It is quite sad to consider that the only toys representing the likes of Indianapolis roadsters and other sprint cars, midgets... produced in the day (I am not talking about the current die-cast Chinese stuff here, but the real thing as produced at the same time as the real cars were racing), were made in Japan by the various toy companies there, Daiyo, Yonezawa, Marusan...

I have been trying to collect every example I could find, if at all possible with their beautifully illustrated and often naive boxes, and in as new of a condition as possible.
At this time, I was able to find about a dozen and placed some of them into a table that has a clear glass top.

The larger cars are 15" long, the smallest a mere 6". All are thin pressed steel that is then painted or printed, depending on the toy. Trademarks are on most of them. Also in the display are old Indy tickets, including one for the 1966 race with the Lotus 38 picture. The small round plastic dome is an Olsonite premium for the Eagle cars they sponsored, but the little die-cast car inside could be anything...

The drivers look very Japanese and are made of a rubber-like celluloid plastic. I am still looking for one more to fit in the large white and red "Watson".

The three large roadsters were issued by the Shioji company of Osaka. The blue and red is the most common, often found on eBay. The green one is painted and was marketed by the Sears department stores. Both are friction powered and have an automatic jack feature that raises the cars by turning a key on the right side. This allows a change of wheels, as a pair of a front and rear extra wheels are supplied in the box as well as a wrench to remove the 3-prong knock-offs.

This one is a toy of the 1957 Kurtis-Novi was issued in 1958 by Tomiyama (Tomy) and distributed in the USA by Cragstan (Craig Stanton) in NYC. It is electric powered and steered and the arms of the driver actuate the steering. It was made in many versions including one that is more of a cartoon and has oversize driver's head and equally oversize inflatable tires! The little car in the background is typical of the more ordinary and less expensive toys that your mom would have a greater chance to buy for you than the larger and more expensive ones. Hence it is a lot more common today!

Cragstan sold the toys, produced in limited quantities, to large department stores such as Woolworth and Sears. This battery-powered toy has a "sparking" engine when operated. All tin construction with rubber tires, but the body is unusually painted with litho markings. A scarce toy today.

Another more toy-like version of the Kurtis-Novi is called "Firebird" and has actual inflatable pneumatic tires. It is however of a cheaper quality. it was a more toy-like version of the Tomy toy, also produced by Tomy. This was sold as the "Firebird" and had an extra tire and a small air pump to inflate them. It was slightly smaller than the more to scale version.
The two toys are shown here side by side. The balloon tires on the "Firebird" are getting a little flat by now... there were 3 other versions of the basic toy, in different color combinations.

Troy Ruttman drove the real car to a surprise win at the Indy 500. The toy is a remarkably accurate representation of it and was an immediate success.

As soon as aware of it, car owner J.C. "Aggie" Agajanian sued the Yonezawa company through his US distributor because they produced the toy without his consent. So Yonezawa recalled all the toys still in the retail stores, destroyed them and re-issued the toy under a new name, "Champion Racer". It was immensely popular, but very few of the original "correct" toy have survived. This one is the cleanest, most original and nicest example I have seen in over 30 years. It is signed under by Troy Ruttman, whom I met at Indy in 1992, a short five years before his death. Here is a VIDEO of Troy Ruttman crossing the finish line at Indy, driving this very car. The full size job, not the toy!

A superb toy in pristine condition, with the original box adorned with a marvelous painting showing the fight between A.J. and Eddie Sachs. Only a handful of these toys are known to have survived.

In the shadow of the large Shioji roadster, this one is powered by an electric motor, is a smaller 9" Trevis-Offy, with just as the one show above, the decor of the 1961 Indy 500-winning car. This nicely proportioned roadster was friction powered and produced by Yonezawa in several color schemes. This one is the most commonly found. It is a smaller version of the large model shown in this page. Other decorations and mechanical functions of this toy exist, as shown below.

This one is not in the best shape but is harder to find. It was part of a 2-car set that ran on a tin track. It is the same size as the Trevis above, at about 9".

This little guy is the smallest "Watson" toy in the day, at only 6". It is friction powered and makes a clacking "engine" noise. Sounds like a rod let go but never mind! It was made by Linemar, another name for the Maru company also known as Marusan.

American toys or models have always been kind of generic. The prewar and postwar editions of the die-cast aluminum models of the "Wilbur Shaw" car represent nothing in particular but a stylized open-wheel car. The Patco plastic, gas powered "Indy" cars are perfect examples of this trend. The Thimble-Drome and other smaller gas powered toys are just that, and hardly represent a particular vehicle. The Japanese toys are still that, toys, but are clearly identifiable as Watson-Offy or Kurtis Kraft models, as in this wonderful little midget racing car produced by Yonezawa.

Tinplate is of course very thin, 0.015" sheet steel, that is either lithographed, then pressed into shape in stamping tools, or assembled, then spray painted. "Pressed steel" generally refers to American toys made of very thick sheet steel that is rarely lithographed, almost always spray painted, like made by Marx, Structo, Tonka...

The base on  found survivors  is often in very bad condition, but this one has escaped child damage and is in nearly pristine condition, and that is quite rare.

Only minor wear on this guy's helmet, he is ready for more tough racing.

Other smaller 10" tinplate Watson-Offy toys are also available for display, including the 1961 Indy 500 winner and the John Zink Spl. as well as smaller (7" to 9") early 1950's Midgets and Big Cars, all made in Japan.

The 1972 Eagle-Offy in this picture does not belong and is a trophy won by one of our cars at the Amelia Island Concours.