The Rising Bird (ライジングバード) is a Mini 4WD car released by Tamiya in 1989 and the first to ultilize the Type-3 Chassis after the disastrous body and chassis compability issue on Type-2 Chassis with bodies designed for Type-1 Chassis.
It is featured in manga Mini 4 Top as Toppu Kudo's first machine.
General Info
The Rising Bird was the first machine created from the Dream Attack project planned by Tamiya where everyone can design their own machine.
The Rising Bird's body is dominated by a blue color, with some white, yellow, and orange highlights. The body is designed to have more curves, reducing drag. A pair of wings and the T-shaped spoiler placed on rear of the bodyshell provides the downforce for the rear wheels.
The chassis, along with the high-profile spike tires, is molded in bright red, unlike the others.
In the Manga
In the manga, Toppu received the Rising Bird, though how he gets it is different in each version of the story.
In Top 2, Top 3, Top 4 and Top 5 versions of the manga, the T-wing wasn't added to the car but later added for various reasons that depended on the story version. In the Top 5 version, Toppu modified it into the light-weight version by drilling holes and patched the meshes on the bodyshell.
For various reasons, Toppu later replaced the Rising Bird with the Winning Bird. In Top 6 version of the manga, however, Toppu owned the Winning Bird right from the beginning.
Technical Info
Length: 127 mm
Width: 86 mm
Height: 53 mm
Chassis: Type-3 Chassis
Gear set(s): 5:1, 6.4:1
Gallery
Boxart
Trivia
- The Rising Bird is the first non-limited edition Mini 4WD to have chassis and tires molded in a different color.
- It is currently the tallest Mini 4WD car ever released, followed by the Nissan Be-1.
See Also
Winning Bird - Rising Bird's successor, also the second Mini 4WD car in Dream Attack project.