People
do a lot of strange things with their Volkswagen Beetles. While
to me it might seem strange to buy one in the first place, I'm talking
about modifying them in various ways. The most common mod I'm
aware of is making a beach buggy out of one. That sort of thing is
what drove the 58016
Sand Scorcher. It turns out the simple suspension on a Beetle is
pretty well suited to sand use. People have done even stranger
things though, things like putting a Beetle body on a monster truck
chassis. That's what got us the 58060
Monster Beetle. What I've never seen anyone do is this thing
called the Blitzer Beetle. It is rear wheel drive with four wheel
independent double wishbone suspension, nothing like a Beetle. It
has a massive track width with huge balloon tires, nothing like a
Beetle. So what is it supposed to be? My guess is it
supposed to be an excuse to put the iconic Beetle body on the aging
Falcon platform to boost sales. It worked. (It might also be
a stadium truck.)The 58056 Falcon came out in 1986. It was a 2WD buggy with a bathtub chassis, front wishbone suspension, and rear trailing arms. It sold very well as a beginner's kit, yet the chassis wasn't used for anything else until the 58093 Bear Hawk 5 years later which changed almost everything. Both front and rear suspension were new (trailing arms were gone), and the oil shocks were replaced by the dreaded "friction dampers". That didn't revive the platform, so why not change even more? From 1992-1996 Tamiya released the 58106 Stadium Blitzer, the 58122 Blitzer Beetle, and the 58181 Stadium Thunder. All three used the newest version of what was left of the Falcon chassis with long suspension arms and big wheels. Two of these stadium truck style vehicles used pickup truck style bodies, but the Blitzer Beetle brought back the hard body from the Sand Scorcher so everybody wanted one. In my opinion, the other two options look a bit strange because the track width is too large for the bodies.
All three of the stadium truck Falcons were re-released between 2010 and 2012 in the same order as the originals. I have the 58502 version of the Blitzer Beetle from 2011. From what I can tell, it is virtually unchanged from the original apart from the loss of the rear window. This is probably to make the body common with the Sand Scorcher which cannot use a rear window since that space provides body clip access.
Because of the wide stance and long travel suspension, this is a very stable vehicle. It can handle pavement, gravel, and grass with equal grace. It is quite quick for its size and even jumps pretty well. I really have no complaints. For the price, it performs very well. With those big tires, you don't even notice the lack of 4WD under most conditions.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
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