e69: Grand Race Flashhopper - Tamiya Grasshopper Knock Off!

[@just4kicks950]

The grasshopper with a 540 & a 18 tooth pinion was fast ! That was my first streetcar conversion with a Lambo body & shortly after that, got the midnight pumpkin 👍

[@AMPROEngineering]

Very true. That is what my hornets all run and they scoot!

[@just4kicks950]

@@AMPROEngineering due rember the Tamiya falcon?? Got it in storage the chassis always broke at the bulkhead & never found any chassis upgrade 🤔 due you know a of any ? Yeah the Hornet was cool . IMO too !

[@PorkinsTheWhite]

When I was 8 my dad bought two used cars to get us into the hobby, one was a Grasshopper and the other was the Rock Buster. They didn't last long but I always had a fond remembrance for the RC as it was my first. For over twenty years I thought it was a Tamiya but never could find mention of it and thought maybe I was remembering something else. Thank you for finally solving for me where the Rock Buster was from.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh my pleasure. The Rockbuster and some of the other clones get forgotten sadly.

[@askoseppanen3779]

Omg!! I had one in 1987😻 it was black and slow haha, well it soon went off and father bought me a marui hunter and I became a king of the streets, now after all these years I could not resist buying hunter again and it is as fun as was in 1987

[@AMPROEngineering]

I can imagine!

[@NordicRC]

What a cool object. A cable controlled Grasshopper. Good thing it doesn't run as fast as a Tamiya Grasshopper. Thanks for sharing. Would love to see it opened up plus see it run and you running after ;-)

[@AMPROEngineering]

Hahaha! Yes I can see that too!

[@ShenRC]

Tamiya did good with the grasshopper...you know you have a good thing when everyone tries to copy it .

[@AMPROEngineering]

That's for sure!

[@wamplertube]

My first RC purchase was a box of pieces in the late 80s for a 100bucks, A complete grasshopper and a complete bowlink straight axle. I consider the grasshopper my intro into RC! This video brings back many fond memories!

[@AMPROEngineering]

I am glad to hear it!

[@CarmineRC]

What a.............. well, it's interesting! I was almost starting to get impressed, right up until I saw the CABLE TETHERED controller!!! There's been so many clones of Grasshopper - but this was the first one to give me a well needed chuckle! Thank you! ~ Carmine

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yes it is a very interesting car.

[@Racer-X-090]

I remember when I was a kid, seeing magazine ads for the Panda and wanting it so bad!! "Grand Race Flash Hopper" Wow....what a name... :P

[@AMPROEngineering]

Same here, I wanted a Cyclone and weirdly, it is actually a great car. Yeah the name is...interesting.

[@peterstatham]

This vid has genuinely cheered up my afternoon 😂

[@AMPROEngineering]

Haha! Glad to hear it!

[@Nickvanscandal]

Dude! I had one of these!! I had completely forgotten about it!!

[@AMPROEngineering]

It's a weird little thing. I learned about these fairly recently

[@Dudeitsmeee]

Imagine asking for a grasshopper and getting that!

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh man, what a horrible Christmas

[@pixelpusher3589]

im still rockin my 1984 hornet...........thanks grasshopper! definitely run this! cant wait to get cashed up and do a super fly, cheers bro!

[@AMPROEngineering]

Damn right! I am too!

[@janner78]

Man this thing is sooo bad it's cool. I'm glad you bought it and show-cased it :)

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yes it is terrible. LOL! Thank you again for the heads up!

[@janner78]

I'll keep an eye out for any more UK based oddities!

[@gpgp01]

Academy model company is based in Korea, so many Korean rc hobbyists(now 30-40 years old) have known and bought the Roadrunner and Rockbuster buggies.(as I know the both are produced in this company) I had had a Galaxy buggy, which was also one of GH clones made in the same spot. Glad to see the nostalgic buggies again in nice glossy condition, and got a feeling how strong inspiration GH give to make many other copy models.:)

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yes I have seen the prices of the Rockbuster and Roadrunner skyrocket over the past years. They are getting quite nostalgic. Plus, they do look great.

[@yannn5541]

Thanks man, your review about the grasshopper clone made me laught. You know knowadays it is a rare thing that a review about rc that is fun and makes you crack a smile and laught. Cheers

[@AMPROEngineering]

I hear that man. I just feel rc's are toys and shouldn't be taken seriously. We are serious about so much in life...why not have some fun?

[@wildcat650power]

Love that body and it comes with functional lights. Im looking for this and will purchase hopper decals for it and turn it into hobby grade. Super cool 👍

[@AMPROEngineering]

It is interesting for sure.

