Man, seeing the Dog Fighter 834B come back in a re-release is like stepping into a time machine. Back in the mid-80s, this buggy was the car to have if you were serious about racing. It was exotic, chain-driven, and just looked mean sitting on the grid. For a lot of us, it was the one we drooled over in the magazines but couldn’t afford at the time. Now Yokomo has brought it back, and honestly, just opening the box feels like Christmas morning 40 years late.
Of course, the big question is: can it hang with today’s cars? Well, not really in the pure performance sense. Modern buggies are lighter, sharper, and infinitely more tunable. The Dog Fighter feels vintage the moment you put it on the track—the chain drive has a certain charm, the suspension geometry feels “old school,” and the monoshock setup is nothing like what’s out there today. But that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? You don’t buy this thing expecting it to go door-to-door with a B6.4 or an XB2. You buy it because you want to relive a golden era of RC.
That said, Yokomo was smart with the updates. They swapped the fragile magnesium parts for aluminum, added a slipper clutch, and gave it a proper gear diff, so you can run modern electronics without grenading the drivetrain. It’s still got that quirky 80s feel, but it’s not a shelf queen unless you want it to be—it can absolutely be driven, and driven hard, without falling apart.
For me, it’s less about “holding up” in the modern racing scene, and more about holding onto that sense of nostalgia. When you run it at a track, people stop and watch. The chain whirrs, the stance looks different from everything else, and it just oozes character. You’re not winning mains with it, but you are winning smiles, stories, and probably a couple of “I had one of those back in the day” conversations in the pits.
So yeah, in the cold light of 2025, the Dog Fighter isn’t a “serious” racer anymore. But in terms of fun, history, and that warm fuzzy hobbyist glow? It holds up better than ever.
The vids show a 834b with a silver can. The drive train is surprisingly efficient.
