Radio Race Car 1985 World Championship

[terry.sc]

YOu know where this hobby has gone horribly wrong... no one does concours like that anymore. That's when this was truely a hobby... now its just about toys and not modeling anymore.

Agree with you there Erich. I started in the hobby in 1980 in 1/12th scale when people were still scratch building their chassis and a lot of the early SRB hop ups came about because people made the changes to their own cars, they were successful then were put up for sale. Now it's all planned out by the businesses.

Concours in some classes are won by scale replicas or scale like paint schemes, but back then it showed the buggy owners skills. Today it seems the winners are the ones who have paid the most to one of the pro painters instead of any of the owners skills.

If your favourite car didn't work on the track back then you did whatever you could to make it work including making your own parts which was all part of the fun - if it didn't work you made something else instead. Now it's all about buying the latest bolt on bits. In one of the other forums I've even seen someone complaining that Kyosho isn't providing setup sheets for the RB5 - whatever happened to working it out yourself, surely that's more fun than just copying a setup you've downloaded from the 'net.

I guess that's why we all hang out on vintage r/c sites rather than at the track.

[RETRO R/C]

Erich, Terry - could not agree with you both more.....

Watched the hobby go up and down like you Terry - and have to say the current crop of "Racers" at the local clubs have little to no idea of how to set up a car and why something works...just copy the fast guy and/or download a set up and the car is dialed - all you have to do is steer....its a real shame - as I too think that at least 50% of the joy of this hobby is "nutting" out how to make the cars work better...

Concours - jeeeez - I dont even want to go there - pro painted bodies..................they look great - however the rule should be that the body has to be painted by the owner.......to hard to police though....

Great thread and pics.

Did you get my mail at all Terry?

Cheers

Darryn Johnson

[shodog]

I have to agree with you guys on the whole racing scene. I got out of it in the late 90's touring car racing was getting out of control. A new car would come out every year that was seemingly better than last. egos and attitudes would clash to a point where it just wasn't fun anymore.

When I run my cars, people will usually ask if I race them. I always tell them no, I just try to get my friends hooked, that way I have someone to bash with.

[JK Racing]

I'm still struggling to hold on to racing. Its hard...I am (was) the type of driver that adapted to how the car was handling and drove the wheels off it, not change the car constantly to make it do this or that better. My tuning was ride height & tires...thats it. Losi Pink pistons (56's) and 30 weight oil on all 4 corners...always...all car, JRX Pro, LXT (and XXT afterwards) XX4. Once I found the springs I liked, that was it. Clean it up after each race, dump my batteries, wait till next race day. For a while, I tried my hand at running a shop/track, did well, loved every minute of it, just cant support a family that way.

Now I have more springs that I know what to do with, 8 different oils, 3~4 different pistons, different length rear arms, different sized wings, a 30" rolling duffle with nothing but gobs of tires/inserts combinations. Almost a couple dozen different batteries and different charge profiles set up on my chargers, depending on class and track conditions. I spend so much time at the track messing with adjustments, that I hardly practice, fight to get drivers stand time (if anyone has been to a JBRL event, you know what I mean, 200+ racers and a couple hours to set up/practice). I still race because I love the competition, but it isnt fun like it used to be. For me, it lost the "fun factor" about 5 years ago. I am always a loaner at the track, and I tried nitro...no pit guy. Need I say more? Loved the racing/noise/smell, hated mandatory pit stops and asking someone to pit for me, blah, blah, blah.

Will I continue racing...yes. I have made a few really good friends over the past 2 years, and we have our little "click" at the track. I would love to return to club racing, as the atmosphere is much more relaxed than a large series event. I may change the classes I race though, no more sportsman stock & 4wd mod....I may step up to Expert Stock/Modified 2wd. I may even run my 2 10's I am building, instead of my RB5.

I am going to suggest Concours also...the race series director is asking for suggestions for next series.

[cube]

I have this race on VHS. I forgot how I obtained it though. One of my favorite videos of RC cars. The RC10 Proto was such a cool car and Gil's losi was very cool too. I visited the Ranch a long time ago before it closed and they had Gil's car in a display case looking like it just ran, complete with a little dirt.

[Brandon G]

Who wears short shorts???

[Charlie don't surf]

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