The Dash-X1 Proto-Emperor (ダッシュX1 原始皇帝) is a Racing Mini 4WD car released by Tamiya in 1990. It was originally released as a limited edition body set during the 1990's Tamiya Autumn Cup tournament, and later as a limited edition Mini 4WD kit (with VS Chassis) in 2009 and as a regular release kit in 2013 (with Super-II Chassis).
It is featured in manga and anime Dash! Yonkuro as Jin Kidouin's machine. It was superseded by Proto-Emperor ZX in the series's run.
General info
The Proto-Emperor featuring the body design similar to that of the Emperor, but with some differences; The main headlights are the blocky-style built-in-type and instead of the rear spoiler on the rear, it has the pair of wings in its place. On the front, there's the sub-headlights.
It is mainly in purple, with black and silver trims on it.
Since the original Proto-Emperor was released as a optional body set, it doesn't have the default chassis at all. Both the VS Chassis variant and Premium variant comes with the 5-spoke large-diameter narrow wheels with arched tires, with the differences being the colors. (the VS Chassis variant has the chromed wheels and black tires, while the Premium variant has the black wheels and light-purple tires.) The sub-parts of the chassis for the Premium variant were molded in the same color as the bodyshell.
In the manga and anime
In the series, Jin Kidouin was given the Proto-Emperor by Kaidanji Sumeragi during the time he was the team member of a team that Sumeragi founded. A while after the team was disbanded, the Proto-Emperor was modified by Boo, who installed the Black Unit (a type of ball differentials on the front and the rear wheels) to enhance the car's capabilities. Its performance is comparable to Yonkuro's Super Emperor.
Although Kidouin won the race against Yonkuro outside the tournament before the regional tournament final, he ultimately lose to Yonkuro in the final when the latter use the special 'fence running' technique to overtakes Kidouin's car.
During the Black Mistral arc, he challenge the Black Mistral to a race with his car. Unfortunately, Kidouin lose the race as the Proto-Emperor's chassis was melted due to overheating motor! This event lead to him upgrade his busted Proto-Emperor into Proto-Emperor ZX.
Technical info
Note: Due to the original Proto-Emperor was released as the body set, the data of when equipped on Type-3 Chassis was used.
Length: 127 mm (Type-3), 146 mm (VS), 150 mm (Premium)
Width: 86 mm (Type-3), 92 mm (VS), 97 mm (Premium)
Height: 49 mm (VS)
Chassis: VS Chassis, Super-II Chassis
Gear set(s): 4.2:1 (VS/Premium)
Gallery
Images
Trivia
- It is revealed that the original mold cast was lost as it was the plastic mold cast which can only stands to no more than 5000 molding. This leds to creating a new, more durable mold cast when the body set was planned to re-released under Racing Mini 4WD Memorial Box Vol.5.
- The bodyshell can be attach to any rear-motor chassis with the exception of Super-X Chassis and Super-XX Chassis
External links
- Dash-X1 Proto-Emperor (VS Chassis) on Tamiya official website
- Dash-X1 Proto-Emperor Premium on Tamiya official website