This Taiyo Porsche 935 Turbo (Global) is a radio controlled car which we believe was released into English speaking markets in 1979. As a Made in Singapore variant, typically Taiyo would use this for international markets, while models made for their home market in Japan were of course Made in Japan, such as the original Taiyo Porsche 935 Turbo (Japan).
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.
Features and Performance
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.
Other variants were packaged differently, perhaps as the product grew older, and it was necessary to reduce cost.
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