such a long time ago....

[Lonestar]

doing many paper rounds to be able to afford ball bearings

[LTO_Dave]

I'm the same as some of you guys...I got out of racing carpet when 1700 SCRC's were the new cells to have and finishing that 4-minute race was quite a challenge without dumping. I missed the entire NiMh era and the last generation of improved brushed motors and ESC's. I got into crawling when brushless and LiPo's were taking off, but still run brushed in my rigs.

But now I've been gravitating toward this once unknown era of electronics. It's not so much the vehicles of that time that interest me, but the neat electronics. I'm amazed at the ingenuity of the Tekin G-10, Ko Hara Twister and Keyence Zero V ESC's. And the amazing performance from Orion Revolution/Peak Vantage and Trinity Cobalt & P-94 motors.

[slotcarrod]

Finding somewhere to put 3 feet of antenna wire!

[Dirtdiver]

When off-road consisted of two classes (stock or modified).

[cashrc]

I miss kits...really, really miss kits. I like to build my cars, same as I do my planes. Theres a lot of satisfaction just putting together parts to make a whole, to see whatever you're building start to come to life in front of you. Don't mind brushed motors at all, as it's easy to set one up and run it with just power to check it..add a reostat or resistor between the motor and power and you have a test rig.
I miss SCR nicads. You could beat on them all day long, and they didn't care..and I had some packs last for years.
I miss RC cars that really looked...well, I could tell a difference between a stock bodied Ultima and a stock bodied RC10 easily. Seems like everybody is going to slippery, cab forward bodies that all look the same, and half the time they are already painted/printed/dipped with the same agressive gray/something bursting thru the paint scheme. Boring.

I like Lipos, but I use those in my e-powered planes..I fly glow, electric AND diesel...but most of my cars are brushed, and I use Nicad (not nimh) in them..I still get plenty of "bashing" time, and decent, although not ballistic speed. I'm good with that.

Don't miss the price of bearings in the early nineties...

Haven't raced in ages..don't think I want to, not anymore. Seems like you have to really have a ton of money tied up now to even compete at a local level, and the proliferation of classes seems a little over-the-top, at least to me. No place for a privateer hobbyist anymore.
Cash

[Lonestar]

one thing for sure: racing competitively at the club level sure is cheaper!!!

[Bottom Feeder]

I miss kits also. I think it's a damn shame that so may RTRs are on the market nowadays. Building a kit (especially your first!), seeing how it works, making it functioning assembly... it's all such a huge part of the hobby for me like a rite of passage. I can't see how someone who took their RTR out of the box and ran it is getting any satisfaction out of it. It's just an expensive toy car at that point. But to each his own, I guess.

I don't like cab-forward bodies either. They're ugly especially on a 2WD buggy.

I also kind of miss the classic gray Tamiya hump-pack plastic-shell batteries for some reason.

[kaiser]

there are plenty of kits out there. all my race vehicles are kits, as well as all the re-releases.

but i know what you're saying, the entry level market is all rtr's.

[tamiyadan]

.

[Winger]

when stuff wasn't made and owned just in/by china.

I tried a few years ago to deliberatly NOT buy silverware made in China....came home with a set made in China.

I second the build your kit as a right of passage. You learn everything about that car. Thinking of a re re Grasshopper for just that (old times sake) and it won't and can't be devalued by doing so.

Great thoughts everyone.

[Hanibel75]

I still remember the first time someone detonated a battery pack at the track. We were racing indoors in Tinley Park IL in the late 80's. Nice REAL dirt track.

I was on the drivers stand and we were waiting for the marshals to get back on the track. Then BANG!!! Half the drivers hammered their throttles. Huge crash because no one was actually looking at their cars.

I think I about peed myself.

That was when I stopped using my old charger and bought a Tekin

[tamiyadan]

.

[broodenburg]

when you absolutely didn't have to worrie one second on how to keep your buggy from doing wheelies/backflips.......

@ bottom Feeder: I also miss the gray Tamiya hump-pack batteries somehow.....

[dsmith]

just think ....if we knew now..what we knew then.....how many extra sand scorcher,etc.. CRP/RCH, etc... sway bars, cages, etc.. we would have snagged on?......even though they re-re'd the sand scorcher,etc.. I for one...would still love to have a original sand scorcher NIB....

[tamiyadan]

.