Behold the (road-legal) Tamiya Wild One MAX
Full-size R/C homage goes on sale this Thursday and will be publicly unveiled at Goodwood
Thanks to delays and revisions, the Tamiya Wild One MAX has been more than two years in the making. But it appears to have been well worth the wait. The Little Car Company released many of the technical details last month - but now it has revealed the final look of its two-seat EV, and it’s fair to say that it lives up to its billing as a grown-up (in every sense) version of the Tamiya Wild One radio-controlled car.
That includes the price, which starts at £35,000 excluding VAT and delivery. Plainly that elevates it to the status of a very senior toy indeed (for a few thousand pounds more, you can start thinking seriously about an Ariel Nomad) but it doesn’t detract from what its maker has achieved nor from the inherent coolness of the project. After all, who as a child didn’t want to shrink down small enough to drive their Tamiya Wild One? The Little Car Company is betting no one - or at least enough to sign on its dotted line.
Road-legal status, it seems, was deemed an important part of convincing people they should do so. And the manufacturer has confirmed that with the addition of an optional ‘Road Pack’ (featuring a windscreen, wipers, mirrors, mudguards, front and rear lights, indicators and numberplates) the Wild One MAX can be driven on UK roads under the L7e classification used for quadricycles. It qualifies for this status because without its eight swappable battery packs, it weighs less than 450kg.
With all 14.4kWh of battery capacity in place, LCC reckons its dinky EV will be good for as much as 124 miles of range on smooth roads, and around half that if you’re off the beaten track. Power is said to peak at 38hp, although that’s reckoned to be good enough for a 62mph top speed. No word on acceleration yet, but you can be sure it likely feels quicker than whatever it is on paper. And with Cobra bucket seats, a five-inch screen with marine-grade switches, Brembo disc brakes and adjustable Bilstein dampers paired with Eibach springs, hopefully it feels more generally like we all imagined a Tamiya Wild One would, too. If you’re already convinced of that, orders can be placed from midnight on Thursday 13th, with the first 100 customers getting an uprated ‘Launch Edition’ model. Good luck!
I'll pass. Until it has more power at least, as the concept is awesome. (Not that I can ever afford it anyway, I'm a broke commoner)
And then I hear Andrew frankel saying ‘what are you going to use it for?’
And I think, well I can’t drive it to an off roading location because it doesn’t have the range, it’s too wide to drive into a lwb transit so I’d have to get a trailer or a Luton van to take it anywhere interesting, so I suppose I’ll just use it to drive up and down hahas on my country estate, and then I remember that I am not, in fact, the Duke of Richmond and go back to using my battered old 996 for absolutely everything.
Lada niva, anyone?
The Tipo 184 kit car can't get through IVA looking anything like the promo pics, they have a video showing all the things you need to fit or cover with foam to get it through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8RqYrOkszA
I'll pass. Until it has more power at least, as the concept is awesome. (Not that I can ever afford it anyway, I'm a broke commoner)
This has 120Nm. The CRF has 24Nm. That will make the driving experience very different.
I still struggle to see the value at £35k, but saying it was meant to be £6k is rather misleading.
From a forum called Pistonheads
The Tipo 184 kit car can't get through IVA looking anything like the promo pics, they have a video showing all the things you need to fit or cover with foam to get it through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8RqYrOkszA
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