My first rc car was the Grasshopper. My grandpa had one in his garage and that was the only reason I looked forward to visiting him, since he didn't have cable tv lol! He also had the old school Futaba box transmitter, that left a lot to be desired in terms of ergonomics
. Then, an indoor clay track opened up in my hometown, called Zero-N-4 Hobbies, and was one of the nicer facilities at the time, with permanent pit tables, air conditioning, and a permanent timing loop which was rare (circa 1990). My Dad took me by there one Saturday, and they were having a grand opening race, raffling off some stuff with the grand prize being an RC10 kit. I remember he bought a couple tickets, and I was all bummed out that we didn't win anything, then they read the winning number for the RC10, and I didn't even look at the tickets, then my Dad goes "you won!" and I remember walking up to the driver's stand with a huge grin on my face and everyone was clapping. I was 7 at the time. Well, in about a year, we were deep into it, running buggy and truck, stock and modified. Those were such great times at the track - we ran every Sunday for a number of years. My Dad taught me a lot about racing, and he did all the wrenching (I screwed around in between races, played Gameboy, etc lol!). I even managed to win a NORRCA race in the Novice buggy class as an 8 year old (a lot of older guys were pissed haha). The track closed in a few years, but those were such good times at the track. I got out of this hobby for about 20 years, went to school, got a degree, then last year got the bug again. Now my Dad pits for me, and I do all the wrenching, but we still have just as much fun at the track. Here's a few pics of me then and now. Gotta love that "custom" RC10 body (painted by me), the 3 piece wheels on the JR-XT, the X-Pattern/Staggered tires (super dialed!) and of course the fluorescent gear complete with a Days of Thunder t-shirt!! Oh man, how time flies...