History

The Black version of the Porsche Turbo RSR Type 934 was made by Tamiya to celebrate 100.000 units sold of the regular Porsche 934 (model number 58001).

The 58001 Porsche 934 was a huge success for Tamiya when it started selling early December 1976 and only one year later the kit had sold 100.000 units, and Tamiya decided to celebrate it by making their first ever Limited Edition RC model, the Black Porsche 934.

The Black version kit did not receive any kit number (like RA-1201 aka. 58001) and the general consensus is that the Black version was not distributed through normal channels, but only used as a give-away and for special promotion towards special customers, racers and other Tamiya affiliates.

 

Rarity

As usual with Tamiya, the production numbers for the Black Porsche 934 is not known to the public. Tamiya never release production numbers, I assume for keeping the competition in the dark.

The Black Porsche 934 is by collectors and Tamiya enthusiasts deemed the rarest kit ever from Tamiya. Some will claim there are other just as rare kits around, but I dare say that the combination of age and restricted numbers available make this kit the definite Tamiya collector's item.

There is not much discussion on the net about this model. This is probably because very few actually own one, and those that own one will not necessarily go public about it. Some of the big Toy/Tamiya collectors have such huge collections (1000 + kits...) that they prefer to stay as anonymous as possible. It's perfectly understandable as the publicity around owning toys for huge amounts of money is maybe not what most are looking for.

I have been looking around and the estimates for remaining NIB kits of this Black 934 are typically around 20 kits. (!) Some say there are more, some say there are fewer. There are also a number of built models in varying condition. I have seen models ranging from New Built to near wrecks. There is possibly somewhere around 20-30 such built models around.

One reason for the very few surviving models still is that Tamiya did not produce spare parts for the Black version. As described further down, the Black version differs in almost all parts from the normal 934, so damaged Black 934 parts could not be replaced with correct parts. Many models must have been binned because of the missing spare parts, while others might have parts replaced with "normal" 934 parts.

black934_1

 

Price

It is hard to put a price/value on the Black Porsche 934. Usually these kits or models are sold between collectors without the price being public. I have, however, gathered the following information:

  • In April 2003 an Ebay auction for a NIB kit ended at USD 3650,- but the reserve was not met and the kit not sold.
  • April 9th 2005, a NIB kit was sold on Yahoo Japan for 318.000 Yen (about USD 4300 in today's exchange rates)
  • In September 2007 a NIB kit located in US was listed and received 23 bids with the highest being USD 5000,-. Again the reserve was not met.
  • One NIB kit changed hands between collectors in 2011 for USD 5000,-. The box was not perfect and the kit eventually proved to be missing some parts.
  • Also, a NIB kit is known to have changed hands between collectors for USD 4500, only a few years back.

 

    So, can we make any conclusions for price based on this? It seems like the price range for NIB kits has for some time been 4500 to 5000 USD. My example falls nicely into this range also. But, it is very important to remember that it is a relative small market for these kits, and prices may vary a lot based on the interest of the buyer.

    I have not been able to find any price information for built Black 934's. I would assume they are from USD 2000 and up maybe touching USD 3000 for new built models with box and paperwork (if there are any..)

    Contents

    If you are looking to buy a NIB Black Porsche, this is what you get for your money:

    First, a quite small Black cardboard box. (much smaller than the later 84057 GT-01 Tamtech Black Porsche's box) The box has top opening and contains a few layers of content.

    black934_1

    First, inside the box, you will notice the two cardboard pieces where there is room to write the date (of purchase?). Then below these you will usually find the special carrying bag. This bag fits the outside of the cardboard box and was meant to be used as for carrying the built model, inside the box. The bag is made of canvas material where the long sides are black with printed "Black Porsche 934" on two sides, and the short sides are white with the Tamiya logo.

    black934_1

    Below the bag, you will usually find the manual, decals and other paperwork. Note that the manual is a bit wider than the internal of the box, so the manual is likely to have a bend. Or, the manual has been wedged between the outer cardboard and the internals, giving enough room to not bend it.

    black934_1 black934_14

    The next level, drilling down into the box, consists of the "blister box" and the "parts box". The blisters form the lid of the "blister box" and contain the motor, gearbox, switch plate, the gears, axles and a few chassis parts. Inside the "blister box" are the A, D, W and Q-parts together with the front bumper (packed with the A-parts) and glass fiber cloth for reinforcing the body.

    black934_12 black934_13

    The "parts box" is greenish and has "Black Porsche 943" printed in white on top. Inside are the screw bags, tires, rims and other bits and bobs.

    black934_10 black934_11

    Furthest down in the box is the black, red and yellow "body box". This contains the front and main body, along with three plastic bags of sprues and the battery boxes, and finally the main chassis plate suck to the bottom of the "body box" alongside the plastic tube antenna holder. You will also notice that the "body box", for some reason, does not fill up the length of the kit box. There is 4-5 cm spare in one end. This is probably due to the "body box" being taken directly from the standard 58001 kit.

    black934_1 black934_9 black934_1 black934_8

     

    Decals

    The decals are usually tucked inside the manual for protection. The Black Porsche decals actually seem to have a typographical error on them. My NIB came with the original "gold" decal sheet, and then a small sheet with two more decals.

    black934_16

    The two extra ones are entirely in gold (background) and reads "Lockhead". The main sheet has two, similar sized, decals (yellow print on black) reading "Lockeed" (missing the "h"). I am guessing, but I believe the main sheet must have misspelled "Lockeed" decals, which was corrected with the additional gold "Lockheed" decals. The manual shows the "Lockheed" decals as the ones to put on.

     

    Manual

    The manual is in Japanese and unique for the Black version. The Japanese text indicates that the Black Porsche was only intended for the Japanese market. The manual is printed in color (blue and black) like most of the early Tamiya manuals.

    black934_15 black934_17

     

    Compared to the 58001

    Basically, the Black 934 is the same model as the 58001 934. The difference is of course the colour and some other details.

    Chassis

    All the aluminum plates for the chassis are all anodized black. The parts themselves are the same as for the 58001. Also wheels and tyres are the same as for the 58001. The Black Porsche comes with both the D-cell battery boxes (with blue ribbon), and the adapter to mount the Tamiya 6V rechargeable battery.

    The motor included in the Black kit is the RS380, with white endbell. The normal 58001 934 came with the weaker and slightly shorter RS360 motor. Also the MSC for the Black 934 is different from the original. The Black has the part no. 50010 MSC which was first used in the 58002 Porsche 935.

    The front bumper of the Black 934 is from the 58002 Porsche 935 kit and has "Porsche 935 - Made in Japan" marked on it.

    Body

    The body set is, well, black... The only parts not black are the windows together with the E-, T- and U-parts (red/yellow glass and chrome). As for the 58001 943, the body parts are taken from the 1/12 scale model kit, which means there are parts on the sprues that are not needed for the RC model.

    The main body part has no markings on it, like the green 58001. The front main part is marked with "Made in Japan" inside the front bumper, also like the 58001.

     

    Conclusion

    In my perspective a very collectable Tamiya Kit, both for the Tamiya enthusiast and for the general Toy collector.

    The kit itself is of very high standard, just like Tamiya kits are. The molding, the parts and the box/manual are all right up there showing Tamiya quality. One might think that a Limited Edition production would get less attention than normal kits, but in this case not.

     

    The following are pictures of a restored original Black Porsche, restored and owned by late TC member Rad22Rad

    Pictures also by Radek.

     

    black1 black1 black1 black1 black1 black1

     

     

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    Written by Larbut