Vintage Tamiya Hornet In All It's Glory

[@stewarthaddon3219]

I'm 50 this year and the Hornet was and still is my favourite r/c, I remember the tyres wearing out after 5 runs and waiting 17 hours for the battery to recharge because I couldn't afford more than one😆, brilliant video, many thanks from the uk.

[@steveblackbird]

August 85 is when I got my Hornet. Drove it like a mad man. Has such a unmistakeable sound when running. My RC "journey" took me to 1/8th scale nitro buggies, and now consists of so many RTR's like the X-Maxx, XRT, Felony, Typhon, Crawlers etc... about 30 cars. Recently I bought the Tamiya Avante 2011 Re-Re.. Fell in love with building them again. Two weeks after that I bought a barely used Tamiya Porsche 959 to restore and run, plus another, never run but built 959 for a shelf queen. I really should buy another Hornet since that's where I started. They still go quite well for such a vintage design. Cheers for sharing the vid!

[@thomashensley3319]

Just pulled mine out of the attic. After months of begging my father he caved and i got my hornet fir xmas 1984. Great video time to get mine back in tge dirt🤘

[@MartinJutras]

I'm 50 and this is also the car of my childhood. ❤

[@DogPileDan]

Oh man, I had this in the 80's as well! I remember rigging Christmas lights for headlights and tail lights. I also had street slicks for it and a Lamborghini countach shell. So much fun! Thanks for the memories.

[@MikesWorld1]

I had the Grasshopper with the bigger motor that ran this fast. I took it to school all the time in elementary school. We had races at recess. Found memories. My uncle had the Hornet and would race cars down the highway when he was drunk. It got crushed by a car one day.

[@goober8798]

Uncle fulfilling uncle goals. "Don't tell your mom."

[@TheThetruthmaster1]

I had the limited edition donkey punch👊🏿

[@JorgeReyGMartinez]

I still have mine from 1985 in storage... Brings back memories... ☺

[@ALLairBBandPelletGuns]

COOL Video. Subscribed! This Hornet was the first RC car/buggy I ever built. Loved the build/assembly. Went from the to the Hot Shot, built and ran that until the tires were bald...inwent to the hobby shop to buy a couple sets of tires and while I was there I ended up spending ALL my cash on the Super shot ! Here we are , what?, about 35 years latter and my buddy still has it and even runs it now and then. I'm still a kid and still building, running & collecting Tamiya Buggies & trucks. When I'm gone, someone is going to need a U-haul 🤣... there is a lot of Airplanes & boats too! It's the best sickness ever. TAMIYA #1 ☝🏼👍🏻 💯

[@davidjones7503]

That was my car growing up in the 80's. Us kids all had different cars. The Frog, the Fox, the Hotshot, the Boomerang, the R.C 10, , etc... built a track in the woods behind my house. Good times!

[@jone7940]

Love seeing the vintage cars run for a change! Great to see.

[@theRCelement]

Thanks Jon! The classics are pure nostalgia 🤙

[@JayEss414]

the hornet and the grasshopper were my dream RCs as a kid , very cool

[@theRCelement]

Thanks buddy

[@brendanshield]

It was my first rc car in 86. We took them to school in New Zealand and played with them at lunch time. Good memories.

[@stevec9704]

I was looking up som RC, thinking about getting back into it and stumbled on your video. That Hornet is COOL AS HELL!! Just as I remembered. God what fun. I had the Subaru Brat, that I turned into a Frog, then got a Hotshot, my friend had the hornet and we raced those things daily everywhere. Very nice.

[@blitzrc4713]

Been on a vintage kick myself lately got a sand scorcher and hornet built and running need paint and got a hotshot coming all re releases you get exactly the same enjoyment I do just appreciating them for what they are! Video put a big smile on my face! Cheers

[@thebarnineffect]

best friend from school sent me one to build for my 50th last month, spent all day building it and loving it

[@BorleyYT]

I got a remake of this. Got it up to 43.3 mph. Absolutly insane car. My dad had one of these and a grasshopper when he was a kid too

[@rcalltypes8230]

Great video, they really bring back memories. I wanted to make mine a little better, (on the cheap) so in went a Tamiya Sport Tuned motor, Hobbywing 1060 ESC, 2S Lipo & Ball bearings, along with a SPT steel geared steering servo. Awesome buggy for the price, fun & memories 😎

[@Sam-ch3fk]

Awesome! Very nimble Hornet. Love the scenery as well with the green fields and the cattle. Beautiful and peaceful environment 👍

[@neonvandal8770]

I'm having flashbacks mate! - i remember in the very early 80's a friend was given a Sand Scorcher by his older brother and i was stunned! - i'd never seen one of these japanese rc cars - so fast, so cool looking! I wanted one so bad, but we didnt have that kind of money - i's spend hours after school looking in the model shop window staring at the box art. I saved so much pocket money for years until i could afford to buy one - A grasshopper with a 540 motor - loved that car. I eventually got a second hand Sand Scorcher many years later! 🙏🏼

[@mattyH7-3]

My first RC car and teaches you car control 👌🏻👍🏻

[@Novolix]

My 2 friends had the Gator and the Grasshopper and i had the Hornet. Loved it!

