The company was started in Northampton, England as Schumacher Racing Products in 1980 by Cecil Schumacher. It originally produced upgrade components for model cars, including the world’s first ball differential.

Radio controlled cars evolved and changed rapidly. In the late half of the 1980s, off-road RC cars increased in popularity. Schumacher created the CAT (Competition All Terrain) 4WD 1/10 scale off-road buggy in 1986. It went on to win the world championships in 1987.