True, a B2 is very similar
looking to a current B4, but there are many advancements in design, materials, geometry and efficiency that keep the B2 off of Championship podiums. And while Northy may be doing very well with an early 90's Schumacher 2wd in local Club racing (and I thought it was UK
vintage club races), this is not the point of the original discussion. The original claim was that a vintage original 6-gear tranny gold tub RC10 can compete and hold it's own against current technology cars—and that is just not an accurate assessment, in my opinion.
While I'm sure a Cliff Lett or Brian Kinwald could take an old CE Stealth car and whoop up on the locals at any weekend club race (they could with just about anything), I don't think you're comparing apples to apples. The same driver with both cars will not really be anywhere close to the current tech cars with a 23-year old chassis.
Yes, current batteries, motors, speed controls, radios and tires on a vintage car will make a huge difference in their performance on the track, but you are still limited by the efficiency of the drivetrain, the performance of the suspension, and the stiffness, adjustability and geometry of the chassis. It's just NOT there in an old car.
The B2 came out in 1995 and wasn't as successful as it should have been, and gave way to the B3 in 1997—which didn't give way to the B4 until 2003. The B4 is light years ahead of a gold tub RC10 in every facet. Because of this, it makes the guy holding the radio a FAR better driver who can go a LOT faster on tracks that 1984 could never dream of.
Don't get me wrong, I have been a HUGE fan of Associated products since I got my first RC10 in 1984, but I am not wearing rose colored glasses as I look through time at the history of off road R/C racing. Yes, companies make changes in products to keep selling to the same customers, and yes, Losi's conversion of a XXX touring car to an off road chassis was NOT a success on anything other than a billiard table smooth track, but you cannot honestly say that a gold tub RC10 is in the same league as the B4 you can go out today and buy for $179 (almost half the price of the original car, by the way). It just isn't so.
Oh, and Associated has been producing a 12L pan car in some similar form since 1986.
And the Losi XX4 was out of production for a few years in there, as well, where no one could find parts for them. They brought it back when the TC-based XXX4 failed miserably at the 2005 World Championship (and other US and Euro) track(s) that did not suit the adapted XXX4 design, and team members pulled out old XX4s in haste to try to make the mains. THAT is a case where the new car was NOT as good as previous designs, and it didn't last, but you don't see people pulling out gold tub RC10s, B2s and B3s today because the B4 doesn't work anywhere.
It's not marketing and sales hype.
Don't misinterpret what I say here. I'm not saying that the original RC10 is "garbage," but like that 1955 Testarossa that cannot compete on a level playing field with a 2006 Enzo, that gold tub RC10 (a vintage classic with massive historical significance) is laps behind a B4 with the same driver.
Just the facts, ma'am.