Buyer’s Guide Tamiya Porsche 1/12th 959 Rally. Detailed Faulty Parts + Viewers Restoration Story.
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video, we take a detailed look at Tamiya’s most famous RC car, the ever-popular Porsche 959 rally from the late ’80s. We hear from an RCKicks viewer who has purchased three of them over the last six months and the challenges he has faced in trying to restore them and the vast expense involved.
Tamiyabase link: tamiyabase.com...
You can find more content from RCKicks on the below links as well as help support the RCKicks channel by becoming a Patreon:
/ rckicks
RCKicks Facebook Page: / www.rckicks.co.uk
RCKicks Group Page: / 449280332477997
RCKicks Instagram: / rckickscom
#tamiya959 #rckicks #58059
959 of them? That would just infuriate the collectors because for one look at the stupid prices of the playstation 5 at the moment! You would get people buying them up to shove on Ebay and the likes for Insanely stupid prices! So it need to be a general release so everyone who wants one can have the opportunity not just people with big pockets🤔
I'm not looking at it with a collector's mindset so I'm definitely the wrong person to ask but here are my thoughts:
If Tamiya still has all the tooling, fuck it, rere the shit out of it, make 500k of them, or more, that way everyone who's nostalgic about it can enjoy it and it won't all be instantly bought up by scalpers.
If they don't, they can still rere it to bits and pieces for all I care, but I'd really love to see a similar body on a modern chassis. Nothing special, just something that's actually drivable. As it stands right now these things are just non-functional models which is totally missing the point of being an RC Car.
Yep this exactly
Me personally I'd rather have the original yellow wheels for the 959 if I was looking for one.
Sun light, oxygen and moisture vs plastic wrapped in a box? Box soooo wins. 35 yo plastic is still going to be even more brittle than it was day one!👍 Love that maths lesson at the start😁
Big mistake to buy it now. Tamiya will be re-releasing this! I can’t guarantee it, but wait a few years. The anniversary of this car is coming up! 35th anniversary of the 959 is in 2021, and of the Celica in 2022! You’ve been warned!!!
well if that ain't a tease I don't know what is ..........patiently waiting.....
I assume that the mechanical speed controller of the Tamiya 959 could handle the high current draw of modified motors, is that right?
@perfectsplit the primary limitation of a mechanical speed control is running the motor at low throttle. Electrical power that doesn’t go through the motor at low throttle is spent as heat through a speed-control resistor; continued heat generation is an issuer for the controller. The least stressful operation of a mechanical speed control is full throttle as the entire battery is put across the motor terminals with no resistor in between.
New Tamiya XM-01 Pro is being released.. that will be the modern advance 959 chassis. Can’t wait to get one
I don't think 959 is enough. These will get snapped up by eBay breakers. It needs to be a fully fledged re re so there is enough for everybody
I would love to see it re released. As is. No to a modern chassis. But yes to a road version. Mci decals to create the icon.
Had one back in the day when they first came out with a technigold motor ,first run it went through the biggest dog turd you’ve ever seen (true story) my mate had the celica
The claim in the video that Celica Gr.B front arms are incorrect on the 959 is wrong. Late production 959 kits came with Celica front arms and uprights.Proper research is mandatory before making bold claims.
Sadly I think 100% original or in box will be worth more money.
However I think that's the point when you have an rc car they are fun to modify and make it 100% your own.
So if the decals and certain parts not being original didn’t bother him, why stop there? All that money was spent and the end result still has non original parts. Surely someone has just scanned the original parts and dumped the files online for 3D printing. What happened to your MF01X 959 project? Edit: I hope they do re re it and fix the body height. The body is too high on the original kit. Also, I would probably buy the Carisma 959 before I’d buy the old Tamiya kit.
What works very good with re-assembly of screws in old plastics is to turn the screw the wrong way (loosening it) till you hear/feel it go into the existing threads in the plastics. You will hear it click and you feel it in the screwdriver as well. This avoids tapping new threads and risking pressure. You will be putting the screw back exactly as it was. I believe I learned this trick from Fran Blanche here on youtube. A very tiney bit of grease on the tip of the screw can help with the screw going in easier when it takes force (new screw hole in a vintage new part for example).
