HPI Baja 5B/5T

The HPI Baja 5B and Baja 5T is a 1:5 scale radio controlled off-road buggy and truck manufactured by Hobby Products International (HPI). The car is sold either in a kit or RTR (Ready to Run), in a 23cc gasoline engine or for a short period, battery powered.[1] Initially introduced with a buggy body style, a short course truck style was later offered to the market and was joined in 2015 by the Baja 5R, an on-road car.[2]

History

HPI, then known for its 1:10 and 1:8 scale cars, tasked Akira Kogawa, noted for his work of some of Kyosho's 1:10 electric off-road cars from the 1980s such as the Scorpion (1982), Optima (1985) and Ultima (1987),[3][4] with designing an inexpensive alternative to the European large scale off road buggy that were only sold in a kit form, emphasizing on build quality[5] and parts availability like its popular 1:10 and 1:8 scale equivalents offered as well as being able to match its handling characteristics and have adjustable parts without affecting its aesthetic value.[6]

The car strongly resembled popular but smaller electric off-road buggies, hinting Kogawa's design influences to the original Ultima.[7][8]

Its unexpected success led to it to become one of the most cloned radio controlled models on the market.[5][9]

Despite the minor scale difference, the 5B is compliant to BRCA regulations[10] with one driver finishing 2nd with a 5B SS at the EFRA Large Scale Off-Road Euros in 2008[11]

References

  1. ↑ "HPI RTR Baja 5B FLUX". RC Car Action. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.hpiracing.com/en/article/view/2015012303
  3. ↑ "Kyosho Reveals Beetle Re-Release at Tokyo Hobby Show". RC Car Action. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Kyosho 50th Anniversary Leaflet for en :: ActiBook". Saas3.starialab.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "5 Hit Cars No One Saw Coming". RC Car Action. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Little Dune Buggy". Product Design & Development. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "AUTOMODELISME - PetitRC.com -". Petitrc.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Photograph" (JPG). Tamiyaclub.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "HPI Baja 5B Gas Powered Buggy". Rc-trucks.org. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  10. ↑ N.B the 5B meets BRCA's Large Scale Off-Road dimension regulation http://www.brca-lsor.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2015-Brca-Large-scale-off-road.pdf
  11. ↑ http://news.efra.ws/fileadmin/oldnews/news/report/2008_Racereport%20EFRA%20GP%20LS%20OR%20Fehring.pdf

External links