Θ ά ν α τ ο ς

PIC GALLERY HERE

After pretty much wrecking my first tube chassis, Patooyee II, on an endo during a competition in Jellico, TN, I talked myself into just building a new buggy instead of fixing the bent Patooyee II chassis.  After a few comps, even winning one, I decided that I had neither the time nor money to compete on the scale that I would like to and that realization freed me up to do something a little different with this next buggy.

Since I didn't want to be out of a rig for very long, I knew that build-time would have to be a huge parameter for this buggy.  Having recently moved into my own small shop helped with this.  And after receiving so many comments about how ugly my last chassis was, I knew that I wanted a good-looking chassis this time.  I was prepared to make some functional compromises in exchange for some aesthetic pleasures, but as it turns out, in many cases, functionality and aesthetic pleasure are one and the same.

Finally, I just plain couldn't afford to do this all over again any time soon, so another build parameter had to be reliability.  That meant bullet-proof parts combined with overkill engineering.

Finally, in thinking of names for the buggy, I knew that I wanted something that would not only instill fear, but also something with some literary relevance as I do enjoy expanding my mind.  After much debate, I came up with Thanatos, the name of the Old Man of Death from Greek mythology and the ancient basis for today's Grim Reaper.

3.5 months after starting the build, I ended up with something that I am not only very proud of, but also something that is very capable.  Thanatos did great on its shake-down run at Morris Mountain, AL.