TOPIC:

Apparently the box wrench is an HPI one - I just spotted an identical one on eBay

Nice buggy, looks like you got a bargain there, I have a bit of a 'want' for a mardave buggy of soem kind, shame they seem pretty rare these days.

Not sure what it is about them, guess the old school design and simpleness of them appeals a bit, there nowhere near as pretty as tamiyas but there is something i like about them, i guess the same reason i like there ministocks etc (they appeal as they look a lot like the cars in the "Manual of Electric Radio Control Cars" by Bill Burkinshaw a book i got as a kid from a library sale and read so much, despite it being seriously out of date even then...)

"Bargain" is relative - 50 GBP is very much the upper end of the price range for a used Cobra or Meteor, but compared to other brands of 2WD buggy, it was in far superior condition to what that amount would usually buy, like a rough Hornet, Grasshopper, Frog, a very rough vintage Holiday Buggy, or a new build Striker ... although I do feel prices are beginning to appreciate a little.

"Rare", again it depends what you compare it to - I'd say there's one Meteor a week on eBay, Cobras appear once a fortnight, but Apaches (the forerunner to the Meteor) seem to appear at rhe rate of one every 3 months; 1/12 saloons, minis & bangers are available new.

The Cobra Evo will supposedly be available new soon


I also have a copy of "Manual of Electric Radio Control Cars" (mine's a 1987 re-re of the 1983 original ), for a more up to date read you could try "The Buggy Book" (1985), or the "Buggy Racing Handbook (1986) by the same author

Yeah i was comparing the price and relative rarity to similar age tamiyas i guess, thers a couple of cobras on ebay at the moment actually ... no money for them at the moment though....

thanks will try and hunt down a copy of those