What is the worst vintage rc ever made?

[Bormac]

Early version of the SG Coyote.
While the beautiful Italian car looked stunning the earlier versions had plastic gears which stripped under the power of a silver can 540 and a fully charged battery pack

I gladly own a couple of these cars now and their uniqueness makes up for the inability to run them (unless I can find some metal gears that is)

[Momo5]

worst vintage car ive ever owned

2 words...




nitro hawk

I actually thought the Nitro Hawk was pretty awesome. I had one back in the day, and when I started buying vintage RCs it was at the top of my list. Sure, the Image .12 was terrible, but other than the rear shock tower mount, it was a tank! It was partly responsible for making 10th scale nitro truck racing so popular.

[Coelacanth]

I have to second the thoughts on the AYK Hunter. Cool box art. That's about it. Rear diff was a stunning bit of engineering.

True, and I wouldn't say the rear diff design was stunning. It was the minimum that was required to get the job done, and it didn't take much to get the gears grinding. (Same design was shared by the Galaxy.) Still, it was a better car overall than the more expensive Frog, IMHO.

I was being facetious about the diff.

Ahh...lacking any smiley, it's kind of hard to distinguish sarcasm.

[Dave145]

The worst vintage car I ever owned is a toss up between the kyosho USA-1 or the tamiya mud blaster. The USA-1 was always stripping the plastic axles off and it had a bed problem with bending inthe middle. Not to mention the steering ( who everthought of that anyway? 1 tiny inefficient servo to turn 4 huge monster truck wheels. That was always a literal MONSTER truck ) As for the mudblaster, the transmission was always junk and always will be, the shocks didn't really work that well unless you bought the fiber uprights. The body sat so high up that it caused the truck to flip over too easily, and if you crashed it, well then you are probay going to need about $100 of parts or so. These are just my experiences with these trucks. But let me tell you, once the USA-1 is actually moving, it's a really fun truck to drive. (nothing next to my hpi esavage though).

[Lowgear]

Traxxas Sledgehammer (The original one)

Back in the 80s my friend bought one.

The plastic was beyond fragile.

On the first day the rear axle snapped right on the drive pin.

Since the truck had just come on the market, Traxxas was completely out of spare parts, so we rigged it with a hotshot axle.

Then the other side snapped. Rigged it again, and the chassis broke in half.

By the end of the first week it was mostly made of left over Tamiya parts, and the chassis was replaced with a piece of sheet aluminum. It was then given to me because it was a complete piece of garbage.

I ended up throwing it out.

I love all vintage R/C's in their own way, so I can't really comment on this topic but I will say that I had a really disheartening experience with the original white and gold Sledgehammer as a kid. On its maiden voyage after spending so much time building and painting it, I drove about 10' and the trans grenaded which caused it to flip over and the body shattered which was strange. Oh, and both of the telescoping axles broke as well right at the pins. It then sat until eBay came into existence, and I sold it on there.

That was the worst experience I've had with any R/C that I've ever driven. I guess I can't complain too much.

[longboardnj]

worst vintage car ive ever owned

2 words...




nitro hawk

I actually thought the Nitro Hawk was pretty awesome. I had one back in the day, and when I started buying vintage RCs it was at the top of my list. Sure, the Image .12 was terrible, but other than the rear shock tower mount, it was a tank! It was partly responsible for making 10th scale nitro truck racing so popular.

nitro hawk has my vote as the biggest rc turd .. the engine would heat up and stall.. then would not start till it was cool.. the pull starter broke and the pipe would fall apart.. the chassis would flex and strip spur gears..i almost forgot the crap rear shock tower mount..It was partly responsible for making people hate traxxas and getting people out of the hobby or at least gas rc stuff..

momo please dont take this as a attack on you or what you said ..its just i hate nitro hawks with a passion.. i spent so much time and $$$ on that crap rc that never ran right .. when your a kid and you save all your $$ for something that cost so much just to find out you bought crap it really sucks

[Nicklindimer]

Varicom Big Grizzly. I was very excited to get one for Christmas '86. I loved it on the cover of the 3rd issue of RCCA and I believe it was the biggest electric monster truck you could get at the time. Then, I tried to build it...what a pain to cobble together. Then I drove it...it actually ran well, but started falling apart after about three packs. I kept it running for about a year or so and then took the best parts (wheels/tires and center gearbox) to make a Bruiser based monster truck.