If tamiya rerelease this on the mfo1x chassis I wouldn’t be very happy 😔
Same for me.
I agree. Although technically that wouldn't be a re-release. It'd just be a new model....
Here is my opinion Gavin.
The 959 V2 should be re-released. For all who need parts. The Gr.B Celica can be released on the MF-01X chassis to satisfy the racers in us and the spirit of compotison.
Nice car, but I wouldn’t risk buying one given the faults & weaknesses. I think Tamiya will eventually re re it on the MF01 chassis.
I’d take it and the Celica Gr.B even on the MF01X. Still, a new 4 wheel drive chassis would be nice, especially one with a third differential to be inline with the original Celica Gr.B offering.
Tamiya needs to do a re re kit of the 959! Same chassis too Most off the weak parts will probably be better with the newer materials available today to make the trees. Great video! Give us a link to those rims, i built a 959 with the beetle chassis & body / decals from TBG thanks to you...
Re-release , there's a lot I would like to get .and do the pre-sale thing with a deposit . That would help cover their costs. Re-release 959, blazing blazer please.
Wow..I had to double take this video. Small world.
I recently purchased (Like two weeks ago) One of Sven's 959's off Ebay. Came with a good stash of parts too. Original. Even came with brand new unused rally tyres and wheels. The ones on the car look like they've been used extremely lightly too as it's hard to even tell by looking at them. No cracking. They had a good silicone spray bath to help soften them.
The car is not perfect but in good enough condition. I'm very happy with it. If it has Celica GRB parts I can't tell and I wouldn't be bothered..Not really a purist in that sense. If it looks like one I'm happy.
Has a few small cracks here and there but nothing crumbling. It's been used very lightly and the Technigold is absolutely mint. Barely run!!!
I'm currently doing a full rebuild and resto with ball bearings etc and did find a few small issues. Nothing that's a show stopper though and the body is a little rough. Even has lights that work. Original MSC and even a radio set.
It has aluminium arms that came with it. They'll be anodized black. It'll be my runner. Very light tarmac only.
A week or so after I bought that, I bought another off Ebay for just over 1000 euros. Newly built and never run. Body is near perfect, another very original car.
That will be my shelf queen. As I live in Australia shipping from Europe for the both of them wasn't that bad really. Well compared from the USA..Shipping from the US has skyrocketed.
Always wanted one of these 959's and now I have two. I almost bought a new in box kit but I'd be the kind of sod to build it.. So I didn't, that was $3k AUD
Thing is, parts are available... they are expensive so you'll need to have deep pockets. (And patience!!!) (Especially for what they are) but to me, It's much the same as buying a brand new X-Maxx or XRT and upgrading that with quality lipos and a Hobbywing Max 6 ESC. Which I have both..
I love my RC cars (have just over 30 atm) as this is one of my many hobbies. Love tinkering and sending (Not the Tamiyas) them hard!
This is what happens after you build an Avante 2011 RE-RE and get bitten by the Tamiya bug again after being away from Tamiya for 34 years lol.
Thank you Gavin and Thank You Sven!!
The yellow wheels are iconic to this car, and is how Tamiya originally intended it to be. And our fond childhood memories of the car, the yellow wheels are a big part of that.
So yes, your model should sit on those original yellow wheels in my opinion.
I would love to see your car fitted with the correct period wheels and have some more close up pictures and video for us to see! 👍
Please Tamiya do a rerelease. We have one from back in the day but restoring it is just financially not doable.
It should be re-released and no, they shouldn't change a thing! I remember when Tamiya brought it out, I stood for hours watching the promo video in Beatties in Bristol when I was getting spares for my Leopard A4 and Hornet, wishing that I had some great Aunt that I didn't know about leave me a large sum in her will so that I could own that piece of history! After all, it was the time of the likes of the Metro 6r4 before they went H.S.E. on the rally scene and started banning certain cars, like the afore mentioned Metro (which wasn't)!
