Although
the current standard RC scale is 1/10, back in the very beginning
Tamiya cars were 1/12. If we look strictly at touring cars,
everything was 1/12 scale until the Group C chassis came out in
1990. This fact is easy to miss since the number of 1/10 touring
cars since that time so vastly outnumbers the 1/12 cars from
before. The first generation of TamTech kits came out in 1986 and
continued until 1988. These were tiny 1/24 scale RTR touring
cars. Tamiya got excited about smaller scale again in 2006 and
resurrected the series in 1/12 scale, this time called TamTech Gear and
using the new GT-01 chassis. There were a mix of RTR and kits
available. The first four models (Porsche 934, Porsche 935, Lambo
Countach, Ferrari GTO) were available either way, but the later Porsche
Jägermeister was RTR only and the black Porsche was kit only (though
these are both the same body with a different livery). The series
has ceased to exist since 2009.I didn't know anything at all about the TamTech gear series until reading an article about them on Black Hole Sun's web site. I was intrigued, but I was plagued by the same problem that often torments me: discovering something after it is already discontinued. Luckily I was able to find the Ferrari GTO available for a really good price out of Hong Kong so I ordered one to see what this series was all about.
You might expect a 1/12 scale version of a touring car to be a bit more "toy like" than a larger scale, but I did not find that to be true. In fact, this was one of the more complex chassis I've assembled. It has 4 wheel double wishbone suspension, front pushrod suspension, and rear wheel drive using a 370 sized motor. In addition to the mechanical complexity, the kit is fairly deluxe. It comes with full ball bearings and a ball differential standard. The body and decals are even precut. The RTRs in this series used a specially sized small scale servo which is no longer available, so that makes building the kits challenging.
What really makes these models shine though is the stunning bodies. The Ferrari GTO never existed in Tamiya 1/10 scale, so this is the only choice if you want one. The rest of the models in the series are all remakes of classic Tamiya RC touring cars. I painted mine classic Mica red which is not the color recommended by the instructions but has a bit more pop.
With the stock 370 motor the performance is pretty tame. I swapped it out for a hotter motor and now the limitations (and fun) of having rear wheel drive really come out. You need to be on your toes when driving this, but you only need a proportionally smaller space to use it.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Upgrades! |
 Page 3: Final Photos |