[@wildcat650power]

@@AMPROEngineering super rare lol

[@matthewbuchanan3063]

Thanks for the video I always wondered what the differences were between all of them. When I had received my Blackfoot hand me down from my cousin when I was a kid I had also got a frog and grasshopper parts plus the manuals that's how I knew what they were lol

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah there were a lot of interesting similarities and strange differences on these cars.

[@j0nnyism]

Tesco still sells rere grasshoppers amazingly enough i saw one in the liverpool city centre branch just before xmas

[@AMPROEngineering]

Wow that's cool!

[@user-zf2kg3nv6x]

I had the black flash hopper when I was about 5-6 yrs old. It was lame, but I loved that thing!

[@AMPROEngineering]

Hey man, we love what we love. Yeah it wasn't a great car but sometimes, its what we have.

[@michaelmiller7350]

Had one (flash hopper)from Lionel toy warehouse Charlotte NC for a Christmas gift as a kid, hated it then because of the cord, had the black body style

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh yeah I have seen that black one too! I was blown away how bad this thing is.

[@michaelmiller7350]

😆 🤣

[@silviamills5218]

Can u take it outside? You can't really see it run when all it gets to do is a bunch of multi point turns in a tiny space.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Haha, na, it is mint and for sale right now. I do not want those tires dirty and trust me, it is terrible anyway.

[@captainobvious9189]

You need to drop a brushless 7.5T motor in that thing, lol...

[@AMPROEngineering]

I can just see the explosion...hahaha

[@thestuffz]

If you ever get into the wild willys, there was an 80's knock off that was not remote control but body was a spitting image.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh I have seem that. I really like it

[@viper-qi1po]

I had one of those I found at a flea market a couple years back. I never even tried running it just grabbed it cause it was a cool rip off and was like 5 bucks. BTW I saw masterpiece iron hide creepin in the background on your last video lol

[@AMPROEngineering]

LOL, yeah It is an Ironhide. I love those masterpiece TF's

[@bryangulledge]

What happened to that super champ body in the back round? I have one that is not quite finished and want to complete it and play with it. But its seems they are worth some money and maybe I should not thrash it around. I bought it around 2001 so its not a re release. Was thinking about selling it to get something modern, Any thoughts??

[@AMPROEngineering]

Well it is all done but is not a super champ. It looks like one lol but the chassis is a hornet and the suspension is a mix and has a lot of printed parts. Ill post a video on that soon!

[@SporeZoo]

Pleaaaase if you still have it; do a full Grasshopper RC conversion on the Flashhopper. 😃

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh sorry! I was going to until I found out how valuable they are. This is long sold to a collector

[@silviamills5218]

Can you do a running video? I'd like to see if it can get over a bump. And compare it to a real Grasshopper's performance?

[@AMPROEngineering]

Haha, no not this guy. It is for sale right now and it in no way is on the same planet as a hopper! Haha!

[@silviamills5218]

@@AMPROEngineering can it get over a bump thought?

[@Spennyman10]

About a year ago a Grasshopper unassembled in the box popped up on Marketplace for $20. I snagged it. Still had the decal sheet and everything. It was missing a handful of parts. Sold it for $150 on eBay. If memory serves me the Grasshopper came stock with a 380 and the Hornet came with a 540. I could be mistaken that was quite a few years ago.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Correct. The Hopper was the more entry level version.

[@christopherhale415]

Do u have a rear shock plate for the hornet?

[@AMPROEngineering]

Can you clarify?

[@donaldvincent]

Wow, I had no idea that other people had such fond memories of the old Grasshopper. (Back in the late 1980's the cool car was the RC10 if memory serves correct.) I just recently got mine old on out after seeing an advert for the re released version. I got mine new in 1985 and in 88 or so I cut the chassis and stretched it 1.5 inches to fit a Ford Cobra Lexan body, put slick road tires on it with chrome wheel covers. I believe the motor was called a 427 made for 4x4 trucks. I thought the name was cool since the real Cobra had a 427cid engine. Oh well, I put bearing all the way through, oil damper shocks and ran it all the time. The dirt car suspension and hi torque motor made it handle like a real muscle car. A cop clocked it one time at 53 mph. Back then that was crazy fast. It has been in storage since 92' or so. I was surprised how well it has held up. the old brushed motor is a little rough and the tires were hard so I replaced them. Thank God for ebay, I even found a NOS Cobra body. My wife of 18 years has never seen it run and is curious why I like the thing so much. She will so see. I may have to post my first video.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh yeah, the Grasshopper has quite the following. I got my RC10 used when I was 12. That was 1992 and it has been my go to track car ever since. I love that thing. I would love to see a video of yours when it is up and running!

[@donaldvincent]

AMPRO Engineering that may a few months, other projects ahead. I could send a few photographs if you like. It still looks pretty good, but well used.

[@GreatBirdOfHope]

I don't believe you. 53 mph back then with a brushed motor running nicd... nope... brushless 4000kv and lipo gives you mud to high 40s mph range.

