Radio Control Car Action

TOP 5 WEIRDEST LAND;BASED RCS

I collect a lot of information when researching for “O;beat RC.” I find all sorts of hidden gems of radio- controlled weirdness, many of which go on to become full-fledged columns. I also end up with quite a few leftover scraps of content that don’t quite have enough about them to fill an entire write-up. I file these away for later use, and sometimes a column like this one springs to life. I present to you the top five weirdest land-based RC vehicles I have ever seen.

RC Jet Cars

My general category of “jet cars” includes any land-based vehicle powered by either model rocket engines or a turbine jet.

As great as this idea sounds, these cars are surprisingly di;cult to find – and I think I know why. As an experienced RC car veteran once told me, “If you’re going to build a rocket car, take lots of pictures. ;ey don’t tend to look very nice for long.” Yes, when you strap a rocket to … well, anything ... you stand a very high chance of catastrophic failure. As such, most RC jet cars are either shelf queens or scrap.

Still, there are quite a few notable jet car examples out there, including a good number of jet dragsters. ;eir chassis layout is much better suited to handle the high speeds of rockets and jets, and I’d say they usually look cooler as well. Although most custom jet cars are set up to use model jet turbine engines, there are a few quality examples out there designed to accept one-time-use model rocket engines. Whether or not they accept a 200mph+ impact with a curb is a completely di;erent matter.