Tamiya had pioneered the RC buggy in 1979 with the 58015 Rough Rider, but everything was rear wheel drive until 1985 and the release of the 58047 Hotshot.
It is hard to overemphasize how much changed in that time. The
SRB chassis used mostly metal and had simple swing arm suspension with a
locked, solid rear axle. The Hotshot came along with four wheel
independent double wishbone suspension, a plastic chassis, large bore
oil filled shocks, and most importantly, four wheel drive. The
original advertisement on the left highlights many of the features of
this tremendous new buggy which changed everything. Building this
now, it does not feel like a design which is 30 years old. Many of
the basic design details are still in use today.The most obvious new feature of the Hotshot is 4WD. The motor still sits near the back, but ahead of the rear axle. Power is transferred to the front axle with a propeller shaft (or drive shaft). There are open geared differentials both front and rear, but no center diff. The front wheels share a single lateral shock absorber while the rear wheels use the iconic shock mounted under the wing and driven by a fairly complex linkage. The standard 6-cell battery pack is slung under the chassis just ahead of the rear wheels. Much of the caged chassis is left exposed by the minimalist body so you can still see all the good bits. The Hotshot reminds me of a bikini.
The Hotshot lineage persisted for a long time. The upgraded 58054 Supershot came out in 1986 followed by the 58062 Hotshot II in 1987. The original Hotshot was re-released in 2007 as set 58391 which is the version I was able to acquire. There was also a 1/12 scale version in the GB-03 Tamtech Gear line released as 56711 the same year. A number of other models used the same chassis or a derivative thereof.
The Hotshot drives amazingly well for the first of its breed. It is stable, well planted, has good traction, and even jumps well. In fact, I can't really think of a performance complaint. It is not as nimble as a modern racing buggy, but does very well nonetheless. The only change I made was to swap out the stock motor for the recommended Dirt Tuned version.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Upgrades! |
 Page 3: Final Photos |