Photo: The Little Car Company
If you were a child with an interest in radio-controlled cars back in the 1980s, then the name Tamiya Wild One probably rings some bells, as it was one of the many off-road-capable R/C toy kit cars people loved back then.
The kids of the 1980s are adults now, and you can't really draw them in to your business with another R/C. But you can surely draw them in with full-size versions of the toy cars they loved back in the day. And that's exactly the recipe a crew called The Little Car Company is now trying.
This British group likes to describe itself as "the world expert in hand-building junior cars," and its portfolio includes insane rarities such as the Ferrari Testa Rossa J, Bugatti Baby II, and Aston Martin DB5 Junior. The Tamiya Wild One MAX is however an entirely different product than these three junior cars.
We've known the thing was coming for a few months now, but it was only this week that The Little Car Company released the full details, including pricing, for the road-legal, life-size version of the decades-old toy.
That's right, road-legal, and least over in the European Union and the UK, the two prime markets for the vehicle.
Officially called the Wild One MAX, the contraption is an electric vehicle powered by no less than eight battery packs rated at a total of 14.4 kWh. Because the Wild One is rather light (500 kg/1,100 pounds), the batteries are more than enough to allow the machine to drive for distances as great as 200 km (124 miles) on the road, and only half that when going off the beaten path.
The batteries are swappable, and feed 38 bhp electric motors that can push the Wild One to top speeds of just 60 mph (100 kph). The thing can easily tackle some off-road paths, thanks to its 270 mm ground clearance, 14-inch Maxxis off-road tires, and a proper suspension system.
The Wild One has been built in such a way as to carry two people, enjoying the ride in Cobra bucket seats with 4-point harnesses. A 5-inch screen relays all the relevant data to the driver and passenger.
As said, the main news surrounding this vehicle is its availability and pricing. The Little Car Company said it settled for a 35,000 starting price for the life-size electric toy car. That's 41,000 euros, or $45,000!
The first 100 vehicles to be made are Launch Editions, and will be delivered as fully-assembled vehicles (the company will start shipping them as kits after that). They will also have a few extras compared to what comes after them.
Those special extras include stuff like a titanium plaque on the dashboard reading 1 of 100, a carbon fiber dashboard, and a key fob in the same material. The cherry on the cake however are the Wild One R/C cars that will be handed out as gifts. The toy cars will be specced to match the vehicles themselves.
To get in line for a Tamiya Wild One MAX you'll have to place a 3,500 GBP ($4,500) deposit and wait for first deliveries to begin next year. The company will be taking reservations starting July 13, and from the same date will be showing the machine in the metal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
We're told the vehicle will eventually be made available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations, but it's unclear if it will ever make it over the Ocean and into the U.S. In Europe and the UK it's considered a four-wheeled heavy quadricycle meant to carry people, thus it's allowed on public roads thanks to a special kit to make it road-ready.
This British group likes to describe itself as "the world expert in hand-building junior cars," and its portfolio includes insane rarities such as the Ferrari Testa Rossa J, Bugatti Baby II, and Aston Martin DB5 Junior. The Tamiya Wild One MAX is however an entirely different product than these three junior cars.
We've known the thing was coming for a few months now, but it was only this week that The Little Car Company released the full details, including pricing, for the road-legal, life-size version of the decades-old toy.
That's right, road-legal, and least over in the European Union and the UK, the two prime markets for the vehicle.
Officially called the Wild One MAX, the contraption is an electric vehicle powered by no less than eight battery packs rated at a total of 14.4 kWh. Because the Wild One is rather light (500 kg/1,100 pounds), the batteries are more than enough to allow the machine to drive for distances as great as 200 km (124 miles) on the road, and only half that when going off the beaten path.
The batteries are swappable, and feed 38 bhp electric motors that can push the Wild One to top speeds of just 60 mph (100 kph). The thing can easily tackle some off-road paths, thanks to its 270 mm ground clearance, 14-inch Maxxis off-road tires, and a proper suspension system.
The Wild One has been built in such a way as to carry two people, enjoying the ride in Cobra bucket seats with 4-point harnesses. A 5-inch screen relays all the relevant data to the driver and passenger.
As said, the main news surrounding this vehicle is its availability and pricing. The Little Car Company said it settled for a 35,000 starting price for the life-size electric toy car. That's 41,000 euros, or $45,000!
The first 100 vehicles to be made are Launch Editions, and will be delivered as fully-assembled vehicles (the company will start shipping them as kits after that). They will also have a few extras compared to what comes after them.
Those special extras include stuff like a titanium plaque on the dashboard reading 1 of 100, a carbon fiber dashboard, and a key fob in the same material. The cherry on the cake however are the Wild One R/C cars that will be handed out as gifts. The toy cars will be specced to match the vehicles themselves.
To get in line for a Tamiya Wild One MAX you'll have to place a 3,500 GBP ($4,500) deposit and wait for first deliveries to begin next year. The company will be taking reservations starting July 13, and from the same date will be showing the machine in the metal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
We're told the vehicle will eventually be made available in both left- and right-hand drive configurations, but it's unclear if it will ever make it over the Ocean and into the U.S. In Europe and the UK it's considered a four-wheeled heavy quadricycle meant to carry people, thus it's allowed on public roads thanks to a special kit to make it road-ready.
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