Radio controlled cars first appeared some sixty years ago in the 1940s but the technology at the time was crude and, although cars could be run at speeds of up to 70 mph, it was only possible to run them round and round in a circle on a tether.
By the late 1960s however technology had advanced considerably and miniature solid state radio control systems became available. This meant that cars could be controlled from a control transmitter unit with remotely controlled servo-assisted steering, throttle and brakes. Radio controlled models could now be run on a race track rather than simply in a circle and the precision of control available meant that they could be run in much the same way as a real vehicle.
Despite the advances in technology during the 1960s, it was not until 1976 that the first commercially available cars were seen. Produced by Tamiya (a Japanese company with a reputation for supplying detailed plastic model kits), these early cars were very crude in mechanical terms and somewhat expensive but, nevertheless, they sold well.
Over the coming years Tamiya concentrated its attention on the mechanics of these early models and, by the mid 1980s,...