Tamiya Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr.5 (1978)
Exploring amongst the many cubby-holes at my favorite hobby shop, Penn Valley Hobby Center in Lansdale, PA, I came across this complete example of a well used Celica LB Turbo in a box of used radio gear. Of course, I had to rescue it.
The Celica Gr.5 was second in Tamiya’s line of Competition Special kits; the first being their Lamborghini Countach CS.
This is a well-used model, as is evident upon close examination, but it is complete right down to a vintage Tamiya “Hump-Pack” 7.2v battery. The original Diplo front tires, with their characteristic gray rubber stripe in the center, are there but are cracked with age. The windshield also has a crack in it and will be difficult to find a replacement.
Tamiya and ebay to the rescue. Tamiya from time to time has re-issued vintage body kits and thankfully the Toyota is one of them. While it is not molded in the blue color as the original was, I would be painting it anyway. Also, the rear wing is not chrome plated as in the original, so it will have to be sent out for plating.
As restorations go, this is far down on the list as I have several going on right now, but I will certainly post updates as they are made.
[wordbay]tamiya celica turbo[/wordbay]
Originally posted 2015-09-24 19:36:49.
Just wondering about the re-issue of the toyota celica turbo Gr 5. I have one exactly the same and want a new set of tyres and a body would be nice too. Can you give me more info on where I can get that re-issued kit from?
Thanks
Other than ebay
Thanks
I think these re-issued body kits were only released in Japan. I have a few and they all have Japanese-only instructions. That leads me to believe that the only places you could find them are from some Japanese toy/hobby store, or, of course, ebay. If you don’t want to do ebay, try googling and see if anything comes back. You could also go to Tamiyaclub.com and see if anyone there is listing one for sale. You may not be crazy about ebay, but there is the body kit you are looking for on sale for $72.00. I don’t think that’s too bad of a price. Also, I think that Tamiya is not producing any more of these, so I’d jump at the chance if I were you. Here’s the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Tamiya-1-12-Toyota-Celica-LB-Turbo-Gr-5-Body-Set_W0QQitemZ380100946443QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_Control_Parts_Accessories?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116