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OK....first post for me here...

This build starts here, with a box from Tower Hobbies...from 1988.
Hmmmm, what could be in here?


oh my goodness!




There's the kit, the controller, a charger, two new NiCd batteries, two blister packs of Energizers (not looking so hot hahahah!), the cool Kyosho Carrying bag, even the Pactra paint ...




This must have cost a pretty penny even back in '88


The car has the gearbox assembled and attached to the lower chassis and that is about it. Everything except the manual is here.

I need a story on this one

romulus22 wrote:I need a story on this one

I really wish I had the story! My friend Adam had seen it advertised on Craigslist a while back and contacted the seller (original owner...got it when he was in 8th grade. Started the build and just lost interest) Adam picked it up for a song and kept it. He had planned on having me complete the build and do the body. Just before he was going to drop it by, I'd finished up a very cool 6x6 crawler. the whole visit he was insisting on buying the Globeliner 6x6...a deal was struck. Suffice to say I had much much more into my build than Adam had sunk into the Turbo Ultima LOL. It's ok though...this car truly brings me back Worth every penny.

RJ

That's still awesome. I thought you packed it away in the closet this whole time and just now opened it

Tower Ultimate combo...they even threw in the AAs for the transmitter...woohoo.

romulus22 wrote:That's still awesome. I thought you packed it away in the closet this whole time and just now opened it

I pretend that's the story sometimes.

nice one
and almost ready to rock and roll

Hopefully done in a few days...looking forward to a quiet evening of assembly

That's a great sscore still I think.

See the price of the T/Ultima at $186.00. Gee I wish I bought 10 of them back then

Keep the pics coming.

Mad Racer wrote:That's a great sscore still I think.

See the price of the T/Ultima at $186.00. Gee I wish I bought 10 of them back then

Keep the pics coming.

6 AA batteries for $4! Now that's what I would have stocked up on hahaha!

I may need some advice here before too long

I had zero time last night but I did get the tires mounted on the wheels but, I'm having a bit of a crisis of conscience. I want to build it and since the gearbox has been assembled I know completing the build isn't a detractor really, it's just that I will be DYING to run it if I do build it.

Is this a solid enough car in the collector-realm that I should just shelve it? I think it is, but the vintage world is a bit new to me still...I had these cars when I was a kid so there's a HUGE soft spot in my heart for them (same reason why I have a Monster Beetle under construction in my shop, where my wife can't see it!)

Build it and Shelve it?
Build it and Drive it in a respectful manner?
Leave everything alone in the boxes and just stare at it?

What say the elders here?

Build it, and have some fun with it. Then clean it and put it on a shelf... it's the best of both worlds!

You can always build it & shelf it.

Buy a good used runner to run then. That's what I have done with my Ultima & Turbo.

Best of both worlds then.

They are still cheap but are going up all the time.

I get worried though, seeing some of the prices on ebay for mostly unbuilt kits. There's one Turbo Optima in the same condition/state as mine on the bay now, but without all of the extras and they have it up for $799...now I understand that it's a Turbo Optima, not the 2wd brethren. I also understand that just because he has it for sale for $799, doesn't mean he'll get it...but it gives me pause to ask myself, "Self, am I making a mistake?" Then there's the guy with the Shelf Queen Ultima for almost $900....sheeeesh. While I have build scale crawlers for folks that approach $800-$900, this is new ground for me...and to compound it, the kit is mine.

I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. As of right now I'll just enjoy the build and how fun it is to be reshaping a part of my childhood...god knows the $186.58 was WAY out of my budget in 7'th grade

it's awesome, probably the most hardcore time capsule of the whole forum!

regarding whether to run it or not, it all depends how you want to run it... if it's about running in the open yard, then once cleaned up it will still look new build. If it's about running it in the dirt, a few seconds are enough to make it look "used".

The best of both worlds is to have two, really!

And welcome to the board

Paul