[@donaldvincent]

@@GreatBirdOfHope Its all about the gear ratio's and the proper timing of the motor. An extra cell or two inline with the motor battery did not hurt either. I also have a Tamaya F103 (rear drive Formula 1) and a F201 (4 wheel drive formula 1) The F103 is even faster still with a brushed motor and a NiCad battery. You don't run long and the batteries come out very hot, but the cars were fast. But the new brushless are faster and have more torque. 53 mph was hard back then. But now 53 mph is not hard to reach at all. There are several Arrma Limitless cars that top 150mph. Here is a link. www2.arrma-rc.com/arrma-tv/channel/limitless/BzhBa7LIdUo#:~:text=Arrma%20Limitless%20GT%20speed%20run,TV%20%2D%20Designed%20Fast%2C%20Designed%20Tough

[@rc_action_]

you should throw some hobby grade electronics in it and then it would be perfect

[@AMPROEngineering]

I was thinking about that!

[@AMPROEngineering]

That was my next thought. It would be cool but for about 5 minutes!

[@benb.1273]

I want to see what the inside of the transmission looks like in this thing. There's no way they cloned the gearing tamiya used and I wonder what kind of motor they stuffed in it.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Nope, no way. Who knows what the heck is in there.

[@billcox87]

brother you must really dig them grasshoppers;) I had one back in the late '80's.......damn that thing was horrible!!! keep on make them vid's, I really enjoy them.......... that cord is just killin me!

[@AMPROEngineering]

Ha! You said it!

[@MrCaprinut]

I haven't seen that version before, but yup that is as close as you can get to the orginal Grasshopper. Would you convert it to run regular esc and servo? I remember my former mate converted a Nikko Bison F10 Frame Buggy and converted that into a real rc. Was so much better! Richard

[@AMPROEngineering]

I thought about the conversion but the Nikko you speak of is a genuinely good car. This thing is...um...not. We shall see though.

[@notbuyingit8047]

I remember seeing these at toys-r-us back in the late 80s. They were sold in the US

[@AMPROEngineering]

No kidding! Wow thanks for letting me know. Any idea how much they were?

[@PreeMoo]

Nice job tracking down these clones. They are all a great part of rc history. My very very first rc car was a 1/20 scale “mini hopper”. It was one of those single channel things that turned to the right in reverse due to the “5th wheel” between the front wheels. It’s body was a very accurate grasshopper rip-off, only shrunk, and it had a mono front shock just like a hot shot😁, but no working suspension! Mine was white, but the one on eBay now going for £15 is apparently red. The ad says it’s a 90’s vintage, but I’m pretty sure that my dad bought me mine in 1986/7.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Thanks for sharing! Glad to know im not the only one who like the clones!

[@breakingsilence7428]

that would be cool if u take it out an run it that's a cool nock off nice grab

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah I might need to.

[@carbonitegamorrean8368]

wOw! cool, I like it. But I have 3 or 4 grasshoppers....lol, I would buy one cheap to mess with

[@AMPROEngineering]

I have seen them for very little, usually broken.

[@JB73691]

Theere was another clone of the Grasshoper it was from a company called Academic I think.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Academy and world engines. I have reviews here on both...they are so bad....hahaha!

[@JB73691]

@@AMPROEngineering Yes, the quality was low.

[@paulalejandro6656]

Just watched this video, you stated that the flash hopper wasn't sold here in the US. I have to correct you, I and my cousin had these when we were about 10, I'm 44 now. Lol. I'm pretty sure my aunt bought them at one of our local drug stores.

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah i am sure these were dumped where ever they could get sold.

[@mt-xx1tt]

tesco is like wall mart. your radio shack is called tandy in uk . btw this vidio makes me feel real old now hahaha

[@AMPROEngineering]

Wait to you hear someone say "I love oldies like Motley Crue and Guns & Nirvanna".

[@claykirby7288]

there were tons of motor and gear combos ...do your research hobby cars were all about mods alexan body and a reedy motor and oilfilled shocks ....the chassis was 5 bucks to replace so real racers had motors and proline tires i ran it on a bmx track and it kicked ass

[@AMPROEngineering]

Um, this is not a hobby car. Did you watch the video? I have lots of videos covering the options on Hornets and Grasshoppers.

[@TbKb89]

It's the best rc I have ever used(grasshopper)

[@AMPROEngineering]

Agreed.

[@red7fifty]

Your Rear Paddle tires are backwards.

[@AMPROEngineering]

I believe it.

[@PMR5571]

great looking car fun car

[@AMPROEngineering]

It's neat!