OMG I want one so badly!
Technically, this is a 953, not a 959. The 953 is the modified (Paris-Dakar) rally version of the 959 road car. Also, the 953 had white rally wheels from the factory, not yellow. How would I find out if this ever get re-released?
tamiya will rerelease this car again it could be next year or in five years time but they eventually will.
Older video , but still a very interesting subject Gavin. I've just purchased a Toyota GrB ,which looked good on the images , but I'll see what it's actually like when I get it. On the subject of building a NIB kit - I have a NIB Amiya Lola Can Am to build up . Which ended up being not a lot different in price to finding a good one to restore , and factor in the replacement parts I would need to get the result I want. I did the same with the Tamiya 280zx kit for the same reasons.
I still have the original Toyota version of that kit. C2 and body arches only problem have with mine but then it's only ever been used for tarmac use. Still got the old futaba radio gear of the time for it
Dark Storm yeah I had that and the futaba. Sharp as hell on the thumbs mine was, had to file the sticks down. My mates dad made me some aluminium lower wishbones, as they broke all the time, removing the anti roll bar from the ball joints helped on the plastic ones as the ball can screw in further too, but the metal ones were perfect. The triple dif makes them drive so nicely!
@@yeknommonkey mine has cut out cola can strips over lower wishbones glued on since they cracked holds together well but looks ugly so when allowed to go back to work gonna mill all wishbones in alloy also have to rebuild and clean the technigold new tires and a few new screws ...never had a problem with my thumb sticks
So I’ve done the math with this,, if the 959 was re-released with market inflation from 1986 do not expect it any less than 860.00 US dollars. That is an expensive re-release but cheaper than the 3000 that a NIB is going for today
Love mine. Got it for my 18th birthday back in ‘87… I like those white wheels you got there!!
if tamiya, do a limited edition or collectable, they should do original, £350 to £450 is nothing really, modern day touring car have no value apart from carbon material which go for about £450 to £500! no shell or wheel for that matter, were as the 959 if you do a good job of it, is something you admire on the shelf or in the glass cabinet , i manage to get one a few years back for a low reasonable price, some broken part, but still work "i'v bagged and air sealed
I think they should make the older kits that arent in mass production where you could order them straight form tamiya. They are like nintendo leaving a lot of money on the table by not making all their older products available too.
I bought mine new in 1992 n.i.b. for abouth 289,-DM because the manual was missing. I wanted it for spareparts for a 959 i got as a runner. It broke in half after a while so i sold it and kept until today the other one in box, even got a manual for it. guess i keep it like it is because i don’t dare to paint the shell and run the car. Keep up your good channel, greetings from Tönisvorst
Awesome video as always. Personally, I would not touch one of these with a ma-hoo-sive bargepole. Much as I love the Tamiya 959 rally car, they are way too fragile and expensive. As for a re-re, part of me would like to see what Gavin suggested, but part of me would like to see the 959 on a more modern and robust chassis. Keep up the good work mate!!
Awesome, I went for the Celica version. I still have it 😁
I should sell mine. I built it and I bet I only ran it for an hour. The downside? I painted it red, and it has a broken left front suspension arm. I boxed it up but after numerous moves it got damaged somewhere along the way.
I have one that’s in need of parts. Every year or so I make another start then lose interest when I can’t find what I need. ☹️ Wheels... you need the originals! If Tamiya did a rerelease, I’d be first in the queue.
The kits are expensive but also very rare. This model is well worth it though. Even buying new and building it makes sense so you’re not trying to hunt down expensive and random parts that are either broken or missing. Your time is worth $. I have two excellent condition runners and neither have this manny issues besides the body and a-arms. Yes, I run them in the dirt too on occasion.
The plastics loose the oil based element over time which leads to malfunctions losing its rigidity, whenever I purchase new plastics weather in package or not I’ll soak them in in oil base for two days which has seemed to improve the reliability
Hi!!! First GREAT video!!! Thanks to you and Sven!! Yeah Tamiya should re-release it in unlimited amounts. Why not cash in on in let the older people like us who never had it or could afford have the fun with it and hopefully get a new generation into Tamiya magic! Again great video!!!
