First debuting in 1985, the original Tamiya Wild One was a popular radio-controlled car with some impressive off-roading abilities — at least for an RC car from 40 years ago. With countless now-adults having grown up playing with the Wild One, the maker of this RC car has recently opted to join forces with kid car firm The Little Car Company to deliver a full-scale, fully-drivable version of the remote-controlled vehicle known as the Tamiya Wild One MAX Buggy. And more than a year after first being announced, The Little Car Company and Tamiya have finally opened up preorders for the 1:1 scale buggy.
Fully street-legal in the UK and Europe, this 1:1 scale buggy spans 141.7” in length and boasts a 74.8” track. Tipping the scales at only 1,102lbs at the curb, the Wild One MAX features a genuine long-travel off-road suspension setup with Bilstein dampers, plus has 10.62” of ground clearance, and approach, break-over, and departure angles of 34.1°, 28.4°, and 50.8°, respectively. Like the original RC car from the mid-‘80s, the Wild One MAX is kicked along by a fully-electric powertrain that enables it to reach a top speed of just over 60mph. Boasting seating for two, this rear-wheel drive vehicle draws from eight removable battery packs with a collective 14.4kWh capacity that affords it 125 miles of on-road range of nearly 70 miles of off-road autonomy.
The interior of the buggy also features a Sparco steering wheel and Cobra bucket seats while its exterior has been treated to auxiliary lighting and a full suite of crash bars. Riding on Maxxis Bighorn all-terrain tires with Brembo brakes, this buggy interestingly meets the EU and UK’s L7e quadricycle regulations, as is classified as such. Before building the regular production versions of the buggy, the company will first be churning out a small run of Launch Edition Wild One MAX examples that come loaded with a carbon fiber dash adorned with a Launch Edition plaque, a carbon key fob , hologram decals, R/C car replica wheel nuts, and an included Tamiya Wild One 1:10 scale RC car.
Available for preorder now, the The Little Car Company x Tamiya Wild One MAX Buggy has been priced at €41,000 (~ $44,550). Production for the regular production model and Launch Edition are slated to begin in early 2024.
