By Yalson. 31/07/2007 14:04:41

I remember having a promotional spec-sheet thing for the Pajero that I'd got from my local model shop. Somewhere at the bottom, in tiny print, was a note that read "In Europe, the Pajero is known as the Montero". I remember it made me laugh at the time, as it gave the impression that this was somehow hugely important. Now it just baffles me for much the same reason.

By Brat Attacks 16/04/2007 22:17:15

A true automotive R/C disaster coming to a shop near you. What Tamiya were thinking of when they made this is anyone's guess and judging by the fact that just one car came out of this chassis when originally conceived just goes to show that even Tamiya didn't know where they were heading.

Made up of Grasshopper parts and a very short wheel base ensured this was one quick little car out of the box. Due to its light weight and simple construction it was a doodle to build and a service was somewhat limited to just making sure the batteries had power in them.

The Pajero was best suited to the dusty tracks more than tarmac and "proper" off-roading, on the race track it was somewhat of a joke. Like the famous Willy before it, this was a wheeling machine with spiteful handling and an ability to lift the front wheels at any given speed. Actually, it would lift any wheel at most speeds going forwards, backwards, left or right.

Due to these short comings it's best to think of this as a toy car with a fantastic body an adult can get away playing with. Detail for detail it was pretty much on par with the Brat for complex detailing and did Tamiya proud once again. Simple white body, all the details you could ever wish for and some not to difficult to apply decals. Sadly all that hard work was short lived and touch up paint became part of the essential Pajero tool box kit. The first roll and the sound of scratching plastic as it slides across the carpark still haunt me to this very day.

Despite all these problems it was a great no, fun car, to run. Even though it was designed to take just the humpback battery it could accommodate the racing pack too if it was laid over the speed controller. l used this method with mine and thought it might at least prevent some wheeling, it didn't. If truth be told, it made no difference.

But the Pajero did get a second lease of life after it was left to die in a field of forgotten Tamiya's years later with the Lunchbox and Pumpkin so perhaps Tamiya did know what they where thinking of after all.

By Stevo309 04/10/2006 17:55:46

My brother had one of these and it was fast!! The big problem was the high centre of gravity which made the Pajero pretty unstable. It's another wheelie machine, helped by the battery being mounted high and back on the chassis. It's small and light and quite strong due to it being based on the Hornet/Grasshopper running gear with a different chassis. The wheels/tyres are the same as you will find on the Subaru Brat and Ford Ranger F150 XLT.

Don't be fooled into thinking it's any good off-road because it's not, they're fast but they don't jump very well and topple over with ease when cornering at anything like a decent speed. Fun can be had though if you don't take it too seriously but it's closer to a toy than many other Tamiya models.

I don't think they sold in big numbers so Pajero specific parts like the shell aren't as easy to find as you might think for a model that's not universally popular.