Cool, but Celica GrB is better ;) hehe
I disagree but I still want a Celica.
Great video, crazy money.
love the 959
There’s a NIB kit on eBay currently for 2k! Mental money!
The only good buyer's guides are from Ampro Engineering
Be good if you could find the sister car the Celica and restore one yourself , great vid as always👍
Folks, what does 're-re' mean in the R/C world? Reinstalling production or something? Ah, re-release perhaps? :-)
re-re__lease
I won the unopened NIB Porsche 959 on the Tamiya Legends comp. Don't ever plan on building it because I'll never do it justice!
You are a lucky man!
Build it.
You could always commission someone to build it for you.
I personally dont like the look of this car. But I understand, when you like it..... But, 3 of these? Sven you are crazy or it must be true love. I wish you good luck with finding your perfect 959.
It's when obsession overtakes logic.... it happens to even to the best of us. Good luck Sven!
Tell that guy I have a bridge I want to sell him.
I would love if Tamiya to re-release this car, especially the original body. Kamtec’s is alright. Will be getting the TBG next
Tbg is excellent
Not to run?
No you can’t due to them going to fragile
To think I stared at these on the shelf. 🤦♂️
The only restoration project I’ve done was a Tamiya F201 off eBay. At the time, TamiyaUSA still had stock on all the chassis parts, so it was straightforward and relatively inexpensive.
I would love an F201
those wheels would be worth less to a collector but worth more to an enthusiast
Tamiya legends done a real nice tribute car. But if someone could please explain why this car/ chassis is held in such high regard?
Extremely detail car with a lovely chassis that is a blast to drive. Granted the body is fragile as is the chassis. Also a bucket load of kids back in the day wanted it, but it was just too much money for them. It's a Tamiya icon kit.
original wheels, unless your going to go all non original
They re-released the xr3ii and I bought that for sensible money bnib. But these prices for cracked old bangers is insane ,remember all plastic degrades in time ,save your money they will bring it out again .
I hope so.
@@RCKickschannel I ran mine ,given to me I kid you not, on 8.4 volt went like a rocket . tried to get parts wheels and body gave up bought the xr3ii which is dreadful to be honest modern cars are so much better .
Couldnt imagine paying $1500 for that.
Prices for these have gone nuts and unfortunately due to age, you can’t really drive them anymore unless you swap out a load of parts for aftermarket options.
If the market conditions are right, Tamiya will release anything.
Must be at least 10yrs. ago, senior members at TamiyaClub all said Tamiya will never replace the 3speed. Is too complicated and costly...guess what, Mounty n Brusier came out. Blazer n Hilux will come out just like the amount of re-releases we see.
Fans of the 959 or the Toyota that want stronger parts, check our RCchannel in Taiwan for metal parts and is also available at RCmart in Hong Kong.
Great Video! I own an original Porsche 959 that I purchased back in 1986. My 4 wheel drive doesn't work anymore because the shaft attaching the front drive to the back drive broke in a collision. It It's been sitting in storage for years and I want to get this going again. Would you know where I could get this part? Ontario, Canada. Thanks.
Has to be original yellow wheels
Oct 2024 end rr
Have one. Very fragile car.
I totaly agree! I do think, the should do a ReRe! My brother has the original 959 and I have the Celica Gr.B! If there would be a ReRe, I would by one (or even more) in that minute!
But only on the original chassis!
