RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Dirtdiver wrote:I think the tamiya sand scorcher/rough rider was the first real popular rc offroad vehicle.

First cars to officially race 1/10 Off-Road and start the mainstream craze.

Also can't forget the 1/12 Jerobee on-road RTR gas powered car. Allowed more people in the mid 1970's to participate in a hobby that was dominated by 1/8 on-road.

reign79 wrote:The Rc1....... The car that launched Associated, the first car designed after a slot car with solid pan and wide rear foam and narrow front tires with most the weight on the rear axel for great under steer drivability that eventually was the main design for the rc100/200/300/12e/12i/12L/10L.

ditto

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This exact same topic was posted a couple years ago, but I can't for the life of me find it. Is there no way to distinguish between an AND and an OR when doing a search?

What are the group thoughts about the Tamiya Bruiser. It didn't drive any serious trends and was too expensive to drive large sales numbers, but it did push the envelope with what could be done with scale realism in RC at the time.

Not sure it qualifies as "one of the most important" cars in RC history. But it's worth mention.

Dirtdiver wrote:I think the tamiya sand scorcher/rough rider was the first real popular rc offroad vehicle.

I would probably say the Grasshopper and Frog were both arguably more popular when they hit the market.

reign79 wrote:The Rc1....... The car that launched Associated, the first car designed after a slot car with solid pan and wide rear foam and narrow front tires with most the weight on the rear axel for great under steer drivability that eventually was the main design for the rc100/200/300/12e/12i/12L/10L.

I agree, the 1/8 scale Associated & Delta pan cars from the 70’s were the first mainstream kits that could be purchased and built by the average Joe. Before that most everything else was either scratch built or super expensive.

My first recollection of RC racing was spectating at club race held at the Street Rod Nationals in Detroit (very early 80’s), it was coolest thing I had ever seen and I was hooked.

Tamiya Clodbuster with it's dual motors and huge size I think is noteworthy. It was one of the first to have such a huge cult following as well.

jkelm24 wrote:What are the group thoughts about the Tamiya Bruiser. It didn't drive any serious trends and was too expensive to drive large sales numbers, but it did push the envelope with what could be done with scale realism in RC at the time.

It was just an update of the Hilux from 1984, with big wheels on it. The Bruiser has more fans because it looks more monster truck than the scale model the Hilux is.

Typicray@rainmans wrote:How important do you guys feel the tamiya sand scorcher was

The Rough Rider and Scorcher were released together in 1979, and were the first true off roaders. Before them of road buggies had no suspension and used big rubber or foam tyres to give some form of suspension. Technically the Rough rider is the more important, being the first one and adopting a body style that influenced racing buggies for many years; the RC10 prototypes used a lexan version of the Rough Rider body. The Scorcher is more important to collectors purely down to its looks, the bug body just looks great on it. They were what started off road racing, before then you either ran 1/8th nitro or 1/12th electric, both purely on road.

The Rough Rider/Sand Scorcher had many firsts, the first buggy with independent suspension, the first r/c car with waterproofing and the first with semi pneumatic rubber tyres.

A big part of their legacy is that they were the first buggies with a 3 gear transmission, driven by a large spur gear. The same design is used in all rear motor buggies today.

Typicray@rainmans wrote: then it was very pivotal, I think that it was posted above that the yoke was pivotal because it was easy to work on. That definitely does not take away the validity of your point, however.

I would find it hard to argue that the Yokomo was as important as the Optima. If Gil Losi hadn't managed to win the modified class at the 85 Worlds I doubt the original Yokomo would be seen as anything special. The yoke got well beaten in the standard class. We were still running 2wds with 4wds and more often than not all the 4wds at the time were still being beaten by the RC10.

The Optima was a game changer, suddenly if you didn't have an Optima you were nowhere and 2wds didn't stand a chance, unless the grip was really high so the slightly more efficient drivetrain of a 2wd could be geared slightly higher. I remember RC10 drivers being happy when it rained at the track, it meant they stood a chance in the sticky mud as they didn't have to gear down as much as Optima drivers to last the five minutes. The Optima is what led to separating 2wd and 4wd cars.

Coelacanth wrote:I think the Optima changed everything for 1/10 4WD, not the Yoke. .

agree... the yz10 combined optima quality with schumacher mid-motor and saddle pack design... but the optima really was the game changer. The yz10 improved it. the yz834b was, er, how to say, not that good I'd say, at least in stock form

I agree with most of the cars mentioned so far, but...everything mentioned has been the hobby quality products and I have to say that the first thing I ever saw was in ads from Radio Shack. Bad quality plastic toys but I didn't even know that there were kits you could build and upgrade yourself until I was in high school. Even though we hate them, I think they do have a significant enough impact that they are worth mentioning.

Re: Optimas

Back in the day the original Optima was very good. But they were a pain to strip down and work on. I had a Mid back then. Also at the same time the CAT was out (in 1986) which proved to be better on track. Again, it was a massive pain to work on. The Yoko was better than either on track and WAY easier to strip. They were superior in every way. I never owned one btw. Although I will always have more fond memories of the original Optima. It was just beautiful and proper old school. For me the Yoko was the first to combine easy maintainence and ability.

Thank you all for such a large amount of replies. I think there is not a single car listed that is unimportant. Every single one helped in making our hobby what it is today.