The Little Car Company has built a stellar reputation for taking classic cars and turning them into miniature EVs to be driven by adults and children alike. But what happens if you reserve the recipe and turn a toy car into something full-size?
That’s what the Tamiya Wild One Max is. This is an electric buggy with seating for two adults and an electric motor with a 14.4 kWh battery pack and a top speed of around 60 mph. It also happens to look exactly like the remote control buggy you raced around the park as a kid.
Oxfordshire-based The Little Car Company has teamed up with Tamiya, makers of R/C cars, to licence its iconic Wild One and turn it into a full-size electric off-roader.
The buggy was first announced a couple of years ago, and now TLCC has released some more details and 3D renders to get us excited all over again.
We now know deliveries of the first examples, called the Launch Edition and limited to just 100 units, will begin in early 2024 and they will arrive as fully-built cars with – get this – a “road pack” for use on the public streets of the UK and Europe. More specifically, the buggy meets L7e quadricycle regulations.
The highly-specced Launch Edition will have Cobra bucket seats with four-point harnesses, a weatherproof 5in digital screen with “marine specification” switchgear, Brembo disc brakes sat behind 14in Maxxis off-road tyres, dampers from Bilstein and springs from Eibach.
Larger than originally planned – one of many changes that came from discussions with early customers – the Wild One Max is 3.6m long and 1.9m wide.
Off-roading enthusiasts will be keen to know the ground clearance is 270mm, while the buggy has an approach angle of 34.1 degrees, a breakover angle of 28.4 degrees and a departure angle of 50.8 degrees. For context, a Land Rover Defender is broadly the same apart from its departure angle, which is limited to 40 degrees.
What all this means is, the Tamiya buggy has been designed to tackle all manner of steep, uneven and undulating terrain, as well as the public road.
The Little Car Company says the buggy will be powered by eight battery packs with a total capacity of 14.4 kWh and a top speed of approximately 60 mph – about the same as its fastest car yet, the Ferrari Testa Rossa J ‘Pacco Gara’. The Tamiya is expected to weigh around 500 kg.
Although we only have 3D renders to stare at for now, TLCC says the Wild One Max will be revealed in the metal this summer.
Ben Hedley, CEO of The Little Car Company, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be one step closer to revealing our Tamiya Wild One Max Launch Edition. Whilst there have undoubtedly been a few hurdles along the way with industry-wide supply issues, our team have done a tremendous job of bringing an R/C car to life at full size, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Hedley added: “By simplifying the design and reducing weight, this car is a perfect example of not requiring 500 horsepower to make an enjoyable drivers’ car.”
