For today's collectors, the Tamiya SRB series (SRB: Special Racing Buggy) represents the ultimate in scale off-road electric rc cars, and it's very easy to see why.

The series only consisted of four vehicles, the Rough Rider, Sand Scorcher, Ford Ranger XLT and Super Champ, all released within 3 years of each other.
The Rough Rider was the first release in November 1979, quickly followed by the Sand Scorcher just a month later. Although the Rough Rider was first, it's actually the Sand Scorcher that is regarded as the biggest prize for vintage rc collectors - and current prices of the cars show it!

The release of the Rough Rider, and then the Sand Scorcher, in 1979 made rc history because they were the first model cars to be built specifically for off road racing. But what made them so much ahead of their time, and a big reason why they are so collectible today, is the sheer quality of the components.

All four SRBs shared the same basic chassis and running gear - a fibreglass chassis plate with aluminium components for suspension, steering, motor/gear casing etc. The most impressive feature was the off-road suspension featuring 4 oil-filled dampers, rear swing arms, hairpin springs and torsion bars - a full set-up that closely resembled the suspension of the real-size Funco SS1 and VW Baja Bug dune buggies that the Rough Rider and Sand Scorcher were modeled from, respectively. On that note, even the Tamiya SRB decalling reflected the real life racing sponsorship.

The radio gear (Tamiya recommended the Acoms 2 channel system) and motor battery pack for the SRB series were housed in a clear plastic watertight box. This was another first, as it meant that the cars could be driven through water without any danger to the electronics. Even the radio gear on/off switch had a rubber cover - yep, Tamiya had thought of everything!

Although this chassis and running gear set-up is the same for the 4 cars of the SRB series, the exception is the Super Champ buggy.

Released in 1982, the last SRB release, the Super Champ was aimed at the next level up - club racing. The most obvious change was to the rear suspension; Tamiya equipped the Super Champ with an oil-filled mono-shock unit which could take more of a beating. The oil bottle sat over the motor casing and kept the unit topped up, thus negating the need for regular oil-level inspection!
Also on the Super Champ, the plastic radio box was replaced with a non-watertight quick release tray, and knobbly tyres were standard.

For all 4 cars of the Tamiya SRB series, the stock motor was the tough Mabuchi 540. There were two battery pack options available, the 6V flat pack or the 7.2V humpback pack (recommended), with the extra 1.2V cell sitting on top of the other 5.
The 540 motor did give adequate performance with the 7.2V pack, but by today's standards the SRBs were noticeably sluggish - the sheer weight of the cars, because of the amount of metal in them, slowed them down considerably. But the reassuring trade-off was their toughness and durability, it took a great deal of disrespectful handling to break an SRB!