My Vintage 1986 Tamiya Blackfoot 

When I was 8 or 9 I waited 2 agonizing years to get one of these. I had pictures and magazine ads pasted all over my room. I was obsessed. I finally got one for Christmas and dad and I spent all night Christmas Eve putting it together. Such good memories. I still have my original Blackfoot , it’s a shelf queen now. I’ve told my wife to bury me with it.

Blackfoot was the first RC kit I built as a kid in the late 80s, so many good memories. I remember my father regularly having to drive me to the hobby shop to buy replacement half shafts or whatever. Eventually, those were replaced with some sliding universal axles (and ball diff), I want to say they were Thorp or Robinson Racing. Such a fun truck!

I wish I had one, could never afford it. Was heartbreaking to watch the “rich kids” playing with them in the neighbourhood

compared to the cheap radio shack rc trucks at the time that thing was blazing fast. the blackfoot was my first rc truck, it took me weeks to put it together and get it running. when i finally got it to run i hit a curb and snapped the front a-arm (or something around there). i got to drive it maybe 1 minute lol.

This made me smile. From the second you hit the throttle til you stopped the video, I had the biggest grin. Nice

OMG a original Blackfoot.. impressive sir. That was the first RC truck I ever built. That got me hooked on RC trucks. I put the Green machine 2 motor in mine back in the day.. wow just awesome man.. its definitely in good shape looks awesome.. WOW I need to find one. I still got my hornet and grasshopper... nicely done sir😍😍👍👍👍

I saved up and bought this truck and I was so proud if it. Bought a Novak speed control, Reedy 13 triple, foam tires and a bunch of Bolink bodies. It was a cool truck that I raced at a local speedway in a nearby mall. Never won but I had tons of fun.

Reading these comments, I bet theres a lot of 40-somethings here, and I'm one of them lol Like a lot of others, this was my first RC when I was a kid, got it used at the hobby shop and still have it today, minus the body, unfortunately. Great seeing it in original form, 3 speed controller and all. Good stuff!

Awesome truck. Remember seeing this in the hobby shop decades ago. 🇺🇸

ive had mine since the late 80s,its 3s lipo now,thorp dif/dogbones,factory works rear uprite shock mod and better tires,its litning fast,internal shocks on all 4 corners,it still wins at the local track,old school rules!

Had this when I was a kid. So much fun, didn’t realize at the time that it was underpowered. I do remember having to change the battery every 5 or 10 minutes lol. It just looks so good, so classic

Blackfoot was my childhood favorite RC

So Awesome! Thanks for sharing with us. I had a “Frog” back in the 80s then traded it in on a Fix. Gave that to my nephew like 20+ years ago… should have kept it

It was sold out everywhere in 86, so I settled for the Monster Beetle. I still dream of it to this day

It's in such beautiful condition, I didn't think you were going to run it...hard to find a true vintage Black foot that clean. Then when you launched it off the jump 😮. I have a re-release to bash..go's great with a 2S, & full bearings. Great vid.

Beautiful, this is emblematic for the 80s

Awesome video run! The blackfoot was my second rc truck I got of which my uncle bought for me on my 15th birthday back in 91’. Was a blast to assemble and play with. As for the slipping I knew it would be the tires. It happened to me before🤣.

Mechanical speed controller?? That's truly vintage! Awesome find, and great driving! :)

I had the Blackfoot in 87 and my buddy had the midnight pumpkin. Loved that truck!

Yes I had one of these and my was blue and the best thing was given it a hand full in reverse then gunning it forward and wheeling it only problem it would damage the rear bumper and the gearbox would let go but what fun 😀

I had both the Hornet and still have the Blackfoot. Loved building these when I was a young teenager in the mid 80's. Wife keeps asking me to get rid of the Blackfoot. Told her its not gonna happen..ever. Just recently purchased a king motor baja 5b.

I had this in 1990 when I was about 14. What a beautiful truck!. I also had a Hornet. My best friend had a Midnight Pumpkin. We heard that one kid a couple towns away had a Clodbuster, so we rode our bikes an hour to go see it. Great times.

Awesome I had one qt 14 yr old best rc truck 😎 👍 took long time put together

Man......this brings back some memories. The half shafts in mine were always stripped and I never mowed enough lawns to buy the Thorp driveline.

My first RC! Oh man that thing brings back memories.

so Beautiful! I miss mines!

Awesome Tamiya classic truck. Looks really nice.

That was my first RC truck and replaced bushing to bearings and yellow oil filed shock! Bam! new RC!

Awesome truck black foot and enjoying and watching now 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😎😁👌😄❤️ awesome video

My fav Tamiya truck.

