MIP/Tamiya SRB Full Cage Open Class Racing Buggy

[TheSpeedway]

Hi,

I am sharing photos of my MIP/Tamiya car as last raced in early 1985 in the Open class with a Checkpoint Gold motor. This was my very first RC car with the initial kit purchased from Tower Hobbies. I recall the price being $105.00 minus the radio.

It raced against similar cars as well as Cox/MIP cars (with MRP Baja Bug bodies) and a 4WD Yokomo. At the very end RC10s where in the mix.
I purchased an RC10 in late 1984 as the latest greatest thing. I however preferred the handling of this car to the RC10 and was preparing to return to running this car. I sold the RC10 after having ran only 3 races with it.

The car still retains the Rough Rider spindles, cut down rear axles and 1 gear in the gearbox. It went through many iterations to get to this point. Early racing was held on carpet courses with a stint on dirt ovals and finally on a very nice off road facility in Denver Rocky Mountain RC Raceways. This final version of the car sports a 1 piece chassis that it did not compete with. The previous chassis was an RCH ½ longer than stock butterfly unit with 2 additional add on sections that came with the MIP rearend kit. The roll cage is an ARS unit with shock mounts added. One other car in the area ran one for a short time and all others were rear cage only. The body is a Parma Chenoweth cut down. Shocks are polished Kyosho units. Axles are MIP steel units attached to a Thorp differential however the car ran more races with the flex drive units that came in the MIP kit. The front end is comprised of RCH arms and shock towers with fabricated G-10 fiberglass extensions rather than the aluminum aftermarket units. Pins are RCH heavy duty units inside VW pushrod tubes that have been turned down at ½ wider than stock. The car initially had RCH tubes but these were given to me by a friend and the ends have a lip where they meet the shock towers for extra strength. Decals on the body are from the original Rough Rider kit with “real” Parma paint.

Wheels are CRP and I “think” the tires are Proline. Tires lasted for one evening only of 2 heats and a main. They were used for practice the next week and a new set was put on for racing.

The first photos are of this car as I unpacked it recently out of the old RC10 Edinger box that it had been stored in. I have since given that box to a friend of mine that purchased a sister kit from the very same hobby store that he still owns but no longer had the box. I have dug up hardware organizers that had some of the fasteners for this car and have been piecing it together to get an idea what it will need for a restoration as my #1 shelf queen.

Mark

[TheSpeedway]

Photos

[TheSpeedway]

Photos

[1300GT]

Mark, that's an awesome piece of RC history you have there. Do you have any bodyshell off photos? Chris.

[TheSpeedway]

I can get some taken with the body off. There arent any battery mounting options on this particular chassis as this one was never ran but I still have those bits and pieces.

[CamplinP]

Love it. The cage is awesome.

[shodog]

That looks super cool. Do you plan to run it again?

[DennisM]

Really awesome!

[tiger1]

I had a similar one sold on ebay in about 1998... so sad now....

[j-sou]

Hi Mark. I'm the guy (Flat_Out) you were talking with in the SRB thread on TC. I didn't realize you were the same member here.
Car looks great! Can't wait to see it completed.

[SFC K]

That is sweet and hang on to that one!

[TheSpeedway]

Hi Mark. I'm the guy (Flat_Out) you were talking with in the SRB thread on TC. I didn't realize you were the same member here.
Car looks great! Can't wait to see it completed.

Hey! Thanks. Me too.. in Chasing parts mode. I have to find a chassis and a Checkpoint Gold for starters!
A new Proline bumper wouldnt hurt either!

Mark

[TheSpeedway]

That looks super cool. Do you plan to run it again?

I would like to run it again some. I still have the original box radio that I raced the car with. I dont plan on working it too hard though.

[TheSpeedway]

I am glad you guys like it! I hope there are some others out there that can be shared as well. Its been a long time since I have seen any of these cars.

Mark

[scootmike]

Wow, what a nice piece of history you have there, cool that you held on to it all these years.
I've been working on and off on a Super Champ with a lot of the old hop ups, you have some really rare and neat parts on it.
To be able to go back and buy these parts off the shelf!
Did Pro Line make a bumper specifically for the SRB?
Mike