[@shb8124]

Too much fun lol, 54 here now and soooo getting one soon as 😁

[@tomcook5813]

We were poor, I wanted one so bad in the 80s. But now I’m 53 and bought an old one, even has the AM radio. Built a new transmission for it and it runs great. Wish I could post a picture.

[@tomkruze2749]

That was my FIRST car. Funny I also have a RC10. I sold all my RC cars as I got new. Gave my RC10 to my nephew. Got it back 3 weeks ago. It was in my Brothers basement. Just got back into RC. Thank you so much for the Video. “Blast from the Past”

[@theRCelement]

Thanks man! That’s awesome you got your RC10 back

[@johnlykowski2178]

I had one of these when I was younger as well!

[@ayebee1207]

Awesome RC. Installing a radio link receiver with gyro will straighten it out. Unless you enjoy 2wd fish tailing on this model. They are re released now. You can buy a brand new kit for $130usd.

[@stonerrc4626]

OH man!!!😲😲 Bringing back some good childhood memories man. Blast from the past. Then got the blackfoot and was hooked. I love building like back in the day.. Didnt have this RTR RCs like today.. But now I have 14 of them from 1/16 - 1/5 scale... Nitro and electric...Love the RC hobby.. AWESOME Video bud👍👍

[@theRCelement]

That’s awesome! Yeah, my buddy had a blackfoot back in the day as well. I bought a used one on Ebay. Gonna do a video of that soon.

[@stonerrc4626]

@@theRCelement oh yeah sweet can't wait to see the old girl. You get original or the newly released one? I would much rather have the original. IMHO can't wait to for the video...

[@MrDominicharrison]

The car I always wanted! Recently remembered this, it was sold out as a kid so I ended up with the Subaru brat but now I will get one of these Hornets! Great video thank you 🙏🏼

[@richardsquires4884]

Still got mine from back in the day got it out loft this weekend going brushless

[@JimBoBJames-no5db]

I just finished my Tamiya Hornet last week. My first Hornet. Pretty fast but doesn't handle really well. But man yours is really fast with a standard Tamiya rs 540 motor💪👍 I put full bearings and a core RC 15 turn motor plus a 2s lipo battery in mine and kind of regret going to that hot motor because it really messes up the handling. I was actually planning to replace the Tamiya rs 540 motor to make it more reasonable and easier to drive before I saw this video. Such a light little buggy doesn't really need too fast motors and maybe even a Tamiya sport tuned motor would be more than enough and I think I would be pretty happy. One thing i messed up though was I didn't want to wear out my Tamiya pin spike tyres so I got some Louise phantom tyres and wheels which mount using only a drive pin in axles. Problem with that though is the width of the rear track is 10 mm narrower each side and this affects handling to the point it's a handful to drive. Plus on the first day I rolled it at least 8 times. Not happy about that. Great video presentation and you've got my subscription 👍💪👌

[@idlzruf]

I just got my 4 yr Gp Flame peace for my 4 year old and a laegendary Triton and a 144001 for me. I can't wait to buy another Hornet. And Grasshopper for him. I loved my Tamiyas as a kid. Thank for the video. Man I loved the sound of the Hornet.

[@speedhead]

Not my era but enjoyed seeing you walk down memory lane! Really cool update to a classic.

[@KaptainKrunch1803]

Still have mine from 1984, still runs. Only change is an upgraded "trinity" motor and an F-150 body kit. Thanks for a great trip down memory lane.

[@theRCelement]

Awesome man! Glad you still have it 🤙

[@fab9114]

The tires are really used XD love these vintage tamiya still super great buggy!

[@trentsteele1986]

Great stuff I had one in the 80s. But then college and girls come along so it given away

[@neilrankin5399]

Made me smile from ear to ear

[@Ghostrider-71]

I got one of these for my son for Christmas, I have the Tamiya Blitz Beetle waiting at home for a fun build.

[@grossi46]

Wow this brought back memories . This was my first rc car 😁

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

My neighbour (a few years older) had a Hornet, and that was our introduction to RC cars. A little while later my younger brother was given a Hornet (probably a birthday gift), but sold it to a friend for way less than it was worth. When I was twenty I bought a King Blackfoot and had a lot of fun with that, but it lost it's will to live over time. I looked into buying a Hornet reissue, but apparently it's a rather simplistic set up, and for the money it'd be better to buy a modern RC.

