Hornet Jr.

* Original
* HiroshiTanahashiSP

**The Hornet Junior** (Japanese: ホーネットJr., *Hōnetto Junia*) is a Racing Mini 4WD car released by Tamiya on May 15, 1986. It was based on the company's Hornet 1/10 2WD R/C buggy.

It was featured in the manga and anime *Dash! Yonkuro* as Rinko Sumeragi's machine and later as Team Fightning Formers's cars. Rinko's Hornet was superseded by the Dash-5 Dancing Doll in the series.

## General info

The Hornet featuring the typical R/C buggy design that has the partially-exposed cockpit with driver figurine in it. It has the rear spoiler on the rear and the damper props near the wheels.

### The original variant

The original variant features the black bodyshell, with yellow and two-tone orange stripes on it.

It was equipped with the medium diameter 4-spoke Hotshot-type wheels paired with the black high-profile spike tires. The eariler batches of the Hornet Jr. car has the silver wheels, but was changed to the white wheels in later batches. The chassis was molded in black.

### Hiroshi Tanahashi Special variant

The GetNavi-exclusive model, created in collaboration between GetNavi and New Japan Pro-Wresting Wrestler Hiroshi Tanahashi, features the black plated bodyshell and red plated wheels. It comes with two body decal sets: one that based on the original Hornet and one that is inspired by Tanahashi's current attire.

It was equipped with the red plated, large diameter 6-spoke Manta Ray-type wheels paired with the black MS-type spike tires. The chassis frame and A parts were molded in white, and comes with a pair of black-colored 16 mm lightweight plastic rollers.

## About the Hornet 1/10 R/C buggy

Released in 1984, the Hornet is an entry-level RWD R/C buggy produced by Tamiya. It is the second model in the Grasshopper line of R/C buggies.

It has the lightweight, strong monocoque bathtub chassis, housing the mechanical speed controller, the radio receiver and the longitudinally placed battery. It has the solid axle rear-wheel-drive drivetrain.

Compare to the Grasshopper, the Hornet now has the front coil spring suspensions with lower A-arms on the front and oil-filled damper on the rear. Instead of the 380-size motor, the Hornet uses the larger and common 540-size motor that was placed into the rear gearbox transversely. The rear paddle-style tires of the Grasshopper has been changed to the pin-spike tires, with front grooved tires remain unchanged.

The Hornet was re-released in 2004, with the mechanical speed controller being swapped out for the electronic speed controller.

## In media

### *Dash! Yonkuro*

Rinko Sumeragi, a little sister to Kaidanji, owns a customized Hornet. It was eventually replaced by the Dancing Doll.

### *Mini 4WD Hyper Dash Grand Prix*

A time-limited event world, titled "The Challenge from Hiroshi Tanahashi" (Japanese: 棚橋弘至からの挑戦状, *Tanahashi Hiroshi kara no Chousenjou*), has players races against Hiroshi Tanahashi himself and his Hornet Jr. Hiroshi Tanahashi Special. The event ran from March 4 to March 25, 2020.

Player can obtain the bodyshell and parts of his special Hornet using the Tanahashi medals obtained from the event.

Unlike the real-life kit, the Hornet Jr. Hiroshi Tanahashi Special in the game has the Type-1 Chassis equipped instead of the VS Chassis, as the latter wasn't implemented in the game by the time the event begin.

## Gallery

### Boxart

Boxart of the Hornet.Boxart of the Hiroshi Tanahashi Special variant.
## See also

* Grasshopper II Jr.
* Hornet Jr. - Year of the Horse 2002

## External link

### R/C buggy that the Mini 4WD car is based on

* 1/10 scale R/C buggy The Hornet (2004) at Tamiya Japan
* 1/10 scale R/C buggy The Hornet (2004) at Tamiya America