Nitro XX Buggy
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 11:09 pm
Yep - you read it right, a Nitro powered XX Buggy.
History - back when Nitro truck was popular, before the XXX-NT and GT2 era, it was GTX/NXT vs GT (mostly) but the e-trucks were XXT and killing it. I ran one myself in Mod Truck, a lovely 10 single wide open down that long Ranch Pit Shop rear straight was amazing and fun.
I longed for a Nitro truck, but did not want an LXT based one, and wasnt going anywhere near AE (then) - so I was a spectator. One night, I go to watch them run and I see a XXT body buzzing around with all the other trucks, and thought, how nice, a body swap...
As he pulls it off the track, I get a good view and WHAT - it was a Nitro converted XXT. Ron Bechard was the driver. I waited and waited, never see a conversion or a Losi Nitro XXT come to market. I had wondered what happened to it all those years ago.
A few years back, someone on Facebook posts a picture of a truck and asks - what is this? And amazingly - it was the same truck (albeit, unused). I contacted him and we chatted back and forth. Knowing Ron was the driver way back then, amazingly, I raced locally with Ron's son. I contacted him and he confirmed, it was a truck his dad had built. I connected the two together, as his son wanted the truck to remember his dad by. The sale never happened and I believe the truck ended up on eBay.
About the same time (a few years ago), I was surfing around Facebook marketplace and saw a buggy version of the truck. I contacted the seller a few times, never got a response and eventually the ad disappeared. I was super bummed out, as I wanted it. Fast forward to this past weekend (7/20/24) and I was scrolling for VW parts and of course RC always pops up, I browse those ads as well. I see the buggy again, somewhat local, posted 10 minutes before I viewed it. I contacted the seller, he responded within minutes, safe to say I was on the road less than a 1/2 hour later, determined to pick it up. Well, I wouldnt be creating this thread if I didn't get it - so here some some pics - the buggy as seen in the ad, and current state. As well as a couple shots of the truck that slipped threw the cracks.
For the record: The truck that I saw actually being raced is in the hands of the family, they are completely out of RC. A close family friend has given me more info, there were 2 truck prototypes and a buggy prototype for Earls (as a conversion kit). One truck was never run, just one buggy and one truck were tested.
If anyone has anything on the Earl's conversion kits, I'd love to hear/see more about them. My understanding are the prototypes used a canted forward engine mount, the Earl's kit did not.'
I have no time frame in mind for the clean up/rebuild. Things I've noticed already, Lunsford turnbuckles, Cirrus servos, OS motor, Rossi/Paris pipe, Shiny CVDs. I will refresh the hardware, fix the rod ends, add rear shocks and maybe a body. I may leave it with no body or clear - as I want to see it in its glory.
All from a guy who does NOT want shelfers. This is a shelfer, with some patina. I don't plan on a refresh back to 'new built' condition.
History - back when Nitro truck was popular, before the XXX-NT and GT2 era, it was GTX/NXT vs GT (mostly) but the e-trucks were XXT and killing it. I ran one myself in Mod Truck, a lovely 10 single wide open down that long Ranch Pit Shop rear straight was amazing and fun.
I longed for a Nitro truck, but did not want an LXT based one, and wasnt going anywhere near AE (then) - so I was a spectator. One night, I go to watch them run and I see a XXT body buzzing around with all the other trucks, and thought, how nice, a body swap...
As he pulls it off the track, I get a good view and WHAT - it was a Nitro converted XXT. Ron Bechard was the driver. I waited and waited, never see a conversion or a Losi Nitro XXT come to market. I had wondered what happened to it all those years ago.
A few years back, someone on Facebook posts a picture of a truck and asks - what is this? And amazingly - it was the same truck (albeit, unused). I contacted him and we chatted back and forth. Knowing Ron was the driver way back then, amazingly, I raced locally with Ron's son. I contacted him and he confirmed, it was a truck his dad had built. I connected the two together, as his son wanted the truck to remember his dad by. The sale never happened and I believe the truck ended up on eBay.
About the same time (a few years ago), I was surfing around Facebook marketplace and saw a buggy version of the truck. I contacted the seller a few times, never got a response and eventually the ad disappeared. I was super bummed out, as I wanted it. Fast forward to this past weekend (7/20/24) and I was scrolling for VW parts and of course RC always pops up, I browse those ads as well. I see the buggy again, somewhat local, posted 10 minutes before I viewed it. I contacted the seller, he responded within minutes, safe to say I was on the road less than a 1/2 hour later, determined to pick it up. Well, I wouldnt be creating this thread if I didn't get it - so here some some pics - the buggy as seen in the ad, and current state. As well as a couple shots of the truck that slipped threw the cracks.
For the record: The truck that I saw actually being raced is in the hands of the family, they are completely out of RC. A close family friend has given me more info, there were 2 truck prototypes and a buggy prototype for Earls (as a conversion kit). One truck was never run, just one buggy and one truck were tested.
If anyone has anything on the Earl's conversion kits, I'd love to hear/see more about them. My understanding are the prototypes used a canted forward engine mount, the Earl's kit did not.'
I have no time frame in mind for the clean up/rebuild. Things I've noticed already, Lunsford turnbuckles, Cirrus servos, OS motor, Rossi/Paris pipe, Shiny CVDs. I will refresh the hardware, fix the rod ends, add rear shocks and maybe a body. I may leave it with no body or clear - as I want to see it in its glory.
All from a guy who does NOT want shelfers. This is a shelfer, with some patina. I don't plan on a refresh back to 'new built' condition.
