I was into rc cars as a young teenager. My first car was a Marui Galaxy (I nearly bought a Frog or Grass Hopper though), a short time later I bought a box of cars second hand, containing a Celica LB Turbo, Renault Martini and Hornet. Later I managed to buy a Fox from the local supermarket of all places. I remember also having a Tamiya catalogue that I would read nearly ever day, and there were many cars I wanted but couldn't afford, mainly the Hotshot, Hi-Lux and the Sand Scorcher.
Late last year after chatting with a friend who was doing up his rc car, I decided to see what I had left. The Fox was still in fairly good condition, the Renault I had started to paint as a kid, lost interest and it was still in the same condition, just dusty. The hornet has nearly been bashed to death (broken chassis, the rear shock absorbers keep falling off and the lexan body has too many cracks to count). The worst was the Celica, having used it as a rocket car at uni, (there are some pics now up), it did not survive my experiments very well, but I did learn about differential thrust! Now that I appreciate these older cars, I want to restore them, and with some newer cars I have recently collected share the fun with my kids.
The current list is:
Old hornet (have replaced the chassis and it still runs well, needs a new body though)
A new hornet (just build and already showing signs of wear, but a good basic and fun car)
Fox (I took it out for a run, and it still goes well)
Renault Martini Mk22 (not running, but won't take much)
Celica Turbo LB Mk5 (this needs the most work, currently still need to source a new body, rear axle (mine is slightly bent) and a new set of tires.
Hotshot - bought to restore, have ordered missing parts and made my own stabiliser bars from 2 mm aluminium.
Nichimo Luminous - I got this with the hotshot, just seems to be missing rear wing.
HBX - cheap chinese imitation TL01, I originally bought it for the radio gear, but have since decided to let the kids learn on this one
Dirt Thrasher - received from a friend, its missing the engine mount though, so can't use it at the moment.
Once I've fixed the current lot, I intend to collect some more. I like the older pan chassis style cars like the Celica, but I'll probably also hunt down the ones I yearned for as a kid. I'm also tempted to repeat the rocket car experiment. Anyway thats it for now,
cheers
Johann
Must have been good fun at the time, but looking at it now, pure madness to destroy such a nice model 
