TOPIC:

Hello, New member so please bear with me. Great to see so many fans of Vintage Tamiya RC cars etc. I have been a fan for 30 odd years and now and slowly getting back in to it. Pre owned Frog, Hornet and Wild Willy which I still have and the reason I am on this forum. The attached pictures are of my well used Wild Willy that I recently discovered in the loft. I have thoroughly researched spare parts and discovered that they are pretty expensive to purchase. I am now looking to sell my Wild Willy on Ebay? and hopefully raise some cash to purchase the WW2 version. I still have the original controller for it which in my opinion are much better than the new ones with the wheel on them. If anyone could offer any advise to see if it's worth selling complete of for spare parts it would help to kick start my addiction to all things RC. Thanks in advance.

Welcome daljw!

I'd like to quote Lars on this one :

larbut wrote:

he, he, never sell your good memories. (unless you get a fortune... )

Don't think I would sell it if were mine...
Then again - other members might have a better idea how to appraise it.

Hi daljw and welcome here!!
I recommend you strip the Wild Willy down clean it re-assemble it and see how you feel about selling it afterwards. Depending on what parts you need a restoration does not always mean huge expense. Most body parts can be replaced with WW2 parts, the biggest problem will be tires if that needs replacing. The manual can be found in the data base here and post a list of required parts in the wanted section. Remember e Bay as well. Selling a good memory almost always haunt you afterwards.
Best regards,
Marius

IF you decide to sell (which you should not... ), there are a few things you should know/check:

• Your WW1 is the later LWB model, i.e. not one of tha rare fist ones (usually only matters for Tamiya geeks )
• The front plastic grille seem to damaged on 99% of all WW1's, do if your has a solid one, you are lucky (although the broken bumper indicates your not... )
• Tyres for the WW1 in good condition are very hard to find. So if yours are good (no cracks/dry rot) you should make a point of that.
• You can still get the driver figure Wild Willy new at a reasonable price (same parts as for the WW2)
• What are those wires running through the wheely bar?

-Lars

Welcome on board, daljw

I've had a good look at your Willy & I notice you're also missing the windscreen & alloy hinges, which is different from the WW2, and therefore also not cheap to replace.

As for selling it, I wouldn't - I'm sure you'll regret it - I'm sure it's worth more to you in terms of memories than it will be financially.

Just because it's old & it's Tamiya doesn't mean it's worth anything - LWB (long wheelbase) Willy's don't fetch a huge amount - probably

Hopefully this is the best way to reply to you all rather than individually?

Thank you all very much for your replies, you guy's really know your stuff. Will now have to make a decision which path I take. I purchased the Wild Willy as it is in the picture so the love is not there as if it was from new. I can't beleive how much these vintage RC cars go for now! A wise man would have bought two of everything and kept one in storage!
My Willy is rather battered (This will never get old) so I would probably be replacing 75% of the car so possibly not worth it.
Will probably go with Jonny's idea and break it up for spare parts and put them on Ebay. I would enjoy building a new one far more than refurbishing this one I think. If I go the refurb route I will keep you all updated with my progress and questions.
Will be scouring the boot sales for relics of the past this weekend. Thanks again.

Or you could keep it (i.e. put your Willy in a box) in the hope of finding another cheap one that's broken in different places...