Tamiya Rough Rider & Sand Scorcher

[Dangeruss]

In 1979 Tamiya bestowed upon the RC world the Rough Rider, the company’s first 1/10 2wd electric off-road buggy. A scale version of Funco's Single Seat Baja racing buggy the Rough Rider was imported into the US by Model Rectifier Corporation along with the concurrently released VW Beetle variant that Tamiya named the Sand Scorcher. This pair of vehicles would use static model levels of scale realism to create off-road capable machines that would define the category for years to come. Built on a new Special Race Buggy platform these off-roaders used a flat fiberglass plate chassis to hold the all metal VW style twin trailing arm front and swing arm rear suspension systems in place. Adjustable tie rods led to a centrally mounted ring sprung servo saver equipped single bellcrank steering system that allowed them to dodge obstacles while hairpin front and torsion rear springs dampened by oil filled aluminum bodied shock absorbers provided the suspension tuning required to navigate rough terrain. Power from the rear mounted electric motor was sent through a three gear non-differential transmission housed inside a die cast metal gearbox that doubled as the rear bulkhead assembly before being spun through a pair of swing axles with universal joints to the wide rear and narrow front three piece plastic beadlock wheels clinching kit specific rubber tires, with the Rough Rider getting Sandblaster 915 treaded rear and Sandblaster Jr. ribbed fronts while the Sand Scorcher received 16.50-15 Padlatrak rears and 4.50-15 Smoothee fronts. A clear plastic spring locking electronics box, plastic front skidplate with rubber tipped metal bumper, metal roll bar, tubular plastic rear guard, Mabuchi RS540 motor, rotary mechanical speed controller and bushings were included with each unassembled kit that featured either a hard plastic buggy body (Rough Rider) or highly detailed multi-piece hard plastic Beetle body (Sand Scorcher). The SRB model lineup would later grow to include an F-150 Ranger XLT pickup introduced in 1981 and Super Champ buggy in 1982:

[Dustydrone]

Thank you for the great write up and article! My first RC car was a Super Champ back in 82-83 and my first car was a Baja Bug that I started building in 84 and became my daily when I started driving in 86. These VW based cars will always have a special meaning to me

Thanks again!
Alan

[Dangeruss]

Thank you for the kind words! Man, a Baja bug in the mid-80's, talk about a rad first car.

...Super Champ... hmm... stay tuned.