TAG Navajo (Pro)

[1300GT]

I first saw one of these on Tamiyaclub back in 2006. First impressions were, "what were they on?"
After much investigation and research, I decided that I would buy one and modify it for running. There's no way I could shelve something this weird.
Navajos are hobby grade yet verge on toy grade at least in one area. The two cluster gears in the gearbox run directly on 3mm shafts. No bearings. The diff is another matter. It's straight out of the TAG Pro 10 and runs on bearings, which is fortunate. The car also shares suspension arms, dogbones, wheels, tyres and stub axles with the Coyote.

The overall plan is to add bearings, shocks, bumper and front kickup. Also improve steering, beef up the lower arms and allow for gear ratio changes. There are other small things that will be addressed as I tackle them.

This is how I bought the car. The paint is terrible. The chassis is in really good condition.

In pieces. The body is being stripped.

Normally I would start work on the chassis first, but the body needed attention. This is how it stands now. 99.9% of the old paint has been removed and the cut lines cleaned up. The lexan was very cloudy plus there's numerous cracks and dings that need fixing. It's been coated in Tamiya PS silver as a basecoat on the outside. Once the repairs are finished another colour will be added, the windows painted and the whole body will be coated in gloss clear. The red nylon parts have also been dyed black.

[Dadio]

I've looked at these when they come up and had much the same response as you , curious , too rare for an organ donor for a Coyote , very fragile looking .
It's kind of got Mcferson strut suspension all round without shocks , odd choice .

[1300GT]

Absolutely. The suspension is a strange choice for a buggy. In stock form it sits high off the ground with the arms at full droop. The springs seem a little stiff. If you've seen the two YouTube videos on the Navajo it bounces around a lot on rough terrain. I may have to wind softer springs for it. Surprisingly, it has a fair amount of suspension travel.