Lee Martins winning
car is the new
not-yet-released Tamiya TRF 201X - a traditional rear motor buggy in
this age of mid-motor domination of the UK national scene.
Initial impressions of the
TRF201X are that this is clearly 'inspired' by the Associated B4 - of
that there's surely no doubt. Tamiya based their original TRF 501X 4wd
buggy around the B4 / BJ4 suspension so there's history here. Of course,
everything is done to the usual high standard that Tamiya are known for
- with parts effortlessly interlocking and slotting together.
With Lee off racing and a
big tray of spare parts - enough to build another car - sitting there,
we cheekily decided to take a closer look. The car appears to go
together in a very similar manner to the Associated B4 but of course
nothing is 'the same' - the car is definitely 100% Tamiya, and this
shows in the quality and attention to detail.
Lee had three different
chassis' to try out on his 201X, all the same design but moulded in
differing stiffness of material - with more or less 'glass'. The two we
tried out seemed to be at the extremes with lee running the medium flex
- we assume only one chassis will be available and the ones that were'nt
used being mere test chassis's
It remains to be seen
whether the TRF 201X will even be officially sold in the UK &
Europe, the other TRF car's aren't supported by the distributors so it
will be a great shame if the 201X goes the same way.
