Not Tailgate, and not Windcharger, but something in the middle. This is the 1987 IGA Mexican release of Tailgate which was really just a Windcharger mould toy painted and moulded in Tailgate colours. This is one of a few series 3 Mexican minis which didn't actually get their own moulds as in the US/UK/Japan etc, they were in fact pretty much all repainted series 1 minibots. This particular release also had a second colour, yellow, and you can read about that here

This is not to be confused with the Brazilian white Camaro (Windcharger mould) which had a grey torso in robot mode. You can see from the above pictures that the underside is in fact blue as with a US Tailgate. As with all Mexican Transformers, this "Tailgate" has no rubsign, and also does not have the remoulded hood sections of a US Tailgate. It is for all intents and purposes, a white Windcharger. This toy has a very simple but effective colour scheme in this mode, but he might be easy to miss in a crowd of other strange minibots.

You can see there are some alignment issues between the rear of the car and the main central chassic section. US Hasbro Transformers and Takara Microchange toys tend to fit togther better than the IGA versions. I looked closely and found some excess plastic that was inhibiting effective alignment in this mode.

So, how different is he really from a US Tailgate in this mode?

They are not too distinct from one another colour-wise, as even the US Tailgate seems slightly off-white, Mexican style. The main distinguishing features are the extra moulding on the hood and the rubsign on the US TF, also you can see the silver section of the robot head just below the grill on the US Tailgate.

The next two photos show the Mexican Tailgate alongside a US TF Windcharger (to show similarities in moulding) and a white Mexican Bumblebee (to show similarities in off-white colour):

While the vehicle mode for this Mexican Tailgate is nice, it isn't spectacular. The robot mode is where the real interest lies with this piece:

Now he is clearly Windcharger, just in unfamiliar colours. This mould looks excellent in these colours and the Mexican version has the added bonus of sparkly blue plastic for the torso. The sparkly blue, chrome and white make for a nice contrast and a visually appealing robot mode.

While some minibot variations are outstanding due to their wild colour schemes and for being so far-removed from the originals, these series 3 Mexican minibots are quite classy with their relatively simple colour schemes. They are much more understated, yet just as mysterious and rare as most minibot variations from South America or Europe in some cases. This Mexican Tailgate is believed to have been a store exclusive in Mexico, yet it was exported and sold in European countries as well.

This close-up of the head shows a bit more of the sparkly metalflake blue section of the toy, which really adds to the displayability of Mexican minibots. The copyright on this Mexican white Tailgate is the same as that on the yellow version.

While there were a few little differences in vehicle mode between the Mexican and US Tailgates, in robot mode the differences are much more apparent:

You can see the entirely new headsculpt used by Hasbro/Takara for Tailgate, not to mention different torso moulding. The blue used by IGA is not only sparkly where the US paint is not, it is also noticeably darker. It is almost better to consider these two as entirely separate toys instead of variations of one another. The Mexican Tailgate just has way more in common with a TF Windcharger:

Yet, even here there are slight differences other than colour. The factory Autobot symbol on this Mexican Tailgate, as with all Mexican TFs, is different. It is of a more papery quality and is slightly larger as well. The printing of the insignia is also not quite as sharp as that of the US TF sticker.

The series 3 Mexican minibots such as the white Windcharger, blue Huffer and Outback-coloured Brawn provide a lovely missing link-style category of their own that defines their personality, and that is illustrated nicely by the following picture:

Black and White...

The Mexican Tailgate has easily enough unique features to make it more than just a standard colour variation. The colour it was released in has considerable significance. He was actually supposed to be a particular character, and yet is stranded in the body of another. In fact, the colours used on the Mexican Tailgate are, in my opinion, a slight improvement on those used for the US Transformers Tailgate. I also much prefer the Windcharger mould to that of Tailgate. Simple, yet very very effective.

All the best
Maz