Tamiya TOYOTA 4X4 PICKUP MOUNTAINEER

The End of an Era?

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In the R/C-guidebook of 1992 the Mountaineer appeared for the first time, in 1993 in the catalogue too, as successor to the Bruiser. With a new completely open bed and a nice chromed roll bar. that helped this truck making a real cool impression. Admittedly it had only a short career. In 1996 it already had vanished from the catalogue. Tamiya had tried to reduce production costs by simplifying single components of this kit. But finally the marketing strategists had decided against this model series. To the regrets of many model enthusiasts

Left picture: The Tamiya Mountaineer with and without body.

For an enlarged view, please click on the picture.

The chassis was nearly identical to the chassis of the Bruiser. Differences could be found at the wheels, the 4-piece samples of the Bruiser had been replaced with single-piece wheels. Another change had been made at the battery bay. The variable type of the Bruiser, that could be modified to keep several types of batteries, had been relaced by a more simple type. Now there was only a battery holder for 6-cell racing packs. The fact, that the model market has caught on this type of battery, as well as the continuously increasing capacities of the single cells, forced the use of the large Tamiya battery, that has been produced since the Hilux was on the market, inthe background. The large 6V 4Ah Accu has only been produced by Tamiya. Since Tamiya never raised the voltage of this pack, like many hobby drivers did by adding a single cell, it had get unattractive for the performance hungry market.

The remaining differences took place at the body. The sleeper-cab of the Bruiser had been removed, now there was an open fullsize bed instead, that had got more across with the modelers, since it made the body looking more sleek. Of course the Mountaineer had never been better or worse in performance than the Bruiser. But for its enthusiasts it never played any role. They loved this model inspite of its weakpoints.

Right picture: The Tamiya Mountaineer with and without body.

For an enlarged view, please click on the picture.

Like it is usual with Tamiya, availability of spare parts has dropped significantly after the end of production in Europe and the U.S. It seems like the availability of parts has been endured longer in Japan itself. Tamiyas proceeding regarding the supply with spare parts has always been faced with incomprehension and criticism by local modelers in Europe and America. Contitions seem to be different in Japan, where Tamiya cares a lot more about the demand of the local model enthusiasts, and re-releases some parts on request. And it is left in obcsurity why this can't be practiced on the much larger market in the rest of the world.

The era of the 3-Speeders of Tamiya seems to have been ended with the Mountaineers end of pro-duction. On the message board of the RCMT (Radio Controlled Monster Trucks) has formed somekind of comunity, that don't want to accept this status, and therefor started a petition to convince Tamiya to a re-release. At this point Tamiya did not show any reaction to this step. But maybe this site can help a little bit with informing more enthusiasts about this petition, so more of them can proclaim their opinion.

Left picture: Mountaineer from the 1994 Tamiya catalogue .

There has turned up a small number of small-line-producers, who have improved or redesigned several parts. From custom wheels via steering rods to special transmissions, there has been done a lot. Partly for reasons of functionality, or to get a more individual style out of the single car. The lovers of these models always have new ideas to make the models performing better or make them a more unique creation.

Finally one may notice, that with the production end of this line, a model with an unique character has vanished from the market. There is no comparable model arround this days. As long as Tamiya will not decide for a re-release, like they did with the Tyrrell P34 or the XR 311, there won't be another car like that.