Schumacher Racing Products

Infobox_Company
company_name = Schumacher Racing Products
company_
company_type = Private Limited Company (Ltd.)
company_slogan = Schumacher, Performance and Technology
foundation = 1980
location = Northampton, England
key_people = Cecil Schumacher, Robin Schumacher
industry = Racing
products = Radio-controlled Cars
num_employees = 30
homepage = [http://www.racing-cars.com www.racing-cars.com]

Schumacher Racing Products (or just Schumacher) is a well established manufacturer and distributor of radio-controlled cars and accessories.

History

The company was started in Northampton, England as Schumacher Racing Products in 1980 by Cecil Schumacher. It originally produced upgrade components for model cars, including the world's first ball differential. The first car to be produced by Schumacher was the XL lexan chassis in 1981. This was followed in 1983 by the "C" car, the first car designed specifically for racing on carpet. It included many features that are still around on every modern 1/12th scale car. Although basic by today’s standards, at the time it was a top racer winning many races. Race wins include the euros in 1985 and 1988.

Radio controlled cars evolved and changed rapidly. In the late half of the 1980s, off-road RC cars increased in popularity. Schumacher created the CAT (Competition All Terrain) 4WD 1/10th scale off-road buggy in 1986. It went on to win the world championships in 1987. The success of the CAT led Schumacher to follow up with the 2WD Top Cat, initially featuring unique F1-style push-rod suspension with inboard springs and dampers in the nose cone.

Schumacher went on to produce many off-road electric cars through to the mid 1990s. The radio-controlled car world continued to change, this time toward 1/10th scale electric touring cars. Schumacher developed a series of racing touring cars, and continue to today.

The popularity of the touring car class seriously affected the off-road world. Schumacher stepped down the development of this class through the 1990s. Schumacher now was starting to dominate a niche in the "fun" car sector, with high power/speed nitro powered models capable of real speeds in excess of 80 mph.

Present time

Schumacher continue to operate out of factory in Northampton, England. The nature of the current economic climate has meant that Schumacher has to have some products out-sourced from China. However, the majority of the manufacture remains in England, and Schumacher remains very much an English company.

Over the turn of this century the Schumacher product line-up became quite familiar with the "fun" cars and Schumacher’s touring car range. Cecil Schumacher's son Robin Schumacher took over the business in 2001. Since then, Schumacher have distributed a large number of products using their well established supply chains.

chumacher BTCC

Schumacher has its own race series which it promotes in the UK, run to BRCA rules. It features four classes:"Stock 27t", "Superstock 19t" and "Modified & Brushless" for any make of Touring Car. Also featured is class for its GTRe on road racer, a 3 speed electric circuit car. This class debuted in 2006, taking over from Schumacher's previous Big 6 Lotus class.The series takes place over 9 Rounds. Each rounds feature 3 qualifying heats and 2 Finals, with the best 10 final results counting to each drivers score. The Series uses Control Tyres, which are the Sorex 28R, 32R or 36R, each pre-glued with a Sorex insert and Rev-Lite wheel. For the first time, 2006 allowed the use of Tyre Warmers.

Products

As from September 2007, in alphabetical order

* Schumacher Fusion (1/10th Scale 4WD Fun Nitro Touring Car)

* Schumacher Havoc (1/8th Scale 2WD Nitro Stunt Truck)

* Schumacher Menace (1/10th Scale 4WD Nitro Truck)

* Schumacher Menace GTR (1/8th Scale 4WD Nitro GTR On-road)

* Schumacher Mi2 EC (1/10th Scale 4WD Electric Touring Car)

* Schumacher Mi3 (1/10th Scale 4WD Electric Touring Car)

* Schumacher Rascal (1/16th Scale 2WD Micro Nitro Truck)

* Schumacher Riot (1/10th Scale 2WD Nitro Truck)

Future

As of the past, times have recently changed in the RC world and 1/10th scale off-road has gained some popularity in parts of the world and Schumacher have started development on the new CAT. This has led to some excitement, with a few enthusiasts remembering the time in the past (mid 1980s to mid 1990s) when Schumacher was a dominant force in this class.

Schumacher also will continue with their successful touring car and fun car range.

The following are confirmed to be in development:

* CAT SX (1/10th Scale 4WD Electric Buggy)

The following are rumoured to be in development:

* Mi3 Euro
* Cat 2WD buggy

The CAT 4000 prototype was seen at several BRCA National and Regional events in early 2005, but subsequently never went into production. However, Schumacher released a small amount of information on their website in January 2008, prior to the Nurnberg Toy Fair, at which they showed the CAT SX to selected media and distributors.

The Mi3 was seen with small developments throughout the 2007 winter season, such as lightweight bulkheads and a different shape top deck. Most other manufacturers will have new chassis or updates out for the 2008 Touring Car Euros and 2008 Worlds, so Schumacher are sure to follow.

The CAT 2WD buggy was announced in the previously mentioned CAT SX information.

chumacher-distributed brands

Schumacher are also known as a UK distribution point of several well-known worldwide RC brands.

As of May 2007, the list stands at:

* A-Tech (Electric off and on-road cars) - Taiwan
* Alclad (Airbrush and rattle can paint) - America
* ATS (Setup gauges) - America
* Core RC (General storage accessories and LiPo batteries) - America
* CS Electronics (Electronic Speed Controls) - Germany
* Drift Factory (DVDs) - Germany
* Fantom (Motors and cells) - America
* Frewer (Bodies) - New Zealand
* GM Racing (ESCs and brushless systems) - Germany
* Happyfly (Helicopters) - Germany
* IDP Systems (Frequency Checkers) - America
* Keyence (ESCs) - Japan
* Nanda (Nitro off-road cars) - Taiwan
* New Era (Aluminium accessories) - America
* Power Racing (Tools - brand name of Nanda) - Korea
* Rossi (Nitro Engines) - Italy
* Sorex (Rubber tyres and plastic wheels) - Japan
* Titanium Racing (Aluminium and Titanium upgrade parts) - UK
* Ultimate Racing (Off-road accessories) - Spain

External links

* [http://www.racing-cars.com Schumacher] - official site