I also did buy four of these cars. I was trying to save some money and also complete one car in mint condition. I did end up with three complete 959 cars. After buying so many of these cars on eBay I can tell you what parts tend to be broken and hard to get. The front A-arms are usually split. The rear A-arms are usually broken too. Also the rear body mounts are broken too. Nobody ever talks about the rear body mounts. The hardest part to get is an original body. The "Rothmans" is the most wanted but the "Racing" might be more rare. Think about that. The original wheels and tires are very hard to find as well. This body might be the hardest body to detail and get looking great. MCI does make both the body and they have links for the decals to get a nice reproduction body. You can buy aluminum front and rear A-arms and solve the weak A-arm problem. I did buy a lot of parts on eBay just to get my 959 looking right. I did have to use the original cockpit and all the other details to get the MCI body to look right. That was cheap on eBay when I was doing my build. Parts on eBay are now hard to get. I have listed some of the parts on eBay so that other people can also complete a Tamiya 959 project build. I have actually made some money doing that. I do plan to list even more parts for the Porsche 959 parts in the future. Thoughts ?
i put my finger in the collection probleme of 1 model because i needed spares for my 30year old one ... somehow endd up having 10 and counting ....
for the plastic degrading over time ; yellowing is usually due to storage conditions ; would it be built or in box. ( humidity is a strong factor too ; ive had 30year old tires crumple out the packaging and still run my very first set of tires to this day on accasions. as for the britleness; i run nitros; and on that part i must say run parts usually last longer than new old stock does. i end up soaking my plastics in wd40 for a day if i have to use a new part for a runner. all the old plastics that have had nitro gas and oil on them are the strongestb ut with flex ; impact resistant; where as the new old stock tends to explode like glass.
My Grb has so many broken parts that I've replaced ,only to break again sitting on a shelf doing nothing that I've given up trying to restore it ,its hopeless ,tamiya need to re re just all the black plastic parts to make restoring possible .
THIS is the re-release I have been waiting for !
One day I hope :)
I think the poor guy's gonna have a heart attack when he sees all his NOS parts develop cracks after a while. Hopefully he used the hot iron trick on the scrws. The thing with these cars is you shouldn't look for a perfect one. They're old, the're brittle, they have cracks here and there but they're still cool.
Guessing exposure to UV will damage old 80’s plastic
I had one. I bought it second hand in ‘95. It was then a few years old. It was properly build and not been driven. But the plastics where so fragile and cracked so easily and the body damaged when you only looked at it that it was a wreck in no time.
I just got one of these from my father in law, it just needs a few parts ! Never realised how much these things cost 😯 back in the loft now
Hi have both ,Toyota and 959 don’t think of how much they cost me to out together part by part but there nice to own even if not used
If your name is Sven then absolutely it can bankrupt you !
I fancy one I must say.
Great formative video. I prefer the original rallies wheels but those alloys look great on it as well.
I picked up a 959 on ebay about 8 yrs ago in the middle of the night with a bin of $55 USD! I damn near sprained a finger clicking that buy button. A rear arm and a couple of the chassis mating points were slightly cracked, but the body was in descent condition AND came with a dynatech 021R motor installed. To this day still can't believe I got that lucky.
You Sir did well!! Extremely well. 👍🏻👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I also ended up with 3 falcons mate ;)
original chassis for a possible Ree Ree- with all the faults, etc, etc, that's part of the character of the car
You mean like how they re-released the original Avante, with all its faults? With the same fragile suspension arms that broke after a single collision?
@@perfectsplit5515 yea, you got it , shell out that cash
@@stumpycatvm7115 Well, back in Christmas 1988, my parents were the ones who “shelled out that cash”. To spoil the person who is writing this comment now. I think it was bad karma that my Avante’s fragile suspension arm broke after a single collision. Karma for getting spoiled rotten during my adolescence.
I think it’s completely ridiculous for Tamiya to re-release the original Avante, instead of the Avante 2001, which probably corrected the issues with the original.
@@perfectsplit5515 its not Karma- you gotta avoid collisions, Its a blessing, to see and work on some of this old Tamiya stuff, I regularly strip down my Terra Scorcher, tinker maintenance, regrease, dirt removal, the last time was when my sister slammed it into the only pole within about 50 yards of anything, broke a suspension plastic piece, was able to replace it with a aftermarket aluminum one. Sorry your frustrated, I get that way also
@@stumpycatvm7115 Maybe some of these antique Tamiya cars are "blessings" - but the Avante is not one of them. That rear link in the lower front suspension arm was a ridiculous design. A threaded metal rod screwed into a plastic sleeve such that the depth of penetration was shorter than the diameter of the metal rod! This faulty design made that suspension arm extremely fragile. The irony is that there was so much metal content in that car.
