff Lett holding the two cars shows it has the Optima front bumper brace, the underside view shows it has a complete Optima front end. The side view shows it has an Optima rear gearbox with RC10 rear arms.
It's an Optima with a flat plate chassis added so that RC10 rear suspension mounts can be fitted to it.
The photo of Cliff Lett holding the two cars shows it has the Optima front bumper brace, the underside view shows it has a complete Optima front end. The side view shows it has an Optima rear gearbox with RC10 rear arms.
It's an Optima with a flat plate chassis added so that RC10 rear suspension mounts can be fitted to it.
- terry.sc
- Approved Member
- Posts: 843
- Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2007 4:58 pm
- Location: Stockport, UK
- Has thanked: 6 times
- Been thanked: 80 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
When the fastest Yokomo available in 1987 was the RPS Losi version from 1985, you can see why they looked at the Optima that had been winning everywhere at the time.
-
- Approved Member
- Posts: 530
- Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2015 6:10 am
- Location: Auckland New Zealand
- Has thanked: 548 times
- Been thanked: 380 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
Yup exactly what I saidterry.sc wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 4:01 pm The Trinity and Hot Trick chassis for the Optima were flat plates like that Associated car. A lot of conversions for the re-release Optima change it to a flat plate chassis.
The photo of Cliff Lett holding the two cars shows it has the Optima front bumper brace, the underside view shows it has a complete Optima front end. The side view shows it has an Optima rear gearbox with RC10 rear arms.
It's an Optima with a flat plate chassis added so that RC10 rear suspension mounts can be fitted to it.
- LurkingCAT
- Super Member
- Posts: 286
- Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:11 am
- Location: Norway
- Has thanked: 102 times
- Been thanked: 153 times
Re: Cliff Lett 'prototype 4wd RC10 'picture - early 1987
That would be a typical dinglem narrative build up
It's amasing what super nice rare oddities finding their way to his work station...
But really, the spring of 87, boosted by the upcoming worlds, was maybe the most innovative in 4wd. Everything from inspired scratch builds, new MIP conversion, extension of the CAT wheelbase, making the final touches to C4/870C and Optima Mid, new Mugen etc etc.
Create an account or sign in to join the discussion
You need to be a member in order to post a reply
Create an account
Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute
Sign in
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 20 Replies
- 5533 Views
-
Last post by Jirka
-
- 103 Replies
- 13462 Views
-
Last post by yellowdatsun
-
- 72 Replies
- 9527 Views
-
Last post by scr8p
-
- 6 Replies
- 1359 Views
-
Last post by Winger
-
- 17 Replies
- 4339 Views
-
Last post by Charlie don't surf
-
- 26 Replies
- 2445 Views
-
Last post by Chewbacca
-
- 65 Replies
- 13128 Views
-
Last post by hugger19
-
- 0 Replies
- 597 Views
-
Last post by GJW
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 3 guests