[@SYREKZZ]

I love the shell on the knock off grasshopper, not so much on the decals. But overall, I'm digging the whole closed rear incasing and the interior. Remove the body from the flashhopper and the decals, stick it on an original grasshopper and boom! Got a great unique bodied grasshopper with better performance :)

[@AMPROEngineering]

I agree, it is not bad looking shell at all. They did a nice job on it.

[@zigzag5805]

If it were down to me the flash hopper would be FILED UNDER B . (FOR BIN)

[@AMPROEngineering]

It is hard for me to disagree with you...but given the price point and target market....

[@pancudowny]

Believe it or not, even Radio Shack had one: The Golden Arrow. A friend bought one--to run against my Big Grizzly--and it shared the Grasshopper's wheel mountings, which allowed swapping wheels meant for the Grasshopper chassis. And sadly, that was the only real mod he could do with it! :\

[@AMPROEngineering]

Oh yeah, thats a Nikko Bison with a different shell. You could get parts for it from the Traxxas Cat, which it was the same as well.

[@pullmfinger6149]

Man, my brother got something like this.

[@AMPROEngineering]

No kidding?

[@pullmfinger6149]

Yes, he got that and I got a turbo hopper from Toys R Us back in the 80s. I remember the headlights and noise. So got tricked because he didn't know it was wired.

[@AMPROEngineering]

OH no! So sad! A turbo hopper is an awesome car and he got this thing? Poor guy....

[@MoparMuscle1970]

make another video of it running but please, please lubricate the pinion and gears first

[@AMPROEngineering]

I might need to do that and take it outside. The motor is heat staked in place so I cannot remove it sadly.

[@pancudowny]

I find it ironic that the Varicom Industries Panda Cyclone was better-built than the original Grasshopper, while the original "Biggest in Class" monster truck (The Big Grizzly) was out-shined in every by the Tamiya Clodbuster.

[@AMPROEngineering]

yeah I did a review on the Cyclone. Though there are some upgrades to it, the failure was the insanely hard and brittle plastics and a unique gearbox with small gears.

[@snupi_nut]

The 80 s term for that car is " Getto " haha

[@AMPROEngineering]

It is just so cheap....

[@danielgera1754]

Tesco is in Hungary too lol. Just sayin

[@AMPROEngineering]

Cool

[@danielgera1754]

AMPRO Engineering btw your videos really inspired me to start rc-ing again in these quarantine times :)

[@mt-xx1tt]

dont take it out side please rebox it and let it remind you of how far rc tec has come in the last 30 years

[@AMPROEngineering]

Well this has gotten a lot of use already. I really like it. It is lounging happily in my office at work on our "Knock off" shelf along with the EyePhone, Lenobo Laptop and GhoPro. Lol! Ah knockoffs....

[@chloedevereaux1801]

it's a fox not a hotshot........

[@AMPROEngineering]

Can you clarify?

[@silviamills5218]

The motor sounds very healthy lol as if XD

[@AMPROEngineering]

LOL! Oh yeah

[@elevensixty2434]

*HOPS OVER OBSTACLES*

[@AMPROEngineering]

Don't know how much hopping this thing can do!

[@jmaclaren4147]

Dear God the poor thing has a leash....you have to set it free...Please tell me you will set it free....

[@AMPROEngineering]

Hahah! Yeah it does want to be let loose!

[@ocularcavity8412]

lol I HATED wired RC's as a child when i was a little we went to a lot of yard sales (still go sometimes) and seeing them from inside the car would get my hopes up, maybe today I would finally be able to get an RC and then i would see the wire DEVASTATION (little 4-5 year old's heart breaks) the only thing worse than Wired RC's were the ones that were wireless and only 1 channel (went straight forward and auto turned while going in revers) Worst Invention EVER!!! some EVIL greedy CEO thought of that crap and they were even more deceptive when i was 4 1/2 i bought one by mistake not knowing how to spot one of those abominations and was mortified when i finally got batteries for it XP

[@AMPROEngineering]

Hahaha! Yeah I felt the same way. I never had a wired one but I did have a few that did the whole forward, reverse steer...man I hated that but I still drove them all the time. It was all I had until my beloved Nikko Turbo Panther!

[@ghislainpitre7899]

The batteries cost more than the car lol.

[@AMPROEngineering]

That's the truth.

[@michael7856]

As a child who received a grasshopper and then later a hornet I would’ve of been extremely offended if I have received this, not that I was a spoiled brat but that’s just a piece of shit.

[@AMPROEngineering]

No, that does not make you spoiled. This is very, very bad.

[@j0nnyism]

Ha ha that box is worth the price on its own. Designed by someone who has probably never seen an rc car never mind used one. Jesus that noise makes you want to slit ur wrists

[@AMPROEngineering]

LOL I thought the same thing.

[@djericanthony]

What a crappy knock off

[@AMPROEngineering]

Yeah...yeah its not great...in any way.