SuperShot 97% NIB build.

[tamiyadan]

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[RedScampi]

Wow! I love it! I think it's more fun when you build from a basket case. Do you have "before" pics?

[MelvinsArmy]

That is a nice restoration. The Super Shot is such a mean looking machine. Nice work!

[tamiyadan]

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[MelvinsArmy]

Did you keep those shock spacers with the Monroe stickers on them? They look pretty cool like that.

[tamiyadan]

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[fredswain]

I still feel that the Supershot is one of the neatest looking RC cars ever made.

[Lonestar]

Nice SS

And perfect example of how useless pics are to appreciate the condition of a used car... the car looked just fine on the "before" pics. It's a lottery, every time...

Paul

[Mad Racer]

Got to love the S/S.

To me it's a tough looking buggy.

Love mine so much.

Very nice.

Well done!!!!

[tamiyadan]

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[tamiya]

dayum, you THREW AWAY 97% of a supershot!?

could've bolted it back together and given it away as-is "missing minor parts"

[fredswain]

Looking at that early car it's funny to see how things are going full circle. This car was shaft drive. Then Kyosho came along with their chains and later the belt drives and that became the standard. Now AE is back to shaft drive again. From an engineering standpoint a shaft drive is actually the most efficient system.

These early cars had narrow chassis and bodies. Later on the cars got wider. Graphite chassis took over and that became the standard. Now, at least in 2WD, Losi has narrowed the chassis and body again in the 22 to keep the weight centered better. I suspect their next 4WD car will attempt to do the same.

Tamiya 4WD cars had mid motor configurations. Kyosho first had rear motor with the Optimas and Javelin series cars and later figured out mid was best. I'm not sure what the current strange fad in 4WD motor placement is all about but it's still mid motor. Then again the current configurations more resemble the Avante from the standpoint that the motor is on one side and the battery off to the other and both facing lengthwise.

Look at the motor rotation direction in the SS. In fact in most Tamiya cars of the day. It rotates the same direction as the wheels. The car can gyro better in the air this way. Even most of their 2WD cars were setup this way. X Factory, Schumacher, and Losi have all just figured this out in 2WD but it took mid motor for them to discover it.

In some ways when we look back at the early Tamiya cars, back then we were actually looking at our own future. They never had the racing mystique that the RC10's and JRX's and Ultimas and Optimas had but they sure were ahead of their time in many ways. Tamiya had some great engineers then. I raced a Fox in sportsman class which was aimed at the Tamiya type cars and not the RC10 type of cars but I also raced RC10's and JRX2's in stock class.

The most fun I ever had was in sportsman. The competition was very diverse with many different cars and that's where you saw some neat things done to get an advantage. One week the Fox would do very well. The next a Wild One would be the dominant one. The next week may have seen a Frog doing well. Everyone showed up with a new trick for the next week. I had a Thorpe ball diff and RC10 dogbones and it worked well for me. The other classes all looked the same under the bodies. Just cars of a different name. Everyone wanted the graphite chassis and Andy's A arms, myself included. They all copied each other's shock setups and tires. My fondest memory was racing the Fox in stock class as the sole Tamiya car against a sea of RC10's and placing 2nd in the A main! That happened only once but it's still the best memory. I wish I had it on video.

The Hotshot/Supershot is probably my holy grail for RC cars. I've always wanted one. At some point I'll get it. It will be after my Fox restoration.