The
Nissan R91CP is my second car using the Tamiya Group C chassis after
the Ferrari F40. This was originally released as set 58109
in 1992, the same year the real car won the 24 hour Daytona race.
There were 9 models released on the Group C chassis in the '90s, then 4
of them were re-released in 2005 and 2006 with painted bodies.
This was not one of them. The 84264 limited edition version of this kit, which is the one I have, came out in 2012 and did not come with a painted body.An example Group C chassis is shown at the right. The chassis was identical between all the different versions except that the colored parts varied in color. The original R91CP used blue parts but the re-release uses black. This chassis has minimal front suspension with just a tiny spring on the kingpin. The rear axle floats on a pivot with a single CVA shock for support. The motor pinion drives the spur on the rear axle directly, and there is an open differential inside the spur. This car has very low ground clearance and uses foam tires. In both cases this makes driving it up and down my road impractical. The tires wear very quickly and there isn't enough suspension to soak up the bumps on the rough surface. The body also overhangs the chassis greatly on all sides and has no support, so even a mild bump can bottom out the car and crack the body. It is therefore best on a carefully groomed track or indoors on carpet. It is fast though. The kit comes with a Sport Tuned motor and those wide rear tires have plenty of traction so this thing really goes.
As I've already mentioned on my F40 page, this is a fun but temperamental chassis really only suitable for prepared surfaces. My main interest in this particular model was the body which looks incredible. In fact, even though this was not sold with a painted body I managed to find one that someone had already painted and used that in lieu of trying to paint it myself.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Final Photos |