Original Wild Willy M38

[tizeye]

I've always wanted one of these so when this one turned up on the local auction site I bid on it. And won it for $US60.00 As is normal with most auctions, the photos weren't the best and made the jeep look much worse than it really was. I was very happy with what arrived, everything including the drivers helmet visor was there. The only thing missing was the winch, and the Bell decal for the driver. So after repainting the driver and finding a complete winch off ebay ($US10) and valkyrie-rc-motorsports sending me a free Bell decal with some RC10 bits I bought off him I was very pleased with my purchase. But the longer I admired it the more it bugged me that the tires on one side were cracked from the jeep sitting in the sun. I decided that I'd never truly be happy with it until I replaced the tires so I kept on watching ebay for them to come up.

One day I was in the local hobby shop checking stuff out when the owner asked me how my Wild Willy was coming along. (I'd bought paint etc off him) so I told him about my dilemma. He laughed and said I'll sell you a brand new set complete with rims for $US75!!!!! hell I nearly fell over and handed over the cash. If anybody is interested I have the old set on ebay right now...auction #27034439

I guess you are wondering why a hobby shop would still have in stock tires from 1984?...well the guy is one of our countries biggest Tamiya collectors and has all sorts of stuff stacked around his shop..

[shodog]

That looks sweet. you got a great deal. An even better deal was the tires. I have seen them go for $250 a pair before

[tizeye]

Yes it was a great deal and I know it...I owe him big time. He has the first 75 Tamiya cars and a large collection of vintage Kyosho as well. My Wild Willy is un-restored except for the few parts I mentioned everything has been left original. There are a few scratches on the dif housing and that's about it. I'd say you could call it gently played with.

[bearrickster]

I bought a new one when they first came out, I have always regreatted selling it great deal on that one

[fordtransman]

About 20 years ago my brothers and I had our mom buy one of these used/running out of the consignment self at Play-Co for about $100.00. It lasted for a few years on and off, running with my Blackfoot and my brother's RC10. I dont remember why we stopped running it. Prob because 1.1 cars can carry girls? About 4 months ago, I asked my dad about it...he said the body had become fragile/cracking and he finally got around to cleaning the garage and tossed it out. He has a real M38A1 in his garage now.

No Joke...

I was about a month too late.

[tizeye]

Oh no another Tamiya classic becomes landfill....or do you guys burn em?