This Taiyo Grand Prix F-1 was a radio controlled car manufactured by Taiyo Toys Co. Ltd. (Japan), and released in Japan, Europe, and other countries worldwide in 1987.
Note: There are several versions of 'Grand Prix F-1' and related cars, however the red car shown here is the most common. Less common is the black version of this same car, and even rarer are some 'Marlboro Indycar' and other varieties, so I've created a separate page especially for those here: link to Rare Taiyo Grand Prix F-1.
Performance
It may look similar to the Taiyo Super Fight F-1 (Single Motor), however peaking underneath at the chassis and it's clearly a completely different design, much simpler than most Taiyo race cars, and no doubt cheaper and easier to produce.
Despite this, with 8xAA batteries squeezed into its small frame, it will provide that 9.6V 'Turbo' performance in a small chassis, and combining that with slick tires makes for a lot of fun, especially indoors where it will easily do 360 donuts on a smooth surface.
And with a top speed of 25km/h out of its small chassis, it's actually pretty cool!
Passive not Active Steering
As with several other models of this era, whether the model you get has passive or active steering isn't known, though we suspect the majority are passive steering - it will only turn while its moving forward/backwards which does limit the precision when driving.
Overall, an interesting model, worth having in your collection, though grab the Super Fight F1 (Single, and Dual motor) versions first in our opinion!
Tire Warning
A large proportion of slick tires on Taiyo and Tyco models have been found to suffer from Rubber Rot after 30+ years of UV exposure. This is where the bonds of the rubber which hold it together begin to degrade until these black tires become a kind of putty or dough.
Look closely at the tires in our gallery - if you can notice the rough/patchy surface, that's a sure sign that the tire is degraded beyond return.
Recommendation
One of the earliest 9.6V Taiyo R/C models, the Grand Prix is a great model that is well detailed and heaps of fun to drive on a smooth flat surface. Sadly due to the issues with Taiyo's tire supplier and material degradation from UV it's going to be hard to find one that's not severely damaged. Those that have managed to survive are likely to be worth significantly more than other similar models.
