FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The rising speed of 1/12-scale racing [VIDEO]

0 Dec. 2, 2016, 4:11 p.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Everybody knows that Friday is meant for reminiscing old times. Each week we take you back in time as we flashback to some of R/C racing's greatest moments, products, drivers, and more!

Flashback: 1988

The rising speeds of 1/12-scale racing

With IFMAR's decision to change the 1/12-scale modified class to 2S LiPo packs for the 2018 World Championships, 1/12-scale pan cars might reach their fastest on-track speeds ever. The decision sparked particular controversy this week as a video published on social media showed ROAR national champions Josh Cyrul and Keven Hebert surprised at how fast a car built to the proposed regulations could be:

To put that speed into perspective, I dug through YouTube to find examples of 1/12-scale racing throughout the 34 years it has been recognized as an official IFMAR racing class - and the oldest video I could find was from all the way back in 1988! Not only are the old cars incredibly fun to watch, you may notice several RC stars of past and present that you didn't realize had been in the hobby for that long. Here's a timeline of how the category has progressed:

1988 IFMAR Worlds in Baarn, Netherlands: