The Tyco Fugitive is a radio controlled monster truck manufactured by Taiyo of Japan, and released by Tyco in the US, UK, and other markets worldwide.
We don't have much information on the Tyco Fugitive - there's so few of them around, very little evidence they ever existed! One comes up maybe once per year on eBay if that. The photos you see now took over a year to find, and they're the only ones we have. Thankfully we have members joining our Facebook Group who have some.
Features and Performance
What we do know is that the Fugitive is a genuine 9.6V 'Turbo' model, possibly the last to use it, and honestly we were surprised to see it on a car as late as 1997. If only they'd kept it up, instead of focusing on 4xAA/6.0 Jet cars throughout the 90s.
- Genuine 9.6V Turbo
- 2WD Drive with Full Function Radio Control
- 4 x Shock Absorbers
- Large Air-Filled Rubber Tires
- Weighted for Wheelie Action!
- Looks Great!
Especially given its high ride height, with those specs we'd expect this to be a hoot to drive, doing wheelies with ease, and rolling if you took a turn too fast. Nice!
The right idea, but too late
Released towards the end of Taiyo / Tyco's 'gimmick' phase, it's surprising that they went with such a simple 'monster truck' design, and not a remote controlled robot cheetah or something similarly crazy. It almost looks like Tyco finally got their senses back, and decided to manufacture an actual good RC car again, something they'd not done since the early 90s (with the exception of a few gems that were bigger than the sum of their parts).
Even more surprising, it actually appears to have been done properly!
- Real suspension, properly implemented
- Large Rebound-style rubber tires, not plastic molds
- Metal attachments for steering linkages
- Great Yellow/Black box design, one of the few great things they did in the mid-late 90s.
Availability and Collectability
We're doing our best to get hold of a Fugitive in box, but it's exceedingly difficult. Regardless, based on the specs and photos alone, this is obviously a fun car, and if you have the opportunity to get one, we'd say go for it.
