This Taiyo Porsche 935 Turbo (Japan) is a radio controlled car which we believe was released into the Japanese market in 1979. While it contains no Japanese text on the packaging, typically Made in Japan models like this were reserved for local sales, and those Made in Singapore, such as Taiyo Porsche 935 Turbo (Global), were for international distribution.
It is based on the real Porsche 935 Turbo Martini sponsored race cars from 1977 to 1979, however I’ve not been able to identify the exact one, with the below being the closest representation.
As a very early pre-80s radio control car, it’s a very simple design and the ‘Turbo’ is simply the name of the car, not yet Taiyo’s famous 9.6V Turbo.
Underneath we can see a very rudimentary design, what we call the “2xAA+9V” chassis due to it using 2xAA for drive and a 9V also inside the car, presumably to run the radio transmitter. You’d need another 9V for the controller.
The front wheels are fixed to a center pinion, which rotates in the center to provide steering, though the turning circle and response will have been poor.
Really we are seeing an evolution of Taiyo’s tin cars, their first learning steps into the world of radio control.
Even at this early stage, we can see the beginnings of the traditional Taiyo / Tyco RC controller, which would evolve further and soon be in the hands of millions of children worldwide with the launch of the 1986 Taiyo Jet Hopper just 7 years later.
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