Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - By Bill McCleery

As an Indianapolis Motor Speedway executive, Kevin Davey never envisioned leaving his job to sell toy cars. But now his company, GreenLight LLC, is accelerating into the fast lane of die-cast replicas. The company's miniature cars are sold nationally alongside Hot Wheels and Matchbox in such stores as Kmart, Meijer, Target and Toys R Us.  Other more specialized models for car hobbyists and race fans are sold through a network of distributors.

While GreenLight wouldn't release specific revenue numbers, the company said it is on pace to double its sales this year over 2006, and Davey anticipates doubling sales again in 2008. National experts in the die-cast replica hobby are taking notice. "GreenLight, I think, is poised to be the next wave in American small-scale die-cast," said Jeff Koch, a Hemmings Motor News editor who writes a column about collecting replicas.

Davey, 43, worked as the Speedway's licensing director before leaving in 1998 to become a freelance consultant on licensing issues. Fate began steering him toward his current business when the first client he attracted was die-cast replica brand Johnny Lightning. Executives at Johnny Lightning, after making Indy Car replicas several years, decided to discontinue the product line. Davey decided to fill the void and ventured into the replica business. "I saw an opportunity," Davey said. "The Speedway supported me on it. That was in 2002, and we started with a 1:64 scale Indy car."

The 1:64 scale represents the matchbox-sized, 21/2-inch-long variety of cars. Nowadays, GreenLight also makes larger 1:24 and 1:18 scale replicas. GreenLight first marketed a set of four cars representing the racing machines driven by Sarah Fisher, Sam Hornish Jr., Al Unser Jr. and Jeff Ward.

In addition to Indy cars, GreenLight now sells replicas of 1960s and 1970s muscle cars, modern sports cars and other varieties intended to appeal to a broad cross-section of customers. "We've just kind of grown it up," Davey said. "From a national standpoint, we really found our place on the map when we got into muscle cars." GreenLight's customers are mostly adults -- and they are far pickier about details than children.
Koch, 37, has been a die-cast collector since he was a child and now owns more than 8,000 miniature cars. He is impressed with the variety of car makes and models offered by GreenLight. "They seem to have everything in place," Koch said. "They have great subject matter. They have excellent detailing."
Davey knows the company must stay focused on the smallest features of its cars to keep its customers' respect. "Our collector base scrutinizes everything we do," he said. "They look at it with a microscope."

As he spoke, Davey examined a prototype of a car he hopes to send to retail shelves in about 60 days -- a 1971 Dodge Challenger used as the Indianapolis 500 pace car. He and production manager Matthew Elliott critiqued details such as an incorrect air cleaner on the engine and incorrect shifter inside the passenger compartment.

The orange-and-white Challenger convertible is destined to sell for approximately $40 in collector circles. Rather than hitting the retail shelves at major stores, the 1:18 scale car will be sold at more specialized venues. The smaller 1:64 cars sell for $4 to $5 