[@christopherpike3073]

Omg I had this !! Thank you for posting this ! Great memories

[@PerrieHulett]

Awesome the perfect terrain for the car . I have one but needs some repairs 😊

[@bluethunder6801]

Fantastic I love the sound of the hornet

[@rj.ch.]

I'm currently modifying HORNET, but I think it's a great machine that's popular in Japan as well.😄😄😄

[@davidlabroad817]

Brings back some good memories

[@tig8440]

Your car runs really well! My original car never ran as fast! Jolly good show!

[@Bryanb28]

this was my first rc car back in the late 80s, then came the clod buster and blackfoot, still using them today at 46 with my own son but have some new traxxus additions

[@slidey1788]

I remember if I jumped mine to high/hard it would bottom out, slap the chassis on the ground, and the battery door would open, dumping the battery in the dirt.

[@chainraiderdiscgolf]

The Hornet and the Grasshopper!

[@malkyhendry6560]

I had the mud blaster I think it was called in the 80s.good times

[@xrxfpv1994]

Yay! We gotta be the same age. I have my RC10 top as the hornet top. All original

[@theRCelement]

Awesome man! Gotta love the 80s🤙

[@ryantannehill4060]

I think your right Mabuchi motor . Definitely brings back memory's

[@SpeccyMan]

memories

[@NCmountainsYouTubeChannel]

O yeah looking forward to more. 👍

[@theRCelement]

Thanks bro!

[@HobbiesRfun]

Had Sega not come out with the Genesis video game system, I would have gotten the Hornet back in the mid to late 80s. At the time I got interested in RC cars, especially the stuff from Tamiya, Kyosho, and the Associated RC10. You can blame an episode of the show Punky Brewster, "Girls Will Be Boys", which featured many of the classic Tamiya buggies, like the Hornet, the Frog, and others. My only experience with RC cars before seeing that episode was a toy grade Radio Shack dune buggy, which was made of heavy hard brittle plastic, was powered by a tiny under powered motor, no suspension, no differential, which meant it hand only one rear drive wheel, and as you guess it was slow as hell, could only be driven on perfectly smooth surfaces, with no way to modify it for better handling, and performance. Watching the Punky Brewster episode I saw RC cars that at the time were fast, could go off road, handled jumps, and rough terrain with ease, could be modified, and upgraded, and had replaceable components, so you didn't have to buy a whole new RC car if something broke. I wanted one of these so bad, but at the time I was also heavily into video games, and when the Sega Genesis came out, I wanted one of those real bad too. I was working at my first job shortly after graduating from High School, which was a minimum wage fast food job, so I couldn't afford both a RC car, and a Genesis at the same time, so the video game system won my minimum wage dollars. Now that I'm older, and my income is a lot higher than it was at the time, I can afford to support several hobbies at once. Now I enjoy computer/video games, am building a small model railroad, and enjoy RC cars too. I got a Losi Lazernut, and a few of the reissued classic Tamiya buggies, the Hornet, Frog, and Wild One, along with the RC10 Classic, which I have yet to build. Even though I never had any nostalgic memories of driving RC cars like the Hornet, and Frog, driving them now, I totally understand how they became so iconic, and enjoyed by many in the 80s.

[@N_Fortune]

Thx for the tip about the Punky Brewster Episode! I watched it with my wife the other night as she used to watch it as a little girl and she said she remembered this episode, LOL! We were able to stream the whole episode for free and you're right, it features a bunch of the Tamiya kits!!! It shows the Frog, Hotshot, Hornet (although it had flames and was missing the fog lights), Wild Willy, Wild One, Subaru Brat and Fox but there was one that I didn't recognize which looked like another pickup truck of some kind. ??? Spoiler Alert: Punky wins the Tamiya Frog, her dad doesn't feel she should have it since she's a girl but she keeps it anyway and builds it herself. She tries entering a race but can't because she's a girl so she disguises herself to look like a boy so she can race (wearing a Chicago Cubs hat which I think was awesome too!), they find out she's a girl, end up letting her race anyway and Punky ends up winning the race! She even beats the boy (Peter Billingsley from the 1983 movie The Christmas Story) who was running the Hornet.

[@barrygiddey9139]

Great video mate-I just had the re-release built and picked it up today I'll take it out this week for a test run-Thanks for sharing this classic in action!

[@bradkalman2353]

This was my first hobby car too back in the 80s.

[@richiero0o0]

Wish I'd never sold mine 😪 Still got my Schumacher ProCAT though!

[@trxmh]

Awesome Tamiya classic buggy.

[@theRCelement]

Thanks buddy! I agree

[@krashkingrc9715]

Awesome video excellent run with the old school rig. Those were and are still cool but we’re so expensive back then

[@theRCelement]

Thanks! I agree man

[@ytfeverguy8367]

I will go to the grave with my 80s Tamiya hornet. One of the best rcs ever made. I mean it actually buzzes like a real hornet. How did they do that?

