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Being a kid in the early ’70′s, I grew up with dune buggies everywhere, in the media, on the streets and of course as toys. I liked them very much, primarily because I was a fan of aircooled VW’s in any shape, but also for their image of conveying freedom, summer, sun and a carefree life. As a kid, it never occured to me that it was a pretty shortlived craze that would eventually fade away.

I have collected dune buggy models for about 30 years now and I had hoped that the revival of dune buggy toys and static models in recent years would also spur releases of dune buggy RC-models. I still hope the Tamiya Sand Rover will be released on whatever chassis, but meanwhile, I found my own solution. When Parma released their dune buggy body for the Slash, I was excited, but the size and the body’s somewhat ungainly proportions put me off. Then the 1/16 version was released with what I perceive to be better proportions and knowing that both bodies were oversize for their scale, I quickly got a body and started the search for a suitable chassis. A couple of years ago I started on a class 11 baja bug based on the M04L Beetle and a TamTech-Gear GB-02 front suspension. For several reasons, this project was put on hold, so I decided it would instead serve as a base for the dune buggy.

The conversion was in fact pretty simple. I wanted to keep as many parts as possible umodified, so all I did was to modify the M04 front bulkhead and mount the GB-02 front suspension on it. I may dye the front suspenion black later, but kept it in its original grey for a better contrast in the photos. The wheelbase in now very close to a “Medium” M-chassis, which actually means that the model’s dimensions is close to 1/10 for a dune buggy on a shortened VW floorpan! I made a chassis cover of 1.5mm lexan, combined with the side pods from a DT-02 chassis tub. The rear bumper is a Wild Willy 2 front bumper mount with a U-shape TL01B shaft, both a direct fit without any modifications. I may put a resin copy of the Lindberg Flat-6 Corvair engine in the rear when time allows.

The body was finished as original, except that it was fitted with resin copies of the Kyosho 1/12 Beetle taillights. The molded-in headlights is one of the less nice details of the body, but I have yet to find a solution. When I get brave enough, I’ll probably cut them off and use TamTech-Gear headlights instead, mounted to the chassis and protruding through the holes left in the body when the original headlights are cut off.

Rear suspension and gearbox are M04 original, of course with ballbearings and with the diff locked with CC-01 G-parts. For an old-school look, Wheels and tires are narrowed M-chassis Beetle wheels up front and widened (with Wild Ceptor wheels) M-chassis Beetle wheels in the rear, wrapped in Sand Scorcher tires. At the moment, only TamTech-Gear friction shocks are fitted and the first run on smooth soft sand indicated that this is sufficient for this type of intended running, but TamTech-Gear CVA-shocks is an option. As for running, the pretty light weight and short wheelbase ensure that it feels fast enough with just a silvercan and overall handling is actually pretty good, with predictable light understeering in most situations. Now let’s hope Tamiya will soon re-release the Sand Rover!