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

When I was around 8, my cousin had a Super Champ and it really blew me away. It was so fast, full of metal, in fact it was too fast for my cousin to control and it hit my eldest brother until his toes were bleeding....Ever since then my impression on the Super Champ was it was a ballistic buggy that can make you bleed Well that was more than 25 yrs ago. Now I also bought it for my shelf and light runner, and another less good condition as a track runner. Some were asking whether they willbe re-release, well Ihope Tamiya will, because I sure hope to run them like in the Tamiya's commercial "Rugged? You bet it is!" here's some pics, hope you guys like them

And the track runner, has lower ride height for more stable handling, and installed with the tamiya sand scorcher ball diff for better cornering

Can you spot the difference? And no I'm not referring to the paint scheme or the bumper

cool duo of super champs. These are one of my all time favorites from Tamiya. I have a NIB, a new built and three that need restoration badly

shodog wrote:These are one of my all time favorites from Tamiya.

Can I ask why?

I have to admit that I've always thought the Superchamp was the best looking of that period (I mean when compared to Sand Scorcher and Rough Rider - appreciate they are not exactly the same period). It's the very first real RC car I remember seeing and I loved the look of that oil reservoir on the back - gave it a really impressive technical look (through the eyes of a youngster....)

CNA75 wrote:Can I ask why?

For a number of reasons really. The first time I saw one was when my friend got one. I really liked the look compared to the frog I had. The hard plastic body looks better than the rough rider and the oil reservoir was a cool feature. Once I learned the orign of the Al Ernat driver name, it even made me appreciate it more.

I love the Super Champ as well. Back in the early 90's was my first experience with one. My father and I would drive around to different pawn shops seeing if we could find any hobby grade R/C's for cheap. We went to a really run down one and found a box that contained a metal buggy without body, and a bunch of red aluminum pieces. We ended up buying the box of stuff for next to nothing. Sometime later I found out that the buggy was a Super Champ, and the red aluminum pieces were miscellaneous Hot Trick parts.

Lowgear wrote:I love the Super Champ as well. Back in the early 90's was my first experience with one. My father and I would drive around to different pawn shops seeing if we could find any hobby grade R/C's for cheap. We went to a really run down one and found a box that contained a metal buggy without body, and a bunch of red aluminum pieces. We ended up buying the box of stuff for next to nothing. Sometime later I found out that the buggy was a Super Champ, and the red aluminum pieces were miscellaneous Hot Trick parts.

Great anecdote! Exactly the sort of reason why many of us are into the vintage scene...

shodog wrote:

CNA75 wrote:Can I ask why?

Once I learned the origin of the Al Ernat driver name, it even made me appreciate it more.

Curios, What's the story behind the driver name?

Nice pair!

Super Champ is on my Vintage wishlist.
I'll get there one day!