Replicarz creates scorching ’73 Indy Eagles

Editor’s Note: An earlier review I did on similar models was pre-production prototypes. These are the real deal and are on sale now from Replicarz.
Swede Savage was not a relative of mine, but as a teen in the 1970s I was a big fan, mainly because of the name and his association with AAR and Dan Gurney. But Swede was always quick and the blinding fluorescent red of his 1973 STP racer made pulling for Swede an easy task. He and long-time top-tier racer Gordon Johncock were teammates that year, creating an exciting duo, both with a good shot at winning the 1973 Indianapolis 500.Now Replicarz has nailed both the color and the giant-winged Eagle racers themselves. The No. 20 was driven to victory by two-time Indy champ Johncock, and No. 40 by his youthful teammate Savage.

Johncock’s ’73 winner was created a few years back by Carousel 1, and that was well executed, but Replicarz ups the ante. First, the color is much closer to the glaring red that STP used. Replicarz also updated the driver’s seat to make it matte white, creating a more realistic look along with the cars’ black-trimmed-in-white numbers, which are more true to the actual cars that raced in the tragic, rain-shortened 1973 Indy 500.

Replicarz also includes a lot more sponsor logos on the cars’ side pods. Logos include the likes of Ashland Oil, Bell helmets, Aeroquip, Raybestos, Perfect Circle and PowerHouse.

Brian Fothergill of Replicarz tells me that he and his design team have modeled the cars as closely as possible to the way they were raced. That means more logos than a car might have had during practice or qualifying. A web search turned up the 1973 winner and indeed, the decals match very closely. Continue reading Die-cast: Replicarz 1973 STP Indy 500 Eagles →