Now, I have three complete used examples and enough NIP parts to build two more trucks. Gonna get at least one running again someday just for heck of it. Ah, nostalgia .

Got mine the same the same Christmas, IIRC... Can't believe the rear output's splines actually stripped-out! Like watching those one-way front hub inserts fail day-1 wasn't bad enough... or watching the bushing in the end-bell cap of the factory motor eventually blow-out! BTW: The included heat sink is a joke!

Still, this was my first [hobby-level] R/C-car... and to let it languish in pieces, in a storage bin places in a locker, doesn't seem fair for something that should be a museum piece. So yeah, I could use more parts & donors... especially that center gearbox.

[Nicklindimer]

Yep, I agree. A friend of mine had a Clodbuster and I got the Grizzly. What a mistake that was. Absolute garbage.

Oh my God...there's another person who actually owned one .

With a locked rear gearbox and no one-ways in the front, the Grizzly was fantastic in the snow, however. No matter how deep, the flat bottom chassis acted like a ski and the tires really pushed it along.

The Grizzly was my first as well. And, TBH: It wasn't my choice... it wasn't even NEAR my choice, for neither my first hobby-level car or my gift that Christmas. I wanted a Kyosho Stinger (Mk.I) but my dad either felt--from his limited experience--or was convinced by the shop owner that gas/nitro/glow fuel cars were more work than fun, and got me a Grizzly instead. Still, after the subterfuge of "getting me an R/C glider instead" I was glad to see it once the wrapping paper was initially torn-away.

And then, once it was built, once-again my dad's poor car-buying decision skills shown through. Fragile one-way front wheel-hub inserts that failed day-1, followed by the included dual-wiper MSC that shorting & catching fire! Then, the factory motor's end-bell cap bushing blowing-out... and finally, the splines to the rear output of the center gearbox striping-out. By then, I had moved-on to a friend's used Grasshopper, which we whittled-down the axle flanges of to fit the Grizzly's rolling stock on the back. Looked cool... but every time we tried to make a turn at speed, it's "breakdance". (Spin on it's nose & crash)

Yeah... those big wheels & tires. They actually made it buoyant, as I leaned the day I attempted driving it through the small pond that always formed along my parkway following heavy rains. It actually SWAM! BOTH WAYS!! Like a kid with a kick board, because the front hub inserts had already failed by then. But still, it did it... and nobody else's R/c-car could claim that at the time!

[Nicklindimer]

Don't forget the "shocks"...

Yeah, they were terrible, although they looked kinda cool.

I replaced the rears with a pair of Big Brute shocks, that a friend gave me. Having built a small track locally, he had connections with many other locals in the hobby who always had parts to spare from wrecks & leftover builds. Had to notch the suspension's trailing arms to clear the lower spring perches, but they worked.

Now, I'm gathering parts to do a museum restoration of it. With the donor I got through eBay, I have all the parts needed minus the body shell & decals. Sure, I could put my ZR-1 Corvette self-painted lexan shell on it again... but as good as it'd look, it wouldn't be proper.

[Nicklindimer]

worst vintage car ive ever owned

2 words...




nitro hawk

I actually thought the Nitro Hawk was pretty awesome. I had one back in the day, and when I started buying vintage RCs it was at the top of my list. Sure, the Image .12 was terrible, but other than the rear shock tower mount, it was a tank! It was partly responsible for making 10th scale nitro truck racing so popular.

No disagreement about any of your words...! A friend got one, then got the MIP mods for it. Running on Blue Thunder Dynamite 30%, un-tuned, the later-included TRX-.015 ran good once broken-in... and then he swapped to an O.S.-Max .015. THAT engine ran even better, right out of the box!

And that aircraft aluminum tub... It got bent twice, interacting hard with the tires of full-size cars, before we decided to replace it!