The Nichimo Luminous - a little unusual car

[BloodClod]

Just picked this up - a new built specimen that's never been run.

Anyone else have one of these - any idea when it was released?



Interesting car from a company that didn't make many RC cars as far as I know. Incorporates a limited slip center diff in the transmission - who would've thought a 3-diff EP buggy was already in production so many many years ago! lol!

[saga101]

nice car

[Mr. ED]

dude, you don't seem to realize that's a really great find. Not a lot of them out there and such nice pieces of technique.

[RETRO R/C]

One of the ugliest cars of all time - but truly some "outside the box" thinking for the period.

Nichimo made 6 off road 1/10th scale buggies - you can see them all here in my showroom: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=62017&sid=5

I love the "quirkiness" of some of the morse obscure manufacturers. Nichimo actually made some truly outstanding on road kits - in fact ALOT more detailed than Tamiya in alot of cases. They were around in the very early days of on road racing as well - although they were not what you would call "race" cars back then - not from Tamiya or Nichimo anyway.

You have scored a very nice example there. I wrote a couple of articles on one a few of years ago - took a NIB kit and built it for the magazine.

Cheers

Darryn

[Lonestar]

I loved the nichimo range when it was released - FWD, AWDS, and then a more traditional 4wd/2wd pair. The magazines did mention that the car's damping setup was terrible, and I also recall that there were quite a few user complaints of weak, brittle plastics.... The motor positionning on the Luminous/CosmoShooter was a bit "peculiar" too iirc

Nice car from the heyday of RC when everyone wanted a piece of the cake. Shame Nichimo didn't follow through, I think they were up on to something, and they obviously had the plastic injection capabilities (they're primarily a static display model company) to get it right after a while.

Great find, in what seems to be a great shape!

Paul

[Coelacanth]

Are those the original wheels/tires? At least the wheels look like Hotshot wheels, and the cone-studded tires look like Turbo Optima tires...I know that the Nichimo tires (at least for the Exceed rears) almost perfectly fit Turbo Optima wheels, because I used a set of Nichimo rears for my on-road body, as they're nice and wide. I still have that pair of rears if any Nichimo collectors need some; they're in great shape after all these years.

Link here: http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?p=171366#p171366

EDIT: I stand corrected. It looks like those are indeed stock, though they're definitely reminiscent of T.O./Hotshot parts.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=21460&id=3019

[tim.sanderson]

Just picked this up - a new built specimen that's never been run.

Can you post some body-off pics?

[Mr. ED]

oops I realised I was talking about hirobo not Nichimo. Rareness: same or even rarer, technical ingenuity: a bit less, though the limited slip diffs are a nice concept.

The luminous and cosmo shooter were indeed moving towards better designs (or a bit more conventional) than the midships and FWD's but even though those didn't look the part: I've seen a spirit FF tear up the track live and it was certainly a lot more impressive in action than you'd expect.

This one has a very nice paint/decal job which seems more inspired by Kyosho box-art than Nichimo's own style.

[BloodClod]

One of the ugliest cars of all time - but truly some "outside the box" thinking for the period.

Nichimo made 6 off road 1/10th scale buggies - you can see them all here in my showroom: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=62017&sid=5

I love the "quirkiness" of some of the morse obscure manufacturers. Nichimo actually made some truly outstanding on road kits - in fact ALOT more detailed than Tamiya in alot of cases. They were around in the very early days of on road racing as well - although they were not what you would call "race" cars back then - not from Tamiya or Nichimo anyway.

You have scored a very nice example there. I wrote a couple of articles on one a few of years ago - took a NIB kit and built it for the magazine.

Cheers

Darryn

Can't deny the high ugliness and quirkiness factor in this car! lol!

Looked over the car and it really looks to be in great shape. I'm very pleased with this unique and unusual find.

Are those the original wheels/tires? At least the wheels look like Hotshot wheels, and the cone-studded tires look like Turbo Optima tires...I know that the Nichimo tires (at least for the Exceed rears) almost perfectly fit Turbo Optima wheels, because I used a set of Nichimo rears for my on-road body, as they're nice and wide. I still have that pair of rears if any Nichimo collectors need some; they're in great shape after all these years.

Link here: http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?p=171366#p171366

EDIT: I stand corrected. It looks like those are indeed stock, though they're definitely reminiscent of T.O./Hotshot parts.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=21460&id=3019

Yup - original tires and wheels although the buggy is supposed to come with "wheel covers" to simulate dish rims but these items were missing from this one.

[BloodClod]

Just picked this up - a new built specimen that's never been run.

Can you post some body-off pics?

Will take some later today and post them up!

oops I realised I was talking about hirobo not Nichimo. Rareness: same or even rarer, technical ingenuity: a bit less, though the limited slip diffs are a nice concept.

The luminous and cosmo shooter were indeed moving towards better designs (or a bit more conventional) than the midships and FWD's but even though those didn't look the part: I've seen a spirit FF tear up the track live and it was certainly a lot more impressive in action than you'd expect.

This one has a very nice paint/decal job which seems more inspired by Kyosho box-art than Nichimo's own style.

I'm no expert in vintage cars but the Hirobos I remember were certainly cool.

Was happy to find one in this shape. Other than a few very minor cracks at some corners the body shell is in great shape!

[RETRO R/C]

Forgot I had these pics on TC as well:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=40583&sid=5

If anyone is interested - I can see if I can put an electronic version of the articles up?

Cheers

Darryn

[Mr. ED]

interested!

[RETRO R/C]

If its ok with Bloodclod - then I will.

Dont want to hijack this poor fella's thread!!

I am really liking the paintjob this one has Bloodclod.....really a nice example of the car.

Cheers

Darryn

[tiger1]

Forgot I had these pics on TC as well:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=40583&sid=5

If anyone is interested - I can see if I can put an electronic version of the articles up?

Cheers

Darryn

I would love to see the article of this car. Lovely diffs.

[BloodClod]

If its ok with Bloodclod - then I will.

Dont want to hijack this poor fella's thread!!

I am really liking the paintjob this one has Bloodclod.....really a nice example of the car.

Cheers

Darryn

Please do! I would love to read more about this and other Nichimo cars!