The Taiyo Pick-Up Truck is an early radio controlled car manufactured by Taiyo Toys (Japan), and released onto the Japanese, European, and other markets worldwide in 1980.
Features
Fashioned on a Chevy Pick-Up Truck, this Radio-Racer brand of RC car was defined by its core feature: Two 'Operating Top Lights'.
As you can see from the photo, they were'nt very bright, but good enough for a toy, and no doubt for kid, driving around at night-time with the light was pretty exciting.
Design and Performance
In 1980, Taiyo was still learning how to best construct a radio controlled car for performance and efficiency. This chassis is what we'd call a 3xAA+9V, as the car itself took three AA batteries to power the motors, plus a 9V Battery also within the vehicle to power the radio receiver. This is in addition to another 9V for the controller!
The body of the car was made of thin metal, owing to Taiyo's background as a tin toy manufacturer, although the base was constructed with plastic.
The steering system did not turn at the wheel hub, but instead both front wheels were mounted on a single solid plate, and the whole thing rotated to make the wheels turn, giving it a very poor turning circle.
This combination of heavy batteries, metal body, and poor steering make the car slow and cumbersome to drive, but for tech in 1980 it wasn't bad, and made R/C more accessible to the average consumer who couldn't afford expensive build-it-yourself Tamiya's.
Collectability and Availability
These 1980s trucks are going on 44 years old now, true vintage collectors items, however they will have been too early for the usual audience of kids brought up in the mid 80s to late 90s. Sadly I just don't see any of these appearing online in the last few years - either all the collectors have snapped them up already, or there just isn't that many out there. A pity, it's such a quintessential American early 80s truck, and a great example of early radio control toys.
