Atsushi Hara's Cat3000

[Ivan Dobsky]

*This post edited due to further information being acquired*

I haven't posted on here in a while because I took a bit of a break from the hobby. Having just decided to get back into it all, I thought I'd share a few images of a car that I acquired fairly recently. This car belonged to Atsushi Hara very briefly when he had just joined HPI. It looks a little strange having a Schumacher buggy with HPI and Hot Bodies graphics all over it.

I'll provide as much info as I can. Hara didn't use the car for very long and there seems to be almost no wear at all. A few places online posted news that he had decided to run a CAT3000 at the Japanese nationals, but the bodyshell doesn't appear to have ever had any JMRCA number stickers. I can't tell if this was painted by Brainspeed Graphix because the rear of the body has been cut out to clear the roll bar, and the Brainspeed sticker usually goes on that part of a buggy shell.

At some point I'll take some better photos, but the car has almost no upgrades other than the following:
-- Alloy rear lower diff housing.
-- Carbon fibre shock towers (front & rear).
-- TDS layshaft (seems to have left a kimborough spur on there too).
-- Battery holders are the type that use alloy posts and body clips (instead of the flimsy plastic ones).

It doesn't show well in the photos, but the body has been signed by Atsushi Hara. I don't have any photos without the body, but I got the car with no electrics installed. I'm considering installing the correct motor/esc/receiver soon because I still have the correct parts in another car. Hara seems to have made his own lexan mount for the AMB transponders that were used at the time and he left the mount installed on the lower deck.







*Edit: I had a good look around and I've found very little news stories left online that say anything about Atsushi Hara using a CAT3000, but I did find this one (in Chinese): http://rc-evo.com/html/m_news/news017.html
I did also find another mention of the news on rctech forum from back in 2001. Apparently the news was posted on the Team-Orion news page at the time, you can find that story here: https://web.archive.org/web/20011201094305/http://www.team-orion.ch/global/global_news.asp?id=1042
And Team-Orion seem to have got the news directly from Schumacher, so here's the archive of that: https://web.archive.org/web/20011205085006/http://www.racing-cars.com/newsdetails.asp?itemId=RR57

*Edit (again)
Confirmation acquired, even if it did take me a long time:

[Lonestar]

That's pretty cool no matter what!

How about pinging him on FB and asking him for a bit more info? I'm sure he'd gladly oblige...

[Ivan Dobsky]

I would love to ask Hara about it via facebook, sadly I don't use anything like facebook or twitter. If someone else wants to use the photos to ask Atsushi Hara about the time he used a Schumacher buggy for a very short time then that would be cool to get a response. Apparently when he signed the shell he said he remembered it, but he signed it quite a long time ago.

I've decided that I will install the parts that would have been in the car at the time, not that I have any intention of running the car because I know I would end up destroying it somehow. I'm pretty sure it would have had an Orion Chrome, and LRP Quantum, and a KO 2143.

[Ivan Dobsky]

I will try to get Hara to confirm it in some way, just in case people think that I'm lying about it being Hara's old car. I got the car from a reliable source, and I asked a friend of mine (a guy that worked for Schumacher) about it, and he confirmed that the car was sent to Hara, then used for a little while because HPI/HotBodies didn't make a suitable buggy at the time. I think it makes an interesting piece of history, given the fact that Hara and Schumacher were an unlikely combination back in 2001.

[CATS]

Omg can't believe you have this. Saw a pic in a mag once...love that paint job!

[Tim W.]

Update? Did anyone get in touch with Hara?

[Ivan Dobsky]

The only update I can give is that I've started installing the ESC, motor and servo that Hara would most likely have used at the time. I've spoken to one more person that knew of the car and I'm now totally convinced that it was Hara's, even if it was only briefly.

I would love to get Atsushi Hara's confirmation about the car, but I don't use Facebook so I can't be the one that does it.

I will be posting photos of the car without the bodyshell soon, I'm quite proud of how well I've matched the electronics. I'm hoping to get some better photos of the car with the bodyshell too.

I get the impression that some people think I'm lying about this car, so I would appreciate it tremendously if one person would use my photos to ask him on Facebook. I know its a fairly big favor for me to ask as I'm not a particularly prominent member here, but I decided some time ago that I wouldn't use social media as its too much of a distraction.

[Romeo]

Can anyone re-upload the pictures above?

Thanks!

[Ivan Dobsky]

Can anyone re-upload the pictures above?

Thanks!

Give me a little while, I'll see if I can find some.

Is there something specific you need pictures for?

[Romeo]

Can anyone re-upload the pictures above?

Thanks!

Give me a little while, I'll see if I can find some.

Is there something specific you need pictures for?

Yes!

I'm looking to have details of the paint scheme...

[CATS]

Could you post some pics of the bodyshell again? I’m trying to replicate it

Thanks

[Ivan Dobsky]

*Now that I have the archives of the relevant news pages, the first post of this thread has been edited accordingly*

Yeah I get it, people want the photos back up. I'm trying to get Hara to acknowledge the car on facebook, and I won't be reposting the pics until then because I know that people don't believe me about this being Hara's car.

Until I get a response from Atsushi Hara, here's some news that appeared on Team-Orion's page at the time, courtesy of wayback machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20011201094305/http://www.team-orion.ch/global/global_news.asp?id=1042

Apparently, Orion's source was Schumacher themselves, and I've found the announcement on Schumacher's page too (also courtesy of wayback machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20011205085006/http://www.racing-cars.com/newsdetails.asp?itemId=RR57

So when I get Hara to acknowledge the car on social media I'll finally have the evidence needed for people to believe me about this being Atsushi Hara's old car.

[Ivan Dobsky]

I know I never needed to prove this to anyone here because you all believed me.

But I have proof now:





The text in the magazine says:
Hara, having entered the race on short notice, drove a Schumacher CAT3000. He struggled with a short setup period but still performed well.