Yokomo

Yokomo Co. Ltd.
Formerly called
 Yokobori Model
Private
Industry Research and Development, Manufacturing, Sales and Promotion
Founded 1965
Founder Tomoaki Yokobori
Headquarters Adachi, Tokyo, Japan
Products Radio control model cars and components
Number of employees
 30-50 (2014)
Website teamyokomo.com
Former logo (1982-2003)

Yokomo Co. Ltd. (株式会社　ヨコモ Kabushiki-gaisha Yokomo) is a Japanese company from Adachi, Tokyo that specialize in radio-controlled cars, it was one of the first manufacturers in Japan to build RC cars and it also invented the RTR (Ready To Run) cars, but most notable of all is their long-running "Dog Fighter" series of radio controlled buggies, mainly through its successes in racing.

History

The company became involved in RC car production when the shop, Yokobori Model Shop (横堀モケイはメーカー Yokobori Mokei Wamēkā), owned by Tomoaki "Tom" Yokobori (横堀モケイ Yokobori Tom, 横堀智昭),[1] built a ready to run version of Cox's .49ci Dune Buggy, which was sold as a kit. The car became a success and helped to introduced radio controlled cars into Japan.[2]

In 1970, the company would become involved with another US RC car manufacturer, when they imported the RC-1, produced by Associated Electrics, into Japan. As a result, they became involved in the production side of the market, when they manufactured option parts for the car. This was the start of its partnership with Associated which continued to this day.[2]

The company, who would be renamed Yokomo, which is a combination of the two words, Yokobori Mokei, soon began producing its own competition RC cars in 1977 with the Mini Racer RC-12. The Porsche 917/30 that was bodyshell of the kit later formed the basis of the company's Can-Am car styled logo.

Its biggest break was in 1983, when it introduced the YZ-834B, the first of the long-running "Dog Fighter" series of 1:10 off-road buggies.

The car was imported into West Germany by Graupner[3] and was marketed as a Graupner Dog Fighter. Although criticized for having ground clearance that was considered to be too low for a typical off-road course, it wasn't until 1985, when Gil Losi, Jr. used the car to score his and the company's first IFMAR title for the inaugural 1:10 Off-Road World Championship 4WD title.[2]

The car was replaced by the YZ-870C, known as the "Super Dog Fighter", jointly developed by Masami Hirosaka, who was brought into the company following his victory at the following IFMAR 1:10 Off-Road 4WD event. His involvement was rewarded, when he successfully defended his crown in 1989. To this date, with the exception of his first title, won driving a Schumacher CAT,[4] all other IFMAR titles he won have been either for Yokomo (six)[5] and its partner for the Japanese market, Team Associated (eight)[2][6] and still win national titles for the company.[7] Masami's father, Masaaki was an employee for the company.

Yokomo are also known for the infamous and very rare YR-F2 chassis line. Despite being a full-time front-wheel drive RC, the YR-F2 is banned from certain racetracks as it was too fast for other RC's.

In 2003, Yokomo broke the R/C car mould further, when they introduced radio-controlled drifting with a series of cars that was built especially for drifting. Yokomo recently partnered with Tomy in 2008, releasing a series of miniature R/C cars based on its licensed D1GP and drifting cars similar to its R/C line.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Yokomo Drift Package". Yokomo Drift Package. 11 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Yokomo Links and History". Yokomo Drift Package. 4 June 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  3. ↑ "Graupner Dog Fighter". RC-Car Museum. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  4. ↑ "1987 IFMAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP". YouTube. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  5. ↑ "TEAM YOKOMO". Yokomo. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  6. ↑ "Team Associated Timeline". Associated Electrics. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  7. ↑ "30+ Years of EFRA Race History" (PDF). European Federation of Radio Operated Model Automobiles. 11 September 2005. Archived from the original (pdf) on 17 February 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2009.

External links

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