| The beginnings of the remote control car
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| | gas-powered cars which were sold in the
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| can be traced back to the 1940s, when
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| | early 1970s.
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| small, nitromethane-powered engines first
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| | During that period, several commercial
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| entered the market. At the time, the only
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| | products were manufactured by small firms
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| way to control an engine-powered model
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| | in the United States. Most of these
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| car was with a tether. While these cars
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| | companies started out as slot car
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| were fast, they merely ran in a circle
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| | companies, then moved into the remote
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| from the tether. In the late 1960s, the
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| | control car field, which was becoming
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| first miniaturized solid state radio
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| | more popular. Early kits were 1/8 scale
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| control systems were introduced, allowing
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| | nitro-powered aluminum flat pan cars
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| model cars to have servo-controlled
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| | powered by a .21 or smaller engine, with
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| steering, throttle, and brake
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| | the bodies made of polycarbonate.
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| functionality that could be remotely
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| | In 1976, the Japanese firm Tamiya
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| controlled from a transmitter unit.
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| | released a series of highly detailed but
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| Several early commercially viable remote
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| | mechanically simple electric on-road car
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| control cars became available by 1966,
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| | models. Although more expensive, these
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| produced by El-Gi (Elettronica
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| | kits and radio systems sold quickly.
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| Giocattoli), a company from Reggio
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| | Soon, Tamiya began to produce more
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| Emilia, Italy. Their first remote control
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| | purpose-built remote-controlled model
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| car model was a 1:12 Ferrari 250LM. This
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| | cars, and were the first to release
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| was followed by their 1:10 Ferrari P4
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| | off-road buggies with real suspension
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| model, which was first shown at the Milan
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| | systems. This allowed remote control cars
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| Toy Fair in early 1968. Between the mid
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| | to be driven virtually anywhere, not just
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| to late 1960s, a British company called
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| | on bitumen and smooth surfaces. It was
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| Mardave also began to produce
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| | this development toward the off-road
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| commercially viable remote control cars.
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| | class that brought about much of the
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| Their first products were nitro- or
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| | hobby's popularity.
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