[kaylon]

Back in 1980 my brother who was 13 at the time got a Tamiya Sand Scorcher for his birthday, it was in August and the weather was fantastic. I was totally in awe of this thing so we took it outside and drove it around a huge amount. My bro's best friend at the time David had the Rough Rider so he joined us a lot and after school evenings were great fun...I ran around chasing the cars like a headless idiot...today they would say I had ADHD or something...bah...I was just 10!

Being 10 I was of course a little upset that I could not have my own, but my brother being who he was teased me mercilessly all the time but did let me drive his buggy from time to time, bless him.

That Christmas though it all changed... I got the Tamiya Lamborghini Cheetah. And what an epic thing it was...I still remember sitting at my dinning room table building it with the help of my bro...took us all day but wow.. A few days later and a trip to our local model shop for some paint it was ready, I had painted the body satin black with a gold stripe running along the sides and up the front...

I loved it so much. That next few months I drove that car to destruction...every evening I was out running at least a pack through it.

By early summer we had a small group of friends who all had cars, the two super buggies (sand scorcher and rough rider) and now there was also a ford in the mix...it was amazing. My Cheetah was so out classed by them all I had to upgrade.. Could not afford much, but got a brand new Holiday Buggy for my 11th birthday...

We all raced and bashed around for a few years...During the 80's I had a Hornet and a Wild Willy... my bro's last car back then was a Manta Ray...By 1985 there were at least 10 of us racing around...We had Brats, and frogs...and a couple of Wild Willy's...

The 80's really was the time of Tamiya...and some of the best days of my life.

J