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With racing season in top gear, we thought it was worthwhile to shine some light on Tamiya’s killer-looking optional on-road race bodies. Tamiya offers well over 100 different body sets for all types of vehicles. For the purpose of this article, we are just focusing on the bodies modeled after full-size on-road racecars that include all the stickers to accurately recreate them. Following are six of our favorites and all of them can be used on most 1/10-scale touring cars.
Tamiya Motul Autech Z Body Set—Item #51731
Motul Autech is an established primary racing sponsor and may be best known for its success with the Nissan GT-R race car. Shown here is one of the GT-R’s fast siblings, the Nissan Z. The paint scheme with livery markings make the Tamiya Motul Autech Z body set look absolutely incredible. This body kit recreates the Motul Autech Z raced by the NISMO team in the 2003 Super GT series. At the opening race in Okayama, it captured first place. Although this car looks much like the Nissan Z road car, it was given a lightweight carbon fiver body and shoehorned into the front is a 550hp-plus 2-liter 4-cylinder single turbo engine.
Own this intense looking Motul Autech Z body and get it mounted on your favorite 1/10-scale touring car. Tamiya gives you a super detailed polycarbonate body that comes with protective overspray film already adhered to the outside of the body…just like the rest of the bodies listed in this article. Packed with the two sheets of stickers is a window mask sheet and double-sided tape pieces. Additional details like ABS molded side mirrors and large racing rear gooseneck wing are included. Then there are other subtle parts that help bring this racing Motul Autech Z to life like the polycarbonate canards, headlight and taillight cases.
Tamiya 2020 Ford GT Mk II Body Set—Item #51664
The history of the Ford GT is fascinating and only adds to the cool factor of owning this Tamiya 202 Ford GT Mk II body set. The first Ford GT40 was developed specifically to compete in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans back in 1964. Then in 1966 the Ford GT40 Mk II dominates the historic endurance race and took first, second and third places. Fast forward to the 2000s and the development of the GT40 was reignited leading to the overall win again at Le Mans in 2016. Now the car has been further honed to what you see here with the 2020 version of the Ford GT MK II. It was built to celebrate Fords historic success at the well-known 24 Hours of Le Mans race back in 1966 with the famed GT40 Mk II. The full size Ford GT is limited to only 45 hand-built supercars, but you can own your own in 1/10-scale thanks to the crew at Tamiya.
Tamiya did an exceptional job at modeling the Ford GT Mk II in lightweight polycarbonate complete with all the details you would find on the 1:1 race car. In the photo of the body set, you can see there is a separately molded polycarbonate section just for the front light cases and buttresses that attach just aft of the cockpit. Along with the polycarbonate parts is window mask tape, sections of double-sided tape, two full sticker sheets with livery markings and separate ABS injection black molded parts. These ABS parts include the rear wing, side mirrors and wing mounts. Getting the body painted, assembled and detailed may seem like a lot, but Tamiya includes very clear instructions to help you end up with a killer-looking finished product.
Tamiya Mercedes-AMG GT3 Body Set—Item #51590
Downright sexy is a perfect description of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 production race car. Its flowing body lines, wide racing stance, large air intakes and massive wing tell you this ride is purpose built for performance and will look amazing while tearing down the track. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 was developed for the FIA’s GT3 class and was first unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show back in March of 2015. In order to keep weight down, the aerodynamic body is constructed with lightweight carbon fiber panels on top of an aluminum space frame. Further aero is provided by the massive front diffuser and equally large rear racing wing. Under the long nose of the AMG GT3 rest a monster 6.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine.
Replicating the full-size race car is relatively easy thanks to the Tamiya Mercedes-SMG GT3 body set that only requires a simple one color paint job with some small details painted black. The full sheet of stickers with bright yellow markings help to bring the whole look together. The painting task is further simplified with the included paint mask. Overspray film will keep the outside of the body protected while painting and when removed it will reveal a glossy and brilliant paint job. Headlight cases, taillight cases, wing and wing end plates are molded from the same polycarbonate material as the body while the wing mounts and side mirrors are constructed of ABS plastic.
Tamiya Audi 90 Quattro Racing Body Set—Item #51751
Purchasing this Tamiya body set allows you to accurately recreate the Audi 90 Quattro Racing car. This is made possible thanks to Tamiya’s exceptional attention to detail in molding this 1/10-scale polycarbonate body and including separate ABS red plastic parts that realistically depict the Audi 90’s distinctive side view mirrors along with air ducts and rear bi-level wing. The necessary metal hardware comes in the box to bolt-on those ABS parts as well as the body clips to mount the body on a chassis. Two large sticker sheets are the key to complete the Audi 90 Quattro Racing car look complete with the different colored stripes, fine detail stickers and sponsor stickers.
The full-size Audi 90 Quattro Racing car achieved success at American races in 1989. It was equipped with a 2.2-liter inline-5 turbo engine that was capable of churning out over 700hp. This serious power was harnessed by the 4WD Quattro system to give this Audi superior traction. When compared to your standard road car, the Audi 90 was wider and setup with a large bi-level rear wing. To keep its overall weight lower, it utilized carbon and aluminum for its body panels.
Tamiya Porsche 911 Carrera RSR Body Set—Item #51543
It would be a sin if we did not have Porsche represented in this list of Tamiya’s killer-looking optional on-road race bodies based on the manufacturers’ deep commitment to racing and rich racing history. You would be hard-pressed to find a racing series that did not have Porsches racing in it. The Porsche 911 has been and still is a dominate force on the race track. The particular Tamiya Porsche 911 Carrera RSR body set featured here represents the 911 Carrera RSR that competed in 1973. A year that can be deemed as a dream year for the Bavarian sports car. The legendary Group 4 car won no fewer than three international races to go along with seven domestic wins. These twelve glorious months was capped with a victory in the famed Targa Florio race held in Sicily.
Inside the box for the Tamiya Porsche 911 Carrera RSR body set is an accurately molded Porsche 911 Carrera body that is just like the car that raced in the 70’s. Its form is unmistakable with its wide front and rear fenders and gorgeous side profile. The famous paint scheme can be recreated using a few paint colors and placement of the decals that include the highly recognizable Martini stripes. On the sticker sheets are also numbers, sponsor logos and many other details to make this body really pop. The side mirrors are separately molded from ABS plastic and the necessary hardware is included to mount them as well as the body onto the chassis.
Tamiya Ford Mustang GT4 Body Set—Item #51614
Number six of the killer-looking optional on-road race bodies is an excellent example of American muscle. This is the Tamiya Ford Mustang GT4 body set which depicts the full-size Mustang GT4 that was inspired by the Ford Shelby GT350R-C. Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports jointly designed and engineered the GT4 to compete in sports car championship racing series globally. Most noteworthy series comprised of IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Pirelli World Challenge GTS/GT4 and GT4 European Series.
Tamiya did an outstanding job with the mold for the Ford Mustang GT4 body and gave it tons of details that faithfully captures the aggressive, tough looks of the 1:1 racing Mustang. The body might look hazy coming out of the box, but that is just the overspray film that is on the outside of the body. Window masks come with the set to assist in the painting process. In the photo you can see the additional piece of polycarbonate where the front and rear light cases are cut out from and then adhered to the inside of the body with the included double-sided tape. Sitting on top of the big sticker sheet is the ABS plastic rear racing wing and side mirrors. A single color paint job with the stickers is all it takes to end up with one killer-looking touring car.
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