Sparked by Gran Turismo

I played plenty of video games growing up, with my favourite series being Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo. That series put me behind the wheel of some wicked racing cars that I would never be able to drive otherwise.

Challenging that dream was Tamiya, which had released several RC kits of cars that appeared in the games. Suddenly, I could drive one - and build it, too! I got started in RC cars this way with a Tamiya Toyota GT-One on the F103RS.

Somewhere on the way I got diverted to off-road cars and only saw a tarmac racer once in that time, a TA-05V2 that remains the only car I ever sold.

Cue university, with long nights of studying and few breaks in the academia. What should be sitting there but my PlayStation 2, with my copies of Gran Turismo 3 and 4. Getting back into video games, I reintroduced myself to touring cars and adopted a Loctite Zexel GT-R as my weapon of choice for the top-level races. A familiar storyline was beginning again...

Saving and searching landed me a clean and slightly-worn unbuilt kit from a German model shop. My second foray into on-road RC cars had started!

The Loctite Zexel GT-R was placed on a standard TA-04 chassis, arriving after the Pennzoil Nismo GT-R on the TA-03F and the Calsonic Skyline on the TA-04S. It was a simplified version of the two, with fewer detail parts, but the TA-04 still carried ball bearings for its gearboxes.

I built mine box-stock with the exception of ball bearings. The chassis build was mildly-aggravating at times but overall quite pleasant, which may be more than what can be said for the bodyshell! I counted over 100 decals of varying difficulties - the manual states that 74 different types are present. I took my time with this bodyshell and ended up with my finest work; it is still not perfect but very presentable for a car that I do plan to run!

This car currently uses the MTroniks Sport-Tuned 20 ESC, with a Traxxas 2056 servo and a Spektrum SR200WP receiver. The motor is stock, but a Tamiya Super Stock RZ may make its way into the chassis in time, as will a light kit and a touring car cockpit.

For some reason, it seems rare to see these cars built with the original wheels or to box-art. A lot of the Loctite Zexel GT-Rs on TamiyaClub right now sport either different wheels, bodies, liveries, or a combination. I have to wonder why...

Another GT superstar has made it into my collection, and is the subject of this showroom entry.