Tamiya Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr.5 (CS) #58005 1/12 Scale

First released in 1978, this model was the second car of the Competition Special line up of Tamiya radio control cars, and was THE radio control car that first got me dreaming about one day owning a proper hobby grade model. The model was based on the Toyota Celica LB Turbo that raced in the 1977 DRM German Championship, and was built at a time when radio control cars were still preferred to accurately represent a real life 1/1 scale counterpart. Indeed the level of accuracy and use of model kit plastic to ensure a true representation of the real life car meant that this car body was incredibly fragile.

The CS kits in the Tamiya line up were upgraded chassis over the base model kits, presenting sponge tires for added grip, a larger Mabuchi RS540 motor for increased speed, adaptation of the chassis to use special Tamiya nicad battery packs and a number of other more suble changes over the base level models in the Tamiya line up. Unfortunately the servo operated wiper speed control was reputed to have been notoriously difficult to set up correctly,

Whilst I had never been able to spot one of these mythical machines at my local hobby shops, it never stopped me from dreaming of one day owning one, and constantly carrying the Tamiya Radio Control Guide Book of the time around with me to look at the pictures and re-read the description of the machine again and again. Unfortunately over time it became increasingly obvious that I was not going to find one at the shops and so I ended u finding a couple of Tamiya's 1/24 motorised models of the car and a 1/20 version to build and keep me happy.

Over the years I completely forgot about this model, even when I got into RC racing again at a much later stage. But whilst flicking through eBay some years back I saw a new in box model of this kit for sale and was immediately captivated by it again. All the feelings of when I was a child CS,e back to me. The excitement of possibly owning one of these models finally was too much to contain even if the asking price was incredibly high for what many might just cosmdier an old unbuilt toy. Unfortunately however that particular example had a damaged body shell and hence I passed the opportunity of picking that model up. Many more years passed and every once in a while I would
browse the eBay stores looking for another example.


Finally one day a complete new in box kit surfaced on eBay. As is usual for me I ended up adding this kit to my watch list. The box unfortunately had clearly seen better days, but this kit was not only complete, but also had a perfect body shell. Indeed that was one of my greatest fears- to find a kit with a perfect shell given how delicate it was the fact that finding replacements was almost impossible given the rerelease shells from Tamiya were made in white plastic and did not have the chrome rear wing. This is the eBay auction for the kit.

After some time of watching, I finally bit the bullet and made an offer on the kit. With huge excitement the offer was accepted almost immediately, and the trepidation of whether the seller would pack the kit well enough such that the shell would be protected began. A few weeks passed by before the kit finally arrived, and it was packed absolutely perfectly. Finally I had myself my dream car kit... And it was new in box. I have to say up front- the Japanese sellers are typically some of the absolutely best sellers out there. The way in which they pack stuff for shipping is totally insane and many other sellers could learn a million things from them. Check out the packaging that this ebayer did on my kit.

The packaging absolutely ensured that not only would the body shell be well protected, but made sure that the packaging itself would not move around nor be crushed whilst in transit.this was on top of the box itself being wrapped in bubble wrap and then enclosed in a full plastic bag to protect it for further moisture and further placed inside a perfectly fitting heavy duty outer cardboard box. Yep. I will buy from this ebayer again with absolute certainty I am sure.

The contents of the box in all its glory below...