The first Associate buggy the RC10 in 1984 was basically a light plastic and alloy copy of the 1979 Tamiya Rough Rider design which in turn I think was based on the one of the first Schumacher buggies...
The AE RC10 1984
Anyway...buggy design has not changed a huge amount, just the materials and tech...if it aint broke don't fix it...but AE did not start it all. Probably Tamiya and Schumacher did
Really nice looking car, might add it to my shopping list
J