NEW 4X4S
Little Car Company unveils an RC classic you can actually drive
8/10 scale replica of Tamiya Wild One • Road-legal option available • From £6000 plus VAT
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hat do remember from the 1980s? Constant fear of nuclear war, perhaps? Constant fear of riots or football violence? Constant fear of the next Shakin’ Stevens single? Or maybe you didn’t live in constant fear, because you were too busy building and playing with RC cars from Tamiya. In particular, you might remember the Wild One, which was released in 1985 and proved so popular that the company brought it back out in 2012. Well, now there’s a new Wild One in town. As before, you can build it then play with it. But there’s a difference – which is that this one’s not radio-controlled. It’s you-controlled. The original Wild One was 1/10th scale. Quite big enough for a good time, but the new one is 8/10 scale. It’s called the Wild One MAX, and it
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has just been unveiled by the Little Car Company. By ‘little’, they mean 3.5 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and weighing about 250kg. The vehicle has an electric power pack driving the rear wheels, which are shod with 15” off-road tyres, and its spaceframe chassis provides mounts for coilover suspension all-round. As standard, the Wild One MAX comes with a single 2kWh PowerPack giving it a range of up to 25 miles – depending of course on the terrain and how hard you hit it. A coil-over at every corner isn’t the stuff of crawling around daintily, is it? The unit puts out 5.5bhp and allows a top speed of 30mph – however the PowerPacks are modular, meaning you can spec it up with several more of them to send performance and range alike spiralling upwards.
Aiding its range still further, it comes with hydraulic Brembo disc brakes all-round – and these feature regenerative braking to help harvest the kinetic energy lost when you use them. As this suggests, while there’s a definite air of whimsy to the vehicle it’s a deadly serious piece of high-tech engineering. You also get a set of drive modes, for example, including Novice, Eco and Race – which offer different top speeds, throttle maps and power outputs to suit your skill. The Little Car Company also says that as well as the extra PowerPacks, the Wild One MAX will be available with upgraded brakes and suspension as well as a four-point race harness. Lest you still not have figured out that it’s not for kids, the standard composite seat is adjustable to suit drivers of between 5’3” and 6’5”. That’s just the one seat, though – this is not a vehicle for driving to school. Unless you’re a teacher, in which case prepare to become the coolest of all time. And now for the big question. Yes, you can register it for the road. There are three different Road Legal Packs available, allowing the vehicle to comply with EU Quadricycle regs, as well as a Tarmac Pack containing road tyres and mudguards. Oh, that wasn’t the big question. Sorry. The Wild One MAX is expected to be priced from £6000 plus VAT (and OTR costs, where relevant). What, there’s still an even bigger question? Ah, it’s got to be this, then. And the answer is yes, just like the Tamiya original, it comes with stickers. Giant ones. This is the real thing and no mistake… The Wild One MAX is due to go on sale in 2022, and you can get your name on the waiting list now by putting down a returnable deposit of £100 at wildonemax.com. Want one? Silly question, of course you do. It’s just a question of how badly.
4x4 01/06/2021 09:31
