Serpent Model Racing Cars

Last updated
Serpent Model Racing Cars
Company typePrivate
IndustryResearch and Development, Manufacturing, Sales and Promotion
Founded1980
FounderRon Ton
Pieter Bervoets
Headquarters
Heemstede, North Holland
,
Netherlands
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Michael Salven, Designer, driver & owner
Ronald Baar, Commerce & co-owner , Xu Lau Logistics & co-owner , Lin Lau Production co-owner
ProductsRadio control model cars and components
Revenue US$1.5 million (2006)
OwnerMichael Salven
Ronald Baar
Number of employees
100
Parent Serpent Ltd
Website http://www.serpent.com

Serpent Model Racing Cars B.V. (known commonly as Serpent, or alternatively Serpent Motorsport, Serpent MRC or Team Serpent) was a company from Heemstede, North Holland in the Netherlands specializing in competition grade radio controlled cars which has won numerous IFMAR and EFRA titles, plus several national title; they are currently Chinese owned and all products are made in China as of printing.

Contents

History

The company was officially founded in 1980 as a brand name to Berton BV, named after a combination its founders, Pieter Bervoets and Ron Ton who were both radio controlled car racers. [1] The pair built their first RC car in 1972, using a Kyosho Dash 1 chassis modified by themselves, [2] then in 1977, the duo started to develop their first car under the Serpent name in 1977 and in 1979, both Bervoets and Ton had won separate EFRA 1:8 titles with their Mk. III Pro. [3]

One of its highlights of its competition career is the total domination during the IFMAR World Championship for 1:10 Scale 235mm IC On-Road cars that took place in Apeldoorn, in the Netherlands; when the Impacts, its competition car for the category at the time, dominated the top 10 positions in both the Class 1 (sportscars) and Class 2 (touring cars). [4]

The cars are nowadays developed using 3D CAD software such as Pro/Engineer and SolidWorks and are tested at the nearby race track in Heemstede. [1] Other than competing in national and international championships, Serpent also has its own one-make series Serpent Nitro Tours and Serpent Series, also has its own drivers' development program (Serpent Driver Development). [1]

Ton sold off his shares to Bervoets in 1997 who in turn sold the company off to Ronald Baar and the works' championship winning driver and designer, Michael Salven in 2005 [5] [1] to allow him to concentrate on his other project that he had also been running for years before, Virtual RC Racing, specializing in RC car racing simulation for home computers. [6]

Following its takeover, there had been a few changes to the company, although the hissing snake symbol has never been changed since the beginning, the company's colour scheme has changed from magenta to the national Dutch colour scheme of orange and the logo has also been changed before the takeover. Another change to the company was, the popular and long running RC community orientated website myTSN was disbanded in favour of a more dedicated company site [7]

In 2008 the Dutch company went into bankruptcy. [8] The recently started Off-Road projects were paused and the brand and the stock was sold to new company VectorRC in Holland. Serpent Ltd in Hong Kong is now in charge for the production and Distribution in Asia, Serpent Europe for Europe and Serpent America for the American region. Michael Salven, Ronald de Baar are owners of the Serpent brand and run a company (VectorRC BV) that takes care of the development and the marketing world-wide.

As of 2009, Serpent have won a total of seven world (IFMAR) and thirty three European titles (EFRA) together with five Japanese (JMRCA) and eight U.S. (ROAR) national titles as well as three Winternats. [1]

In 2011, VectorRC teamed up with 2 new partners in China and created Serpent Ltd Hong Kong. By moving to China, Serpent has been able to develop the car line-up massively to over 30 different models, while maintaining the very high quality and performance standards.


Product lines

ScaleNameTerrain2WD4WDBody widthEP/GPYear of productionNotes
1:8977 ViperOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2013
1:10747On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg200mm GP 2012
1:8966 / EOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg EP 2009
1:8960-08On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2007Updated version of 960
1:8960-07On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2006Updated version of 960
1:8F180 RTROn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2006Ready to run version of the F180
1:8F180On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2006First 1:8 true scale single seater car
1:8960FDOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2006Fabio Domanins edition, uprated
1:8960On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2005
1:8950-ROn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2003
1:8950On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP Uprated version
1:8Vector NT 2002On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2002–?Uprated version
1:8VETEQ 02On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2002–Uprated version
1:8Vector Spec 2000On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2000–?
1:8Vector Spec 98On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 1998–?
1:8VectorOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP –
1:8Excel MK IIOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP  ?–?
1:8Excel 9000On-road GP  ?–?
1:8Sprint 6020On-road GP  ?–?
1:8Sprint 6010On-road GP  ?–?
1:8Sprint 6000On-road GP 1988–?
1:8QuattroOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 1982 (1983 for 4WD) -
1:8Club RacerOn-road
1:8Quattro CompactOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP April 1, 1986SWB version of the Quattro. April Fool of French RC Car Magazine Auto8
1:8Super ProOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 1981–?
1:8Competition MK IIIOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 1979–?
1:8NitroOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2008?Currently under development, working name
1:8SpiritOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP  ?–1988
1:8CobraOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 1983–?
1:10S500/DurangoOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgEP2009Sold and manufactured by Team Durango. Named as Team Durango DEX410.
1:10Tenforceon-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgEP1980s–?
1:10835On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP –
1:10Impact M2 WC/02On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP 2002–
1:10Impact M2On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP –
1:10Impact Spec 2000On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP 2002–
1:10Impact 2On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP 2002–
1:10Impact RallyOn-road235mm GP 1995–Body mounts modified to allow for touring car bodies
1:10ImpactOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg235mm GP 1991–
1:10720 08On-road200mm GP 2007–
1:10720 07On-road200mm GP 2006–
1:10720On-road200mm GP –
1:10710 Team carOn-road200mm GP –
1:10710 RTROn-road200mm GP –Ready to run edition
1:10710On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg200mm GP –
1:10705On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg200mm GP –
1:10Impulse PRO 4WDOn-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgCheck mark 23x20 02.svg200mm GP –
1:10Impulse PRO CarbonOn-road200mm GP –
1:10S400On-road190mmEP–
1:12S120On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgEP2008–
1:24S240On-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svgEP2009–
1:8811 CobraOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2010
1:8811 Cobra-TOff-roadCheck mark 23x20 02.svg GP 2010Truggy version

1:8 811 Cobra Be Off-road

Check mark 23x20 02.svg

 EP

2011 1:10 411 On-road

Check mark 23x20 02.svg

 EP

2011

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Serpent Model Racing Cars - Company - About" . Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  2. ↑ "Serpent" (in Norwegian). 2 March 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  3. ↑ "30+ Years of EFRA Race History" (PDF). European Federation of Radio Operated Model Automobiles. 11 September 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  4. ↑ "IFMAR 1/10 Scale 235mm IC Championship Results". 27 February 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  5. ↑ "Serpent Co-Founder Ron Ton Passes Away". 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-14.
  6. ↑ "Major Announcement from SERPENT - HobbiesPR.com Forums - Radio Control en Puerto Rico" . Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Oisin O'Briain. "END OF AN ERA ON THE WEB (12/12/2006)" . Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  8. ↑ "Serpent For Sale or not???" . Retrieved 25 February 2016.
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