CART Indy car series

[AeroCommander690]

It's Memorial Day weekend and I have the Indy 500 on the mind as I'm watching all the old races on ESPN Classics. I want to start a collection of Indy cars going backwards from 1995 (CART/IRL split). I am looking towards 1/24 scale, but 1/12 cars if I could find them. I want as many different car types as I can find. Whats out there?

1/20 is cool too

Edited May 24, 2012 by AeroCommander690

[Holeshot]

Tamiya did some in 1/20, and I think R/M had some in either maybe 1/20 or 1/24-25. These would be older ones before the split. Other than that you're probably looking at 1/18th or 1/43 diecasts or maybe some obscure resin stuff.

Good luck,

Curtis

[Bigasshammm]

AFAIK there isn't much out there. I think most of their licensing went the die caste route. R/M did do some kits back in the 80s 90s I believe. I don't think they're very good but it is what it is. Check out Indycals website as they make various decals and would probably list what kits the decals will fit.

There may be some resin stuff out there so someone more knowledgable will probably chime in.

All the R/M stuff is either 1/24 or 1/25th. If Tamiya did any 1/20 then they didn't do many and not sure if they'd still be available. Search plastic models on ebay for Indycar and see what that brings up.

[AeroCommander690]

Thanks guys.AMT put out some in the 80s, but I havn't looked on Evilbay.RM put some out in the 90s but they were all the same Reynard chassis with various team decals.Was there an Andretti 1/12 Tamiya kit?

I will have something for your GB.

Edited May 24, 2012 by AeroCommander690

[MoFo]

Not much. Sifting through eBay should give you a decent feeling for what's out there:

http://www.ebay.com/dsc/Automotive-/2580/i.html?LH_TitleDesc=1&_nkw=indy&_odkw=&_osacat=2580

For a more complete listing, check out the Open Wheel Racing Modelling forum. They've got Indy cars broken down by time period, with several kit listings. Note that most of the kits have been pretty much contemporary, so the older the kit, the cruder it will be. The short version, though, is that between MPC, AMT, Revell and Monogram, in 1/25 and 1/24, there's a couple of 60's cars, a couple of 70's, '86 - '90, and '98/'99. Tamiya did the '93 Lola as a snap kit. And that's about it.

Limited run, things will open up a bit more, but it won't be cheap. Model Factory Hiro, Studio 27 and the like may have released a kit or two over the years, but they'll be extremely spendy ($200 - 300 MSRP, more if they're "rare, collectors items") If you drop down to 1/43, Tameodid a series of Indy kits from '88, '89 and '93. Formula Models have done a bunch, and SMTS, Automodelli Hi-Fi, Meri and March have all done various kits over the years. Pretty much all will be OOP and tough to find, though.

I'm not aware of anything in 1/12, but I'm sure there's probably some OOP, resin and white metal cottage industry kit for the better part of $1000. The Tamiya Andretti kit was his F1 championship-winning Lotus 78.

Unfortunately, Indy cars just aren't very popular anywhere but the US. American auto racing modellers seem to be more into NASCAR so that's what Revell, Monogram and AMT have focused on, and outside the US Formula 1 is king. Since most of the smaller manufacturers are outside the US (mostly Italy, Japan, France and the UK), they haven't felt the need to fill in the gaps.

Edited May 24, 2012 by MoFo

[AeroCommander690]

Hey MoFo,thanks for all that info. I am going to watch a couple of those kits on Ebay to see how the price shakes out.I will be sure to use what you shared here.I didn't know of that open wheeled site.I have people coming out to go to the 500 so will proceed with the search later;Thanks again.

[2qwik4u]

You might also check Fred's Model World for your Indy kits. If he has any, you can usually get them pretty cheaply (around $5 or so). Fred's a pretty good guy to deal with too, I've bought stuff from him multiple times.

[AeroCommander690]

Thanks, will do

[Bigasshammm]

You might also check Fred's Model World for your Indy kits. If he has any, you can usually get them pretty cheaply (around $5 or so). Fred's a pretty good guy to deal with too, I've bought stuff from him multiple times.

Once you go Fred, you never go back.