Tyco Indy Turbo Racing is a Magnum 440-X2 slot car racing set released into the US, UK, and other markets worldwide in 1988.
Concept
Based on the Indy 500, and released during the 10th national championship series of IndyCar Racing, and Tyco Indy Turbo Racing features two of the more popular cars at the time, a turbo boost controller, and is licensed by the teams involved.
On the front is some excellent artwork by Ken Smith depicting those cars, with his signature style that was present on virtually every RC car and slot car set from the era.
Features
Indy Turbo ships with a large Turbo Boost controller attached to the power input track circuit, with “Individual Turbo Boost Controller for each car”. Boost controllers! haha! I can imagine 8 year old me thinking this is the coolest thing ever. Boost controllers! I don’t believe this actually increases the speed/voltage on the track beyond regular voltages, as it’s really only a potentiometer to adjust the voltage between 20-100%, meaning you’re likely to have it at 100% at all times to run at regular speeds. Is your understanding different? Comment below!
It also features a stadium that you can construct from card, and a track combo that’s more versatile and interesting than most other electric racing sets.
Vehicles
Included in the set are two of the most popular cars of the late 80s, Kraco #18 driven by Michael Andretti, and Dominos #30 driven by Raul Boesel. The cars are well detailed, though it seems common for the front wings to snap off, based on a review of several dozen sets.
These cars were also released by Tyco as the 9.6V Indy Turbo Kraco and 9.6V Indy Turbo Dominos radio control cars.
Track Layout
The set provides 15 feet of track, longer than the average boxed slot car set from Tyco, allowing for more interesting courses including the reproduction of world famous motor racing tracks such as Daytona, Talladega, Elkhart and many more.
Included in each box set is:
10 x 9″ Radius Curve
1 x 15″ Straight
2 x 9″ Straight
1 x Turbo Racing Center Terminal
3 x 6″ Straight
10 assorted supports and struts
Plus grandstand, plagpole sets, guardrails.
Collectability and Availability
The Turbo Boost Controller alone makes this a valuable addition to any collection simply as it’s unique and pretty on-brand for Tyco’s focus on “Turbo” as a marketing term, and of course the set itself is quite good, with nice cars, a nice length track, and a popular motorsport as its theming.
It’s also not particularly expensive, however boxed sets don’t come up for sale very often, only a handful of times each year on eBay US.
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