It sounds like a riddle, when you think about it: one of the most prolific carmakers on the planet doesn't actually have any real cars. It's reproduced some of the world's most iconic shapes, birthed its own concepts, has surfed the currents of fashion and technology during 77 years of existence, and been responsible for more joy than it's possible to measure. Tamiya is, in a small, quiet way, a legendary carmaker. And yet all it makes is toys.
But to describe Tamiya's output as 'just toys' is to miss the point by quite a - scale - distance, and to figure out why these little agglomerations of plastic and metal are so compelling, we need to know where it all started. So here's a little potted history of the art of tiny things. The man we have to thank was called Yoshio Tamiya, who founded the eponymous company in Oshika, Shizuoka City, Japan in 1946. Back then it was a timberyard and sawmill called Tamiya Shoji and Co, whose industrial eyes turned its gaze on wooden models in '48, as a side hustle. But that side project was a good one. Just five years later, the sawmill closed, and Tamiya became a specialised wooden model builder - which saw it through the rest of the Fifties. It wasn't until 1960 that the world saw the first all plastic kit, taking advantage of the detail that this then new material could offer - a 1/800th scale Yamato battleship. Then in 1962 the first motorised thing, a 1/35th scale Panther tank. Small steps that would lead to giant strides. And so it went on - Tamiya gently refining its processes and model lines, expanding and innovating, creating tiny slices of perfection. But in 1976, Tamiya produced a 1/12th scale Porsche 934 Kremer Turbo, kicked off the radio control car boom and secured its own legacy. If names like Sand Scorcher, Wild Willy, Avante, Hornet, LunchBox, Rough Rider or the Wild One are familiar, you're a Tamiya kid.
Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin September 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye BBC Top Gear UK dergisinin September 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself