The most asked for RC kit from the 80's is back!

The Tamiya Monster Beetle was a incredibly popular, large, chunky RC car produced during the late 1980's and is held in high regard amongst fans who grew up during the era.

Coming back as close to the original as possible, the Beetle is once again mounted on a jacked-up Frog chassis, with gold wheels and spiked lug tyres.

We understand the only real change (ignoring the mechanical speed controller which is never included in modern reissues because the electronic speed controllers are so much better, and meet current safety regs) is to some stickers and to the rear drive shafts, where the troublesome "hex end" design has been replaced with the improved "dog bone" design developed when Tamiya reissued the Frog around ten years ago. All of course hidden in rubber bellows, so you'd never know anyway.

Options Explained

Bearing Upgrade: These make the car run more smoothly and are easily installed during assembly. If there is no option for these shown, then the kit already includes the bearing upgrade as standard. These are entirely optional.

Radio System: There is a choice of a TWIN STICK (Traditional) radio or a Steering Wheel (Modern) radio. Both radios operate on 2.4Ghz and use the new Crystal-Free technology, so you can run multiple cars at the same time without any interference. The steering wheel radio is included in the price, a traditional twin stick radio just a few pounds more.

ESC: This is the connection between the radio system and the motor. You have two choices - the Tamiya Hobbywing unit which will take much more powerful motors, or the Mstyle (from Tamiya Denmark distributor HPI Europe) which will take many upgrades still, is waterproof and a very reliable unit. The Hobbywing unit has a very good reputation with modellers and has a higher capacity allowing faster motors to be used at a later date. Both units feature electronic brakes. Which ESC to choose is purely personal preference as both are equally suitable for this kit.

Battery: The higher the number, the longer the run time. The 1800 battery is included in the price.

Charger: You can choose to upgrade the charger - USB charger takes around 4 hours depending on the battery, Mid Speed around 2 to 3 hours, Etronix Fast Charger can be as quick as 60 minutes in the house or 30 minutes in the car and Ansmann Delta also around 30 minutes (and also works in the car). The basic USB charger is included in the price.

If you would like more options, would like to choose a package without one of the above components, or wish to purchase the car kit on it's own, please search our site for the CUSTOM option of this kit - easily found by searching for the kit name or number followed by CUSTOM.