Tamiya Jeep Wrangler Project

Of all the 14+ bodies that have been available on the CC-01 chassis since its introduction in 1993, the Jeep Wrangler YJ has always been my favorite.  It is such a quintessential off road vehicle design.  It was originally released as the 2nd CC-01 kit, 58141 in 1994.  It then went dormant until 2009 when it was re-released as a limited edition kit 84071.  I'm not sure how many they made, but by the time I was looking for one in 2017 there were none to be found.  Not having one in my collection was simply not an option, so I had to find another way to get there.  Since the only difference between the various CC-01 kits (for the most part) is the body, I thought maybe I could start with another model and convert it.  I decided to start with a rere Pajero (one of which I already had), but then discovered I couldn't find one of those to buy at the time I was looking either.  I ended up with a 47375 Pajero Black Metallic Edition as a base starting point.  This was not ideal since you pay extra for the metallic body (which I'm not going to use), but c'est la vie.  I found that the YJ body itself was readily available separately as 9335171.  This version of the body has a couple of extra holes on the bottom which leads me to believe it is not exactly the same as the original but probably comes from the 58429 CR-01 version also released in 2009.

Apart from the chassis and the body shell, I also needed lot of other accoutrements including the fog lights, windows, light buckets, wheels and tires.  I found that the H/J parts from the rere were still available, but not much else.  I elected to use aftermarket clear windows so I could add an interior.  I managed to find a set of real aluminum beadlock wheels at RC4WD that closely match the appearance of the original.  While this was good news for the accuracy of my build, it was bad news for my wallet because I also found a dozen other crazy expensive appearance upgrades at the same web site which I was helpless to resist.  See my table below for a list of all the parts I bought.  Mind you, all of this was purchased before I even started building.  What resulted is probably one of the most expensive CC-01's ever built, but dang, it sure does look good.

I did build this with a locked rear differential, but even so it is not really a crawler.  It is geared too high and does not have enough clearance.  It is very capable on trails, grass, or gravel though.  I later switched out the standard 27 turn motor with an 80 turn which brought the speed way down and made the model better for crawling.

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire.  I was able to eventually replace it with an original (not the 2009 re-release) CC-01 version from a collector in Switzerland.  Unlike the version I first built which was massively customized, since the replacement was an original I decided to leave it completely stock.  That includes the original mechanical speed controller.  It is easy to forget how spoiled we are with modern ESC's.  With an original MSC and a standard 27T turn silver can motor, the CC-01 is effectively useless.  It is so fast even on the slowest speed that it can't be used in any kind of off-road setting except for an open lot of gravel.  And don't forget that there are no brakes unless you want to just reverse the motor.  The version I got included the vintage optional light kit which used incandescent bulbs, so that's pretty cool.  I also added ball bearings because I can't not.