Tamiya Wild One returns as £35,000 road-legal electric buggy

The Tamiya Wild One radio-controlled car – a mainstay of the 1980s toy box and highly collectable today – has been turned into the full-sized, road-legal electric dune buggy of your dreams.

Available to order from £35,000, the Wild One Max is the work of Bicester-based The Little Car Company, known for its downsized EV reworkings of iconic classics like the Ferrari 250 TR and Bugatti Type 35.

It's a faithful tribute to its pint-size namesake, albeit with some concessions to real-world usability, including a widened, two-seat cockpit, shorter suspension turrets and – crucially – windscreen wipers.

Power is supplied by eight swappable battery packs totalling 14.4kWh and giving around 120 miles of range. Weight is 500kg and top speed is pegged at 62mph.

Meanwhile, with 270mm of ground clearance, an approach angle of 34.1deg and a 50.8deg departure angle, it promises to keep up with Land Rover Defenders and Jeep Wranglers on the rough stuff.

Held to the same L7e quadricycle regulations as the Citroën Ami, it can now be ordered in left- or right-hand drive form ahead of delivery in early 2024.

As standard, it gets Cobra bucket seats with four-point harnesses, adjustable Bilstein dampers, Eibach springs, a 5.0in central screen, a reversing camera and a 'giant sticker sheet' – just like the original – of retro-style decals to apply.

The first 100 buyers will get a Launch Edition pack with a carbonfibre dashboard plaque, 'hologram' wheel designs and a matching 1/10th-scale Wild One to play with at home. 

The Wild One Max will be shown on the Eibach stand at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed.