Chatting with Akira Kyosho RC Design legend

[TokyoProf]

While at the All Japan Model and Hobby Expo today, I had the amazing opportunity to talk with Akira for over half an hour while taking photo shots with Kyosho buggies on display including Joel Johnson's IFMAR trophy and 1987 winning Ultima buggy! I will begin with Akira who was standing alone in front of the booth. The guy designed the Scorpion at age 20, and essentially EVERY classic buggy from Kyosho that was ever made including on-road cars like the Phantom. It was unclear to me what he DIDN'T design for Kyosho actually. He was instrumental in both the body AND the chassis designs (something he seemed particularly proud of) for each of the cars, and his design influence extends to HPI the famous 1/8th scale Baja (I think that is the name) and numerous other RC's. He still helps design RC for Kyosho but also has his own design company. Thank you for the stickers!

When asked about the 1/10 scale Kyosho items, he said he was proud of the Optima and creating a sleek 4wd buggy that had the appearance of a 2WD buggy. With electronics oversized in the 80s, and mid-motor designs in abundance, creating a sleek 4WD design following the lines of a 2WD buggy was his goal. He shared about opting for a rear motor design to achieve this goal helping to avoid the bulky 4WD designs of the time, while still having good steering characteristics. The chassis design and electronics placement along the center line was also part of the challenge. His personal blue graphite 4WD Optima raced at the IFMAR championships in 1987 was also on display. He showed a picture of the buggy on the front cover of an RC magazine to me and explained that he was a designer and not a racer, but played an important part in testing and supporting the racing team.

I asked him about the RC10, and he shared that the design was something Japanese teams purchased and analyzed, but he was also quick to point out how he improved on the design flaws in the front suspension of the RC10, and shared how the turning characteristics of short front arms were very limited on the track compared to the longer arm designs implemented in the Ultima. He admitted that the aluminum chassis on the old Ultima, though strong, was also susceptible to bending during large crashes. I asked him about Joel Johnson, and he shared some stories, about his supreme and competitive driving confidence. Joel Johnson apparently had little to no off-road racing buggy experience prior to driving the Ultima and the turnaround to victory was surprising according to Akira. Let's just say that the new JJ Ultima sold quickly during pre-order so it did well which is great news. Akira was gracious in allowing me to take close-up photos of the winning Ultima buggy along with holding the 1987 IFMAR trophy! It was a lot of fun and really a pleasure to interact with someone still at the top of his game--a genius in RC design in my view. Memorable time spent with the legend from Kyosho.

[Frankentruck]

Very cool! So Joel doesn't have his winning buggy, Kyosho does? Or was it on loan to Kyosho?

[TokyoProf]

It's on loan to Kyosho is my guess...maybe indefinitely. Not sure if JJ is the kind of guy who looks at his trophy case and RC car every day in his living room thinking of the glory days...but I could be wrong . Kind of like how the Masami CAT XLS buggy and winning trophy are housed with Schumacher. According to Akira, Kyosho will come out with a promotional video for the JJ Ultima so stay tuned!

[Dangeruss]

Those Vortex had to be about the coolest looking ESC that never wore an orange case. And the story... very awesome. Getting to talk to Akira and check out JJ's ride... that had to be unexpectedly fun.