Hey everyone, got a weird question here.

A friend of mine has for years sworn up and down that he owned a Tamiya Grasshopper as a kid in the 80s that was controlled by wire, rather than radio. I had a few cars like that myself, but they were all toy grade, nothing like a Grasshopper. I'd often heard these referred to as "remote control" rather than "radio control" though I've also heard that term applied to radio as well, since technicaly it is still being operated "remotely."

I'm not ready to call him a liar, but I have my doubts about his memory. Childhood memories are funny like that. But he swears it really was a Grasshopper, and the controller was just like a regular two stick of that era, only with a wire instead of an antenna. He lamented having to chase it around, while his older brother could stand in one place and drive his Hornet anywhere.

We've both tried and failed at finding some sort of evidence that such a setup existed. Not necessarily on just the Grasshopper, but some sort of wired control compatible with a hobby grade RC. Does anyone around then remember anyone making some kind of "trainer" radio with a cord like that?