I later worked actual job and saved up my own money to buy a JRX2 - which later became my most competitively successful RC race car. I think it was good karma - for earning my own money instead of getting spoiled by my wealthy doctor mother.
Someone on Canadian rc pickers and traders had 2 new ones for sale.
I just saw one on Ebay for nearly 3k in Australian pesos. Nice looking car, probably not a 'good' design but definitely a classic.
Good review. Doubt I'll ever have one, out of my price range.
Prices in general for RC stuff online are definitely way up atm. Be thankful you aren't dealing with this using a shite currency like mine.
The Uk pound is on a downward trajectory that’s for sure. This BREXIT is kicking the arse out of our import purchasing power. Food has rocketed the last year. COVID helped this issue as well obviously. I feel some inflation coming our way soon. 🙄
@@RCKickschannel ooooh bugger. Oh well, best of luck. Stay safe.
The original kit's yellow wheels for me. Purely because that's what was on the car that was photographed in the Tamiya catalogue id drool over back in 1987.
I do hope tamiya do a re-release exactly as the original was. A large part of the fun in building these kits is appreciating the incredible originality of each car but equal to that is the sense that you have travelled back in time during the build and then when running them. They don't need to be perfect in my opinion.
I think the yellow wheels make the car look more interesting so Incan see why tamiya added the splash of colour.
Always wanted one but I think I will sit tight for now
@gav - can you just put the original 959 body you have on the jimny chassis you built ? Just to see :)
I will finish that project soon I promise. 👍🏻 The 959 body fits perfectly and you would be able to tell
It will never be re-released. Confirmed years ago online in an rc forum from Tamiya. I recall the reason being that Tamiya no longer have the molds to do another production run.
Nothing it can't make again.
When you buy a Tamiya car you have to expect it to break. Most of their models arent built to handle heavy use.
original wheels every time
Tamiya should bring it out again as a re release so we have a chance to buy one, but also there would be spares to repair older ones 😀, they could even do it on a completely new chassis that is modern and tougher, definitely keep the same body looks wheels and decals.
If they do it on a new chassis there will be no spares.🤕
@@cmarshall4559 well there would but only for the new type chassis lol
love the channel can i ask what mic that is like to get one like it
It’s a powered shotgun mic. I can have a look for you in the morning as Incant remember off the top of my head.
I've had two of these, plastic parts, especially the rear A arms and the front A arms as well as other pieces cracked while they were sitting on the shelves plus they were undrivable. The Celica was a much better kit as it had a center diff and better designed prop shaft however, it suffered from the same A arm issues. They make aluminum A arms for them now which I guess is the fix for the A arms. The bodies were incredibly thin in parts as they were blow molded and the stickers were not that good as well. Overall, these were meant to be shelve queens from the onset.
As for the body shell, I've been watching a lot of Kevin Talbot and he reinforces the bodies with fibreglass tape and a thin layer of Shoo-Goo!
@@mattyp80 I've done at three of these bodies over the years and they're weakest around the rear tail lights, You have to be very careful taping them around that area as it's very easy to break through the polycarbonate. You can reinforce them AFTER they've been painted however, no one actually runs these cars so what's the point?
959 body on another chassis seems like a better idea.
If tamiya does that, it needs to be on something really special.
I have a minter sitting in the attic in original box only ever run once
Time to go and get it out and dust it down
@@RCKickschannel my son pulled it out just before lockdown its absolutely mint not a mark on it i cant believe how much they are going for. Ive still got the receipt aswell and spare wheels and tyres and a different motor
@@johnrambo9505 Will you sell it or are you going to display it? It's so nice, it's a shame to stick it back in the loft.
@@RCKickschannel im not gonna sell it i might put it on my sons shelf
Now the price just went up
I think it already did this last year.