Here it is, the newest addition to Tamiyas range of fun and stunt cars after the Mitsubishi Montero.  A true classic, the Volkswagen Type 2, also simply called the T1.

The team of Tamiyablog was very happy when Tamiya announced that car in 2011. Wild Willy was waiting too long for a new vehicle. And i knew, i had to have this kit, as soon as possible.

It´s  very nice to see the VW body sitting on the famous WR-02 chassis. A chassis i really like. The Wild Willy 2 is still one of my favourite runners.

It can be a great performer with some slightly modifications like oilfilled shocks, ball bearings and a 20T pinion.

Tamiya did a fantastic job on the lexan body. Masking the body and doing the two tone paintjob takes a while, but in the end you will be rewarded with one of the coolest looking Lexan bodies Tamiya ever made.

I chose a nice metallic orange for my T1 which i think suits the old VW very well.  The Wild Willy driver figure is well known from one of Willys old cars, the superb “Willies Wheeler”.

All in all i would like to thank the Tamiya Company for still producing such nice and funny cars like the VW Bus. The world of RC Cars is actual dominated from mostly boring and bad looking products which are mainly speed and bashing oriented. Tamiya is nearly the only  manufacturer who breaks this rule.  I would also like to mention the beautiful box  art picture of the VW kit. One of the very best ones Tamiya ever did. I really like to see  such a piece of handmade art in our computer dominated world.

Go for the Type2, it will take a smile on your face.  On the shelf and on the track !

Here it is, the Tamiya Sand Rover 2011.  A car, or I better call it a dune buggy (because it is the real dune buggy!) Tamiya fans waited so long for. After the Holiday Buggy 2010, Tamiya does the next step and releases one of the most popular Tamiya off road cars ever on the famous and solid DT-02 Chassis.

As mentioned before, the  modified Sand Rover body sits  now on the modern DT-02 chassis which is well known from the Tamiya Desert Gator ,  Sand Viper ,  Neo Falcon and of course the Holiday Buggy 2010. The car is meant as a real beginners car.  So it comes with a classic RS380S Motor as standard which is perfect to do the first steps into this wonderful hobby.  But you can easily change that to a 540 sized motor.  Our car is equipped with full ball bearings – Tamiya CVA oil filled shocks – high torque servo saver – Desert Gator wheels and front tires and Tamiya pin spike tires on the rear for that extra piece of traction on the track. Also a mild brushless system is used which is comparable to a 27 turn brushed motor but much more efficient.

For the body we chose a warm Tamiya TS-34 Camel Yellow, a colour I love, because it transforms the Sand Rover directly back into the 70’s.

When the weather gets better, we will see how the new Sand Rover can perform. 🙂

Enjoy!!