[frizzen]

Looks like you've got a pretty cool site over there.

There are about as many ways to get into this weird little corner of the RC hobby as there are with the real car world. Some buy kits, some buy Ready To Run / Almost Ready To Run, some scratch build, some convert toys, some guys will custom build for customers, some build machines that are just absolutely Artwork!
Maybe you like cars, trucks, suvs, semis, dumptrucks, emergency equipment, earth moving, warehouse logistics, forestry, building, demolition, millitary, historical equipment, future concepts... Some of us go to meets, some just play at home, a few even use the machines to improve their home.

With most RC car / truck / buggy stuff it's all about speed & racing, or just bashing. They compete, hold championships, have trophy girls, or go for Epic, and break parts goofing around having fun. It's awesome, it's sexy, it sells magazines! But other drivers, slow reflexes, or a glitch can instantly turn your car into a yardsale crash. Rules change every season and it often turns into how fast can you spend. Your dialed in competition rig can suddenly go from podium finishes, to back of the pack because some new part or chassis came out and dominates. There's often a lot of secrecy about what the winning or even competitive setups are.

On this side of things we usually like precision, power, scale, details. This is much more like a friendly, grown up version of 'playing with Tonkas in the sandbox'. Drive it like it's real, respect everyone elses stuff. I have yet to meet anybody who runs these, that aren't more than willing to help out with anything they know including better setup tips, and even sitting down building it with you.

You can spend as much as you feel like to get into 1/14 - 1/16 scale Truck and Construction models. Converting a cheap rc Car up to proportional hobby-grade electronics, fairly easy to keep around $100. Semi tractor kit, $500-600 should get you going. Hydraulic equipment like an Excavator that's ready to rock, more like $2,000+...

Downside is most local hobby shops tend to ignore us since we don't break enough parts or really burn through the consumable parts, and like you mentioned it seems like very few in the USA know about this facet.

Stick around, ask lots of questions, maybe hit up a meet somewhere, i think you'll have fun here.