The original 58050
Wild One came out in 1985, only one year after the 58046 Fast Attack
Vehicle which uses the same chassis. This time instead of a
military theme with a hard shell, they went with a sand rail style buggy
using a polycarbonate shell. The drivetrain is mostly the same
except for the replacement of the little plastic pogo stick shocks with
aluminum oil dampers. The tires also went from realistic military
tread to spikes in back and slots up front. The Wild One was
re-released as set 58525
in 2012 and I was lucky enough to find one for a good price. It
has very few changes from the original other than an improved shock
assembly method and stronger axles.This is a rear wheel drive, desert style buggy with a geared differential and four wheel independent suspension. The suspension is not double wishbone, instead all four corners have trailing arms. The shocks are nice oil filled aluminum units and the body, driver, and roof are polycarbonate.
This is a very quick and stable vehicle that is a blast to drive. It isn't going to winning any races, but that was never the point. I did eventually put the mildly upgraded Torque Tuned motor into it for just a bit more speed. This is considered a classic buggy by most collectors and I can see why. With the addition of a scale engine in the back, it really looks like a real desert buggy. It is probably the last of the Tamiya buggies to look like any real scale vehicle.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Upgrades! |
 Page 3: Final Photos |