RC cars are my passion, and I browse the internet everyday looking for cool cars and new projects. One of the coolest RC car projects I’ve come across recently is the NRC32 Project by Nigel Ratcliffe from the U.K.

The NRC32 is a custom-made 1/32 scale RC off-road buggy, basically a micro-scale replica of the classic Team Associated RC10 from the 1980s. Nigel put together an amazing combination of parts from multiple manufacturers and different scales, with a heap of custom-made parts on top of that. The result looks like a factory-finished product.

When asked why he started the NRC32 project, Nigel said:

I have always had a curiosity with micro RC cars. When I raced in the ’90s, I always wanted a scaled-down version of the buggies I raced so I could practice indoors at home when the weather was bad. There was great appeal in the idea of creating a track design in the living room at home, with whatever jumps I wanted to use.

I started this project with the idea of building a couple of cars for myself to run at home, and the RC10 was pushing all the nostalgia buttons, so I chose to use that iconic buggy as a base for the 1/32 tribute. With more and more rereleases currently, I think I’m not the only one who enjoys reminiscing on racing back in the ’80s and ’90s.

The RC10 had some of the most iconic race winners during that time, cars like Masami Hirosaka’s Detroit Stealth car,  Jay Halsey’s ’85 Worlds-winning car, through to Craig Drescher’s European championship-winning buggy. The RC10 was a great car to create a miniature replica from.

 

The NRC32 has a mixture of printed Strong & Flexible nylon plastic parts, custom parts, and donor parts. The gearbox, shocks, front hubs, and axles are from the Losi Micro T. The wheels are Atomic Mini-Z items. The rear hubs and axles come from the Kyosho Mini-Z buggy and tires from the HPI Baja Q32.

The chassis and shock towers were machined from carbon-fiber plates by Fibre-Lyte, in the U.K. Ratcliffe vacuum-formed the bodies and wings at home himself. He paid careful attention to the proportions of the buggy, giving it as accurate a scaled-down RC10 appearance as possible. The 3D printed parts include front and rear bulkheads, arm mounts, suspension arms, camber links, the body post, and the steering bell crank.

The result? “They perform and handle great!” said Ratcliffe. He added:

I added more toe-in to the rear to give more grip, making it very stable and easy to push when driving hard. It’s not twitchy like some smaller cars can be. It actually feels a lot like driving a real, 1/10 scale RC10. I have tried foam tires and rubber tires, and both work well indoors. Running it outdoors on tarmac or concrete gives good grip.

Having originally designed this car as a project for myself at home, it’s been really fun knowing that a few people around the world now have one (or two!) also. From the first few, the cars went to the U.S. and Hong Kong. From the more recent few, they are going to the U.S., Sweden, and Australia. It’s really exciting seeing what people do with their cars, painting the bodies and trying out things for themselves.

Ratcliffe made a limited run of custom, hand-built cars in gold and blue editions, and he has no plans to build more NRC32s. This doesn’t mean the end of the project, however. Making the NRC32 took a lot of work, and it is relatively expensive. People have been asking him for a more affordable and accessible car that looks and feels like the NRC32, and he has starting working on this next project.

Nigel said he would also like to replicate other iconic cars, particularly more versions of the Team Associated RC10.

So keep an eye on his Facebook page for news, and let us know in the comments if there’s a cool project you’d like to see featured in Shapeways Magazine.