Team Durango

Lore & Background

The original Durango was developed by Serpent Racing from the Netherlands, who teamed with Gerd Strenge to develop a Serpent-branded 4WD electric buggy based on prototype cars designed and built by Strenge. Called the S500, it was a radical departure from slab-sided hand-machined prototypes when shown at Nuremberg 2008, but the economic climate prevented production. For many years before, prototype cars designed and built by Gerd had noticeable success against larger commercial builders on the European racing scene. At the end of 2008, Strenge and designer Michael Vollmer formed the brand 'Team Durango', launching a redesigned S500 called the DEX410, making it available to the mass market since September 2009. The then-owners Hobbico discontinued the product in 2017. On January 10, 2018, Hobbico filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and in June 2018 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and went into liquidation.

Reader's Guide

Team Durango's significance lies in its origin from a failed Serpent Racing project and its rapid transition to a mass-market brand. The S500 prototype, shown at Nuremberg 2008, was a radical departure from earlier designs but never entered production due to the economic climate. The formation of Team Durango at the end of 2008 by Gerd Strenge and Michael Vollmer allowed the redesigned DEX410 to reach consumers from September 2009. The brand's legacy is tied to its predecessor's success: for many years before, Strenge's prototype cars had noticeable success against larger commercial builders on the European racing scene. Team Durango's product line included multiple 1/10 and 1/8 scale electric and nitro offroad buggies, trucks, and a touring car. The brand was discontinued in 2017 by then-owner Hobbico, which subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2018 and Chapter 7 liquidation in June 2018, ending the company's operations.

Did You Know?

• The S500 prototype was shown at Nuremberg 2008 but never went into production due to the economic climate.
• The DEX410, a redesigned S500, was available to the mass market from September 2009.

Origins & the Birth of a Brand

The story of Team Durango begins not with a corporate boardroom but with a single German racer, Gerd Strenge, whose hand-built prototype cars earned him a reputation across the European circuit. His designs attracted the attention of Serpent Racing, a Dutch company, and together they developed a four-wheel-drive electric buggy branded as the S500. When the car debuted at Nuremberg in 2008, it represented a dramatic shift away from the slab-sided, hand-machined prototypes that had dominated the scene. Yet the global economic downturn of that era conspired against the project, and the S500 never reached mass production under the Serpent name. Rather than let the work die, Strenge partnered with designer Michael Vollmer and, at the close of 2008, established the new brand Team Durango. Their first product was a redesigned version of the S500, rebadged as the DEX410, which hit the mass market in September 2009.

Racing Pedigree & Competitive Success

Long before the Team Durango name existed, Gerd Strenge's prototype machines were turning heads across Europe. For years, his individually crafted cars posted results that stood out against the much larger commercial manufacturers on the continent's racing circuit, proving that a small operation could compete with the big names. That competitive DNA carried over into the brand's official racing program. Team Durango fielded entries at both World Championship and National Championship events, where their cars earned podium finishes at multiple levels of competition. The brand's involvement in these high-stakes events was not merely a marketing exercise; it reflected the same engineering philosophy that had driven Strenge's earlier prototype work. The cars were designed with competition in mind from the outset, and the podium results at international and national events validated the design choices made in the workshop. For a brand that launched its first mass-market product in 2009, the ability to contend at the highest tiers of radio-controlled racing within a relatively short window underscored the strength of the underlying engineering.

Product Range & Market Reach

Team Durango operated as both a manufacturer and a distributor of radio-controlled cars and accessories, building a catalog that spanned multiple scales, drivetrain configurations, and power sources. At the 1/10 scale level, the lineup included a four-wheel-drive electric onroad competition touring car, a two-wheel-drive electric offroad competition buggy known as the DEX210F, a four-wheel-drive electric offroad competition buggy, and a four-wheel-drive electric offroad truck. Moving up to the larger 1/8 scale, the brand offered both a four-wheel-drive electric offroad competition buggy and a four-wheel-drive nitro-powered offroad competition buggy. This breadth meant that whether a racer preferred electric or nitro propulsion, two-wheel or four-wheel drive, onroad or offroad terrain, Team Durango had a dedicated competition chassis to offer. The DEX410, the brand's flagship four-wheel-drive electric offroad buggy, anchored the lineup and represented the direct evolution of the original S500 prototype. By covering so many distinct racing disciplines under one roof, Team Durango positioned itself as a one-stop shop for serious radio-controlled competitors seeking purpose-built machines rather than generic hobbyist toys.

Corporate End & the Hobbico Chapter

The final chapter of Team Durango was dictated not by the brand's own decisions but by the financial fate of its parent company. Hobbico, which had acquired ownership of the Team Durango product line, made the strategic decision to discontinue the brand's products in 2017. That move effectively ended Team Durango's presence in the radio-controlled market after roughly eight years of mass-market availability. The broader corporate picture then deteriorated rapidly. On January 10, 2018, Hobbico filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a reorganization filing that offered a slim chance of restructuring and emerging from debt. That hope proved short-lived. By June 2018, Hobbico had escalated to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, triggering full liquidation of the company's assets. The brand that had begun as a small Dutch-German collaboration between a racer and a designer ultimately fell victim to the same kind of economic headwinds that had originally prevented the S500 from reaching production under the Serpent name in 2008. The cycle of ambition, market entry, and corporate dissolution closed the book on Team Durango.