News Homepage > 14th July 2026 > Tamiya at Goodwood Festival of Speed

This year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed saw Tamiya team up with British automotive engineering specialist Lanzante (external link to website) to feature 50 limited edition Lanzante-tuned RC icons celebrating 50 years of Tamiya's radio control vehicles. There were also life-size working versions of the iconic Sand Scorcher, Wild Willy, and Fast Attack Vehicle vehicles. Mr Tamiya also had a ride in the Sand Scorcher driven by New Zealand drifting racing driver Michael Whiddett, better known as Mad Mike.

Tamiya started a revolution in 1976 when it launched the 1/12 scale Porsche 934 Turbo, the company’s first radio control assembly car kit. Nothing had ever existed like it before; it gave the owner the opportunity to build a highly detailed piece of scale race car engineering and drive, tune, and even race it! Building on the success of the 934, the company would embark on a prolific programme of production, presenting cars from Formula One champions to endurance racing legends, and from exotic road cars to its famous Baja and prototype buggies like the legendary Sand Scorcher, Bigwig, and Top Force.

As the range has grown, so has the global fanbase, spawning generations of RC collectors and triggering the genre of RC racing for the masses, while also inspiring leading names in motorsport and automotive design such as Lanzante. In the summer heat at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lanzante celebrated half a century of Tamiya RC and its influence on the world of driving passion, and what better place to do it than the world’s biggest automotive and motorsport event.

Lanzante are an established and known name in supercar perfection, specialising in design, tuning, and adapting race cars to road cars, trusted by serious collectors all over the world. Founder Dean Lanzante started his passion for this sector by building Tamiya RC cars as a child, an interest which would help him establish Lanzante as one of the most renowned names in the business. To celebrate both this and the milestone of Tamiya’s 50th RC anniversary, Dean dedicated part of the Lanzante stand to Tamiya, featuring two full-size working versions of Sand Scorcher and Wild Willy, along with five limited edition Lanzante versions of Vanessa’s Lunchbox EVO, Hornet EVO, Bigwig, Top Force and the seminal Sand Scorcher, all beautifully displayed in cases on plinths.

There was also a range of specially designed Tamiya x Lanzante long sleeve T-shirts for sale, which were in huge demand along with the limited Tamiya RC items. The event was also attended by Tamiya President Nobuhiro Tamiya who was treated to a passenger drive up the hill with famous Red Bull drift racer Mad Mike in the Sand Scorcher.  Mr Tamiya enjoyed it thoroughly, as did Mad Mike (AKA Mike Whiddett), who claimed his own career was inspired by building Tamiya RC cars such as the Sand Scorcher! The whole event was a tremendous success and reinforced Tamiya's place as a company of huge influence to leading names in the automotive and motorsport industries.