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Blakbird's 57894 Honda City Turbo Build 3 years 5 months ago #62068

When I was making my original list of Tamiya re-releases I hoped to acquire, I had no interest in the Honda City Turbo. I can't say exactly why it didn't appeal to me, but it was certainly due in part to the cartoonish appearance. It wasn't until I saw one in person years later that I instantly reversed my opinion and had to have one.

Unless you happen to be from Japan, you've probably never seen a Honda City Turbo. I didn't even realize they were a real thing until I started researching them. The first version of the Honda City came out in 1981 with the turbo version following in 1982. Apparently it was common to modify these with wider wheel arches and race them in Japan, so the first Tamiya version, the 58039 Willy's Wheeler, appeared already in 1983. The title is based on a combination of sharing the driver with the 58035 Wild Willy and the fact that this model used the same wheelie chassis. It was 32 years later in 2015 that Willy's Wheeler was re-released as 58611, this time called Honda City Turbo and using the WR-02C chassis shared with the re-released Wild Willy 2. Apart from being a wheelie chassis, the new chassis has nothing in common with the original. Only the body and tires were carried forward into the re-release. The re-release was available for purchase at the time I was looking, but there also happened to be a sale on the 57894 Expert Built (RTR) version for a little over half the price of the kit. Even though I am generally not a fan of RTR's, this was just too good a deal to pass up so that's what I bought. I placated myself by immediately tearing it down and rebuilding it from scratch.

This is a rear wheel drive wheelie chassis with a torque tuned motor and simple friction dampers. Even in kit form, the gearbox is pre-built making this a very simple beginner's chassis. Despite the simplicity, it is very fun to drive. It has ample power to wheelie easily, and due to the wide stance and massive tires, it is incredibly stable. Of course the driver is on the "wrong" side, but that makes sense for a Japanese racing vehicle.

Here is the model as I received it. One thing you lose by buying the Expert Built version is the nice hand drawn artwork of the original box. The photo on the right shows the perfectly applied decals (much better than I could do) along with the simple 2 channel Tamiya radio which I'll be replacing.
The only thing unfinished on this XB model is that Willy is not painted. His face and helmet are complete, but his body is still just plain white as it came out of the mold. The receiver will be replaced but I'll keep the TEU-105BK speed controller. The model comes with a Torque Tuned motor.
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Blakbird's 57894 Honda City Turbo Build 3 years 5 months ago #62069

This model has the same chassis as the Wild Willy 2 which I already documented in detail, so I'll only cover an overview here. Please see the other page for more information.

Even though this was a Ready to Run model, I didn't want to deprive myself of the joy of building it so I completely re-kitted it by tearing it down to the individual parts as shown. There are a surprisingly small number of plastic parts and only a small bin of hardware.
The stock electronics include a Torque Tuned motor, a TEU-105BK ESC, a TSU-03 servo, and a TRU-08 2.4GHz receiver. I'll be retaining everything except the receiver. There is nothing wrong with it, but I use the same Spektrum radio system for all my models. I also took the opportunity to replace all the plastic and metal bushings with ball bearings.
The large spur gear on the left contains the differential. The gear farthest to the right is the spur for the motor. The right hand image shows the completed front and rear chassis assemblies. All of the gears are in the rear section. The front section holds the steering servo and battery tray.
The wheels are tires on this model are very unusual. The wheel on the left is for the front. The black cross pin insert is surprising for a 2WD car since no cross pin is needed. However, the hubs used on this model require them because these are the wheels from the original model from 1982 but they now attach differently. The rear wheels shown on the right are incredibly wide and deep so large offset spacers are required on the axles to install them. This model uses "friction dampers".
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Blakbird's 57894 Honda City Turbo Build 3 years 5 months ago #62070

These pictures compare the Honda City Turbo Chassis (on the right) to the Wild Willy chassis (on the left). They are the same apart from the wheelbase. The Turbo achieves its longer wheelbase by simply flipping the front lower suspension arms. The only other difference is the location of the body posts.
Here I've added some simple paint to Willy's track suit. The seat belts and gloves have been decorated as shown.
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Blakbird's 57894 Honda City Turbo Build 3 years 5 months ago #62071

Despite my original dislike of the Honda City Turbo body shell and my reticence to acquire one, I find myself really liking it now. It is a perfect stylistic match for the Montero Wheelie, and having a second home for the Willy driver is a bonus.
Here are a couple of pictures of the real Honda City Turbo. On the left is a stock Turbo II, and on the right is the racing "R" version with the wider wheel arches. The Tamiya model represents an even more drastically altered racing shell which it is hard to find any pictures of, though there is one in the introduction of the original 1983 manual.
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The following user(s) Liked this: stingray-63, 1972 LeMansGT Jim

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Blakbird's 57894 Honda City Turbo Build 3 years 5 months ago #62072

Lovely!

I'm in the same boat, I like it a lot better now than before.

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