[@sebascoto1]

Tamiya indestructible gave me a lot of nostalgia my first rc car I still keep it original in excellent condition

[@theRCelement]

Nice man!

[@wheelie642]

I still have my Dean’s discharger. They are out of business, wish I could buy another.

[@bradkalman2353]

I have a 4000 lipo pack 50c running in mine and I have some 3,600 nickel metal hydride ones and I just bought recently a 20c 1800 lipo and with a TZ motor bug ERX memorial edition it ran 22 minutes with the 1800.

[@theRCelement]

That 4000 must run forever lol

[@bradkalman2353]

@@theRCelement with a GT tune motor in my hornet it runs between 28 and 31 minutes.

[@johnivan5456]

Lobe all yhe 80s cars. I have 4 in my collection. Rc10 gold pan . Grasshopper. The frog and the lunch box. The hornet will be next.

[@donaldbowlin7944]

That thing rips man

[@maverick744]

I suggest u rebuild your original using time period correct parts. I share your nostalgia. The Nikko Turbo Hopper was the first full functioning RC I ever seen and then was introduced to Tamiya

[@theRCelement]

Thanks bud! Good idea on the rebuild

[@vinceruland9236]

About to have my frog restoration done and you're gonna make me buy a hornet. 😂😂

[@theRCelement]

That’s awesome! Have fun

[@kawasakirule3707]

Scored Nos Vintsge Super Hornet in box. Never put together. 👍👀

[@bruceli9094]

MAKE TAMIYA GREAT AGAIN 🏁

[@theRCelement]

Hell yes!

[@bradkalman2353]

540 mabuchi and there was an RS model and a Johnson model they're even might have been an s model but I have a 19, 000 RPM GT tuned in mine you should see it run.

[@theRCelement]

That’s awesome

[@Itsonlymeee1]

Thanks for that. I had one of these as a kid too....great car. Can you get lithium ion batteries for it ?

[@analogalbacore7166]

Yes

[@leehurst6922]

Is it ballraced? Runs awesome

[@SplatRBrosHQ84]

Is that a brushed or brushless

[@Anderson_999]

If you make a vid of this and an original RC10 running together if would be like me and my buddy back in 87-88. Damn things broke more than they ran, but when they were running it was glorious. The motors we roasted and servo's we destroyed.

[@theRCelement]

Soo true! But I couldn’t get enough back in the day lol

[@bobbylefebvre6298]

Love old school

[@theRCelement]

Agreed!! 🤙

[@bobbylefebvre6298]

I just got a vintage rc car last week

[@terence79chan]

I watched your unboxing of the re-release Hornet, this one’s cooler because of that heat sink. LOL !! Great content, subbed! 👍

[@theRCelement]

lol I totally agree buddy! Thanks!

[@jeniferdiamond7723]

I had 1 and a grasshopper too. Did anyone have the back axil break? I broke 3 of them.

[@fab9114]

Is it the stock tamiya motor?

[@DoubleBassJace100]

Awesome

[@tonyduong70]

Loving it

[@SpeccyMan]

"Vintage Tamiya Hornet in all its glory." 😉😁

[@theRCelement]

Yes sir!

[@DeLaCruzer11]

It is faster than the grasshopper 1.

[@bradkalman2353]

You know I have one of these in my tires kind of look like nubs like that too now. Lol

[@theRCelement]

It’s all good! You can buy new re-release tired for it

[@bradkalman2353]

@@theRCelement I know I can.

[@Ferguson285]

What is its maximum speed? thanks

[@slashmaster2]

What happens if you run it by the cows?

[@theRCelement]

They stare it down till you get too close then it spooks them. They jump real quick and run

[@roadrunnerorange]

It might be faster now cuz of the better batteries now vs the crappy 1200mah 6 cell nicads back then...

[@bradkalman2353]

Such an easy fix to do that with a servo piece to keep the battery door closed should have thought of that feel stupid.

[@theRCelement]

That wasn’t my idea. It came that way. But I thought the same thing lol

[@JAAUG]

You know that Tamiya just re-released this car?

[@spiti9149]

Bonjour à combien elle roule en km/h

[@theRCelement]

Not sure. It’s not very fast

[@TheThetruthmaster1]

That stock

[@jeanpaulberbach6504]

faut pas sauter ça casse les triangles avant par experience

[@christopherdeguzman1137]

Actually you pronounced it right the first time. It’s Tah-mee-yah, not Tah-mai-yah.😂. Great video though!

[@theRCelement]

lol yeah, I called it Tah-mai-yah as a kid in the 80s. Great memories! Thanks buddy!

[@NormanKnight-tk4mn]

Monster beetle is better though more fu sorry 😐

[@paulthurston2883]

I love mine too. A piece of RC history.