Extra Vehicle Sitting Around? Turn It into the RC Car of Your Childhood Dreams!

For those of us of a certain age, the ultimate toy to have as a child was an RC car. There was nothing better than racing the little cars around the street—at least for the 15 minutes or so before the cheap NiCad batteries were depleted. As adults, we get to drive our own cars, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still relive the fun of RC. But, why not take it to the next level and build yourself an RC car from a real sedan?

That’s what YouTuber William Foster did with a cheap junkyard sedan. Foster started with an inexpensive Holden Commodore, which is a common car in Australia that can be purchased for very little money. That’s especially true for this one, which is stripped down and unsuitable as actual transportation. But, it runs, and that’s all Foster needed to get started converting it to RC control.

That process was actually fairly straightforward, with a simple hobby RC controller and receiver that connects to a pair of Arduinos. The Arduinos in turn drive steppers motors that operate the car’s original controls. One stepper motor is connected to the steering column with sprockets and a chain. Then two more stepper motors are converted to linear motion with threaded rods to depress and release the brake and gas pedals.

The result is a real car that can be driven completely remotely. As you can see in the video, it appears to be surprisingly responsive. Both the steering and pedal action operate quickly and effectively. If you happen to have access to a beater car, you could follow Foster’s lead and convert it to RC control for less than most decent hobby RC cars.