- The Little Car Company is making a drivable version of Tamiya’s Wild One 1/10-scale remote-controlled off-road buggy, called the Wild One Max.
- Blown up to 8/10 scale, the adult-size romper is about 16 inches shorter than a Mazda Miata but 2.5 inches wider, big enough for someone 6′ 5″ to drive.
- Build slots are available now with a refundable deposit. It will go on sale in 2022 for about $8250.
On September 25, 1985, the Japanese remote-controlled-model maker Tamiya released the Wild One, a 1/10-scale off-road buggy kit. Ten years later, the Wild One is coming back, this time overscale instead of underscale, in an upsized version of the Tamiya called the Wild One Max.
It makes sense that this one would be the choice for an adult-size car: Along with kits like the Sand Scorcher and Rough Rider, it was one of Tamiya’s most popular R/C models in the late 1980s and ’90s. The black and red, two-wheel-drive dirt hopper with the coil-over suspension and iconic graphics cued up enough nostalgia in the early 2000s for Tamiya to reissue the Wild One in 2012.
The same Little Car Company that built the downsized Baby Bugatti II and Aston Martin DB5 is making the Wild One Max. At 8/10 scale and powered by an electric motor, the Wild One Max will be big enough for humans standing up to 6’5″ to climb into the composite racing seat and drive into the sunset.
The Wild One Max is about 16 inches shorter in length than a Mazda Miata, and 2.5 inches wider. The space-frame chassis gets coil-over dampers suspending 15-inch lightweight wheels shod in grooved rubber up front and chunky knobby tires in back, just like the original. The flat white wheels hide a set of hydraulic Brembo disc brake,s also fitted with regenerative braking. The spare cockpit gets a racing steering wheel and a few digital gauges. And at just 551 pounds in base spec, the Wild One Max shouldn’t get its in own way when it’s time to hit the dirt.
The Little Car Company
As standard, power comes from a 2.0-kWh battery juicing a motor with 5.5 peak horsepower. That configuration caps top speed at 30 miles per hour and range at 25 miles. Those specs vary based on the driving modes Novice, Eco, and Race, however, which change power output, throttle mapping, and top speed.
Wild One scale modelers were quick to upgrade from stock by heading to the Tamiya Hop-Up store. The Little Car Company is giving Wild Ones MAX builders—yes, this car is a proper, home-built kit—the chance to do the same. Bundles like the PowerPack add more battery power and increase performance and range, while the Tarmac Pack adds components to make the buggy road legal as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV). Individual upgrades will be offered, too, like a four-point seat harness to supplant the three-point belt, and higher-spec brakes and suspension.
The Little Car Company is taking $140 refundable deposits for build slots at the Wild One MAX site. Retail price is expected to come in around $8250. We wouldn’t mind seeing a red helmet and white race suit among the Hop-Ups. And since the original Wild One was supposedly a civilian version of Tamiya’s 1/10-scale Fast Attack Vehicle, a camo sticker kit and bumper-mounted headlights would be pretty cool, too.
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