Amazing!

My dad still has his original 1986 Blackfoot. But we haven't run it in over 15 years since we haven't done the upgrade to modern batteries yet.

Awesome Truck

That truck had so many weak points. If you continuously smashed it into things. I even recall not allowing cool down time for hours and the old resistor speed control would catch fire. Crazy. Each time it broke I tried to make it a little better. I remember replacing the gear box to metal and a monster mash 540 motor with the 9.6 battery, Oil shocks, metal front shock tower/support, mosfet speed controller, lexan f150 body, metal bearings, heavy duty servos, chrome rims. Great memories.

That is a sweet truck. I would take care of it as really IMO it is a true collectable and will probably only go up in value.

I got a blackfoot chassis from some dude for free, and i scrapped a few small parts like a driveshaft and mechanical speed controller for my great grandpas frog. I kinda want to bild one of these now

Man i had one of those. Seems i spent more time fixing it than driving it. I do remember upgrading the dog bone axles, they kept stripping out. It was tougher when i was 14 buying parts.

I had this truck as well! First kit I built myself actually, it wasn't fast necessarily but I think if you freshen it up it will speed up. Note, those old gears will not withstand buushless without a freshing up!

Black Foot is always one good looking RC.

Awesome video brother 👊 She’s definitely a beauty 👍😎

My first RC also, lots of memories. Like when my brother tested it and then drove it into the pool. Not a happy day. But recovered well. My Blackfoot does not have a red frame, I thought mine was early 80's. Maybe the red frame is the newer release?

God Bless our farmers.

Cool video

This was pretty cool! 😎 subbed

Interesting I like the old stuff that thangs pretty cool 👌

Kinda slow but very controllable . I have the rerelease . It has the MIP ball diff and a Tamiya tz motor . Is a beast to drive. It couldn't handle brushless power honestly. Youde blow it up everytime !

After the secend jump your truck out of control that normal dude this happen with me sometimes if you want avoid this you must change the vintage electrics ..i have one original with his original radio square acoms i thiniking i must put new ESC And radio FUTABA 3CH and sometimes i told myself its vintage i never changed anything Every time i see him i remember the old days ...well Really perfect video Good job bud 👍😊👍

I know a lot of people want to keep them vintage but you know if you break parts on you know you can always go to the re-release to get them.

nice video 👍

I had this one in my childhood! Loved it, except the batteries were drained quickly :(

Any idea if this can be made to do wheelies like wild willy? Or is it just not possible? Very realistic at this speed too...

Growing up had the Hornet and then the Blackfoot. Hornet was bulletproof but had endless gear differential problems with the Blackfoot :/

The loose transmission is probably the hex dogbones rounding out.

the outer aluminum gear box expands causing the differential to slip! Cheer!

My first truck❤

It's slow? Yes, but if I'd buy a first rc car for my kid, I'd go for exactly this kind of car: slow, mechanical, all terrain. I mean I love this when even looking at it!!

Do the rerelease gears fit the original?

My Monster Beetle has the MIP Super Ball Diff. Completely eliminates diff gear chatter.

I just got one of those.

😍😍😍

I have one all original. Only thing missing is windscreen and guy inside

Vintage & classic

the differential gears would always start to grind

Makes me want my lunchbox that I lowered with batt in tub put striker 2 arms oil shocks ect all that to keep up with a Traxxas sledgehammer good old days before purpose built race trucks were out

I'm glad your comments finally got enabled!

Great truck, would you sell it?

A 6 cell modern nimh battery is the way to go

Mine used to eat gear boxes and drive shafts for fun

I had one of these,best I can remember it had dog bones and they would always strip

Cool... Just upload my new Blackfood video

I feel for the people who got a Blackfoot in the day without thorp products hot trick ect the truck had many durability issues I had a Subaru brat after 250.00 dollars back then a lot when your young with every hop up I could find it was still not the most durable yes its a classic classic nightmare lol

I have one of those

Woah just 4 minutes ago? The truck looks good!

My dad had a black foot

How do you think it would run with a GT tuned motor?

I am looking for the king Blackfoot and I cannot find one I would love to have another one of those please comment back if you ever seen 1 of those

Not to be a KBW. Great video. But It sounds funny when you say Tumy with an a. Vowels are long as in a girls Tammi then an a.

What broke on the jump

the tires are spinning on the rim

Not made to be jumped i think

Get some WD-40 and clean off the rust.

DUDE, IT'S ONLY A 2S!!! NOT FAST!!!

The stock transmission and dog bones were crap in those.