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do any of you fine folks have any of the tamiya "wheelie" series?

i know the first gen's are all basically lunchboxes, but what about the wr02 chassis or the new 4wd chassis?

i'd love to hear some first hand tales of these bouncing betty's.

i'd like to try the 4x4, but its an odd bird for sure.

I've got a Lunch box, Midnight pumpkin and a Wild Willy2. They are all great to drive.

My original Wild Willy, Another wild Willy from a flea market my mom found for $7.00 with a pajero. , Midnight Pumpkin(Flew with a reedy silver dot motor).

They are a blast to drive, but don't get much run time these days.

I've got a pretty battered Lunch Box that was just retired this summer. It has been on fire and crashed....a lot! For the price, it's hard to find a better value in a "fun" R/C vehicle. I always fancied a Midnight Pumpkin so maybe one day I'll get one to continue the fun.

Get one. New or used, original or re-re, doesn't matter. The Lunchbox-style chassis is tons of fun, nearly indestructible, and actually a little less wheelie-prone than the Wild WIlly 2 and its new family. But the Willy is a more satisfying build, and has more optional parts available. Can't go wrong either way.

I haven't seen the 4WD one in person, but everyone on Tamiyaclub seems to be in love with it.

Here's a sort of comparison. Last month we raced them all together

[youtube]cIL3Scgz8j0[/youtube]

BTW the 4wds has slightly better handling round the corners, but after every jump they generally bounced up and forward rolled.

I still have a Wild Willy 2, talk about a blast to have fun with! I replaced the stock spring holders ( I won't even call them dampers) with .56" stroke Associated shocks. It calmed the wheelieness down a bit, but it'll still does wheelies like nobody's business.

lol terry, best turn one carnage i have ever scene.

i've always wanted a lunch box, but have owned so many hoppers and hornets that i'd like something different.
being a vw nut i should just get the type 2.

With Tower's super saver discount, you can get a Lunch Box for $93 shipped!

terry.sc wrote:Here's a sort of comparison. Last month we raced them all together

[youtube]cIL3Scgz8j0[/youtube]

BTW the 4wds has slightly better handling round the corners, but after every jump they generally bounced up and forward rolled.

Damn, I think you could've used a dozen more corner marshals. Looks like a total hoot, though.

I'm very jealous of the Iconic RC meetings. They look like so much fun.

Lunchbox is crude compared to later chassis' but I challenge anyone to drive one without a stupid grin on their face!

Just watched video back - what a great day.

Everyone should own a wheelie, to serve as a benchmark for RC fun.



....note stupid grin on my face.

Ive had a lunchbox for years, I even raced one bitd and won alot of races with it. I made a fiberglass chassis and redid the shock set up and it did well I even beat RC10's we raced oval in the parking lot of the hobbyshop I worked at it was a lot of fun. I still have a really nice pair lunchbox and a pumpkin, got a Wildwilly 2 not long ago I love it to.

Danf1275 wrote:Lunchbox is crude compared to later chassis' but I challenge anyone to drive one without a stupid grin on their face!

Perfect summary

if you get a VLB make sure you buy some aftermarket alloy body posts for it... otherwise you end up having a LOT of spare chrome front grilles I had a somewhat heavily modified one (reinforced chassis, 3rd shock mod, oil shocks, blablabla) and it stills spends more time on its roof than anything else Here's a rare vid landing on its wheels:

http://www.overrc.com/techniques/reglages/tamiyalunchbox/vlblonestar/PICT0019.MOV
(sorry, not sure how to embed)


Have fun!
Paul

i know all the mods for the vlb from all the threads on in bitd on tamiyaclub.

one thing is for sure, no hardbody for this guy. so if i did go for a vlb it would get a lexan shell for sure.