The Spin-Viper (Japanese: スピンバイパー, Supin Baipā) is a Mechanical Mini 4WD car released by Tamiya in November 1997. The Fully Cowled Mini 4WD version of the car was later released on December 25, 2002.
It was featured in the manga and anime Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! WGP as Tokichi Mikuni's 3rd machine, suceeding his Spin Cobra in the series.
General info
The bodyshell of the Spin-Viper was consist of 3 parts: the silver-plated base, the front cowls and the rear cowls. The rear cowls can be open up while the side locks were unlocked. There are separate parts on the front and on the rear that can be removed, allowing the bodyshell to be fitted onto either the rear-motor chassis or the front-motor chassis.
Compare to its predecessor, the Spin-Viper resembles more to the Spin-Axe, with the protruding rear fins and the wide front cowls returns. The side wings were replaced by the silver-plated side locks that locks the rear cowls in place. It is also has more exposed mechanical details than that of Spin Cobra. The car has the red and yellow thunder-styled decals, with the thunder marks on the front of the canopy and the 'Spin Viper' on the front edge.
With the exception of the original display model, all the VS variants were equipped with the small diameter 6-spoke TZ-type wheels paired with high-profile slick tires.
Spin-Viper and VS variant
As the front and rear cowls of the original Spin-Viper were molded in clear plastic, it can be painted in any color. The preferred color is mach blue. Unlike other cars in the Mechanical Mini 4WD lineup, the entire bodyshell can be attached to most (if not all) rear-motor chassis as well as the front-motor chassis without prior modification. For the VS variant, the cowls were molded in metallic blue.
The VS variant was equipped with white wheels and black tires. It doesn't comes with a standard motor.
Pearl Blue Special
The Pearl Blue Special has the cowls molded in pearl blue. In addition, the base parts of the bodyshell, specifically the lock parts, were altered.
It was equipped with white wheels and blue hard-compound tires. It was equipped with the polycarbonate-mixed ABS chassis and, instead of the default 13 mm rubber-ring plastic rollers most VS Chassis cars has, it was equipped with the black, 16 mm lightweight plastic rollers on the front bumper.
Black Special
The Wanko-exclusive Black Special had the black body color. It shares the same molds with the Pearl Blue Special variant.
The entire setup is the same as the Pearl Blue Special, but with yellow wheels, red tires and red chassis.
In the manga and anime
Spoiler alert!
This section of the article may contains details concerning the progression of the plot. If you do not want it to be spoiled for you, skip this section! |
Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! WGP
In the manga, after the Spin Cobra was severely damaged beyond repair in the race against Rosso Strada, Tokichi create the Spin-Viper from scratch. Originally, Tokichi wanted to get the opinions from his friends on the new car's design before the development, but since everyone were busy and his request was being ignored, he has to develop the car on his own. This leds to the Spin-Viper being slower than the Spin Cobra as it contains many useless parts. It was only fixed after it was being equipped with new parts made by J. The main feature of the Spin-Viper in the manga is that the wheels' diameter can change depends on road condition.
In the anime, the car was created with the idea from his teammate Ryo Takaba. The Spin-Viper in the anime has the suspension system which allows it to run smoothly on rough roads. Because of Retsu's absence due to injury, Tokichi has to enter the race to temporaily filling a empty grid spot with both Spin Cobra and Spin-Viper. Each of Spin Cobra's techniques were passed down to the Spin-Viper during the race. Following the race, Tokichi retires the Spin Cobra and makes the Spin-Viper his only machine in the world grand prix.
Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go! Return Racers!
In Return Racers, the Spin-Viper was placed and displayed inside the Sagami model shop, until one Mikuni group's worker who, like the grown-up Tokichi, has a crush on Jun, challenge Tokichi in a race. Unfortunately, Tokichi has installed too many parts onto the Spin-Viper and not only making it heavier (in which Go say that the car is heavy just like his owner.) and slower, but also causing it to course out as a result.
Technical info
| Variant | Body | Chassis | Wheels | Tires | Motor | Dimensions | Gear |
Display model |
Color: Clear |
Type: Display model |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
N/A |
Length: 145 |
N/A |
VS |
Color: Blue |
Type: VS |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
N/A |
Length: 145 |
4:1 |
VS |
Color: Pearl Blue |
Type: VS |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
Standard |
Length: 145 |
4:1 |
VS |
Color: Black |
Type: VS |
Size: Small |
Size: Small |
Standard |
Length: 145 |
4:1 |
Gallery
Boxarts
Trivia
- The Spin-Viper is the first Mini 4WD car that was released on two Mini 4WD lineups. In this case, the Mechanical Mini 4WD series and the Fully Cowled Mini 4WD series.
- The car is also the first instance of a Mechanical Mini 4WD car being re-released as a Fully Cowled Mini 4WD car with pure-racing chassis equipped. This trait was later shares with Diomars-Nero, Proto-Saber Evolution and Spin Cobra.
See also
External links
Tamiya Japan
- Spin-Viper on Tamiya Japan (Japanese)
- Spin-Viper (VS Chassis) on Tamiya Japan (Japanese)
- Spin-Viper (VS Chassis) Pearl Blue Special (Reissue) on Tamiya Japan
Tamiya America
- Spin-Viper (VS Chassis) Pearl Blue Special on Tamiya America
- Spin-Viper (VS Chassis) Pearl Blue Special (Reissue) on Tamiya America
| Mechanical Mini 4WD series | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Spin Cobra · Proto-Saber Evolution · Buck Blader · Spin-Viper · Vise-Intruder · Diomars-Nero | |
| Fully Cowled Mini 4WD series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Super-1 | Magnum Saber* · Sonic Saber* · Tridagger X* · Black Saber · Spin-Axe · Proto-Saber JB · Victory Magnum* · Vanguard Sonic* · Beak Spider* · Neo-Tridagger ZMC* · Fighter Magnum VFX* · Ray Stinger* · Shining Scorpion* · Bergkaiser* | |
| Super-FM | Brocken Gigant* · Gun Bluster XTO* | |
| Super TZ | Cyclone Magnum* · Hurricane Sonic* · Cyclone Magnum TRF · Diospada* · Beat-Magnum* · Buster-Sonic* · Beat-Magnum TRF · Fire Stinger | |
| VS | Spin-Viper† · Diomars-Nero† | |
| Super-II | Spin Cobra† | |
| AR | Z Wing Magnum · Great BlastSonic · Beak Stinger G · Proto-Saber Evolution† · Tridagger WX | |
| FM-A | Great Magnum R · Cosmosonic | |
| * denotes Premium version available; † denotes racing chassis re-release of a Mechanical Mini 4WD car | ||