The Wild One Max Buggy is a toy car come to life
The Wild One Max, battery-powered and weighing 500kg, is an adult-sized version of a toy car. With a top speed of 80km/h, it has just gone on sale in the UK.
It’s a cliche to say electric vehicles come in all shapes and sizes these days, from high-performance sports sedans like the Audi RS e-tron GT to compact urban runabouts like the BYD Dolphin (yes, that’s a real car name).
But now they also come in the shape and size of your favourite 1980s radio-controlled toy car.
Yes, you can now buy yourself a full-size version of the Tamiya Wild One, the must-have toy that any kid growing up in the 1980s desperately wanted.
Built by the appropriately named Little Car Company, the Wild One Max Buggy is an adult-sized version of the toy car and it’s just gone on sale in the UK.
Just like the original 1:10 scale version, this bigger version of the Wild One is battery-powered, but you won’t be getting these batteries from your local hobby shop.
Instead, it has eight removable battery packs that provide 14.4kWh for a driving range of up to 200km on road, or 160km off-road.
The little car is propelled by a 48-volt powertrain, which provides 26kW of power and 120Nm of torque.
The Little Car Company claims it’s enough for a top speed of 80km/h, which is a lot quicker than the toy version.
The Wild One Max is 3.6m long and 1.9m wide and weighs just 500kg, which is super light, unless you compare it to the original version.
And just like the toy, this Buggy is designed for off-road use, with 270mm of ground clearance, an approach angle of 34.1 degrees, a 28.4 degree breakover angle and a departure angle of 50.8 degrees.
It’s got impressive hardware, too.
The chassis is a steel spaceframe and it’s fitted with Bilstein dampers and Eibach coil springs.
Remarkably, despite being a full-size version of a toy car, this Wild One will be legal to drive on the road, at least in the UK and Europe, because it’s been designed to comply with Quadricycle Regulations in those jurisdictions.
In other countries, like Australia, the car is still available to buy but can only be used on private roads for now.
The Little Car Company is offering this toy-come-to-life for £35,000, which is approximately $68,000 at the current exchange rate – or quite a lot for a toy.
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