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In 1982 Tamiya embarked on a comical new venture in the 1/10 2wd electric vehicle scene with the Wild Willy. Intentionally disproportional the Willy wasn’t about scale accuracy or speed, this Jeep was designed as a stunt-mobile capable of puling wheelies at will. Constructed entirely of plastic the deeply molded tub chassis placed the battery at the very rear to exploit its flick of the trigger nose up antics. Landings were cushioned by a coil sprung damperless swing arm and sliding pillar front suspension while the coil sprung servo saver with direct acting tie rods controlled everything from simple turns to pirouettes. Rear suspension duty was handled by a coil sprung damperless twin link arm solid axle that was unique for not only having a swinging motor mount which connected the pinion and spur to the axle mounted three gear transmission via universal joint but also for being the first Tamiya product to utilize a differential, a bevel gear unit in this instance, which spun the trucks kit specific jumbo sized directional paddle tires on white three-piece plastic spoke wheels with foam liners. A spring loaded front bumper, mechanical speed controller, Mabuchi RS540 motor, spring mounted hard plastic M38 style body, Wild Willy driver, and twin torsion spring wheelie bars were included with the unassembled kit, which proved so effective in ripping its front tires off the ground that significant revisions over the course of production were implemented in order to tame ‘ol Willy down. The year after his introduction three additional models, the Willy’s Wheeler, Audi Quattro and Opel Ascona, all based on the Wild Willy platform, would be released:

This was always one of my favorites. Always wished I had actually bought one.