The Frog was not what I expected. The 58041
Frog was, in a way, the first modern buggy. This may seem like a
strange thing to say for a buggy released in 1983, so I'll have to
clarify. All of the early Tamiya buggies were scale models of real
vehicles. The ORV (Off Road Vehicle) chassis which was introduced in
1983 followed the same pattern. The first two vehicles to use it
were a Subaru Brat and a Lancia 037. But then The Frog came along
and it didn't really look like anything. It had big back tires and
narrow front tires like plenty of real beach buggies, but the long thin
chassis, huge wing, and massive front bumper didn't look like anything
from the real world. These days, you would just say it looks like
an R/C buggy because that's the basic concept that has been used ever
since. Tamiya would release dozens more buggies in the upcoming
years based purely on their own imagination, and often using animal
names. The wing would usually feature some clever slogan (e.g. No
Guts No Glory) and the driver would have a made up name as well (e.g.
Glenn Morris). These names would get more silly over the
years. It would take until 2005 for The Frog to be re-released as 58354.
It is still basically the same as the original. Other than the
use of modern electronics, the main change is in the stickers which have
lost the logos of real racing companies and have been replaced with
Tamiya imaginary versions.The ORV chassis is pretty simple, but also pretty unusual. The front suspension is undamped but uses double wishbones. The rear uses independent trailing arms with aluminum, oil filled shocks. This is a 2WD buggy so all the weight is in the back including the simple gearbox and 540 motor. The chassis is a 2-piece space frame that is unique to the ORV. The chassis can't exactly be claimed to perform well, but given the age and simplicity I was pleasantly surprised. It actually does a really good job on mild terrain and small jumps.
I began by saying the Frog was not I expected. For some reason I expected an entry level, bottom of the barrel starter set. I was probably thinking of The Grasshopper. The Frog is not that. The oil shocks and reasonably sophisticated suspension are much better than the Grasshopper so I'm glad to have been so wrong.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Final Photos |