For quite a while now, I’ve fancied a Tamiya Mini Cooper, well… A couple of weeks ago I finally took the plunge and ordered myself one. After a bit of research I thought I’d go for the M05 Pro kit (Part #[58443], which comes with the nicer, oil filled shocks and a few other nice to have bits.

This kit lacks a body, motor and radio gear which I had to order myself. The body I chose was a factory painted Tamiya Mini Cooper from the Monte Carlo Rally, which I believe is from the Tamia XB Mini Cooper (Part #57736. To power the thing I ordered a Tamiya Sport Tuned Motor (Part #53068, with a TEU-101BK ESC (Part #45029 to control the power. As far as radio is concerned, I’m still hanging onto my (probably long overdue for replacement) Futaba Attack 27Mhz set, and I like to keep a receiver in each car, so I picked up a Acoms AR202 receiver and some crystals. And finally a Hitec HS-322HD takes care of the steering. Almost all of this came from the helpful people at Fusion Hobbies.

One final bit I just had to order was a new set of wheels, the standard wheels supplied with the Pro kit might look ok on something like a Suzuki Swift or a new beetle, but for my money a traditional mini just has to sit on a set of Empi 8 Spokes. A quick scour around and I found a nice chap selling a full set including pre-glued tyres on ebay. I think these were also off a XB Mini Cooper.

It should be here sometime this week (09/08/2010) so hopefully I’ll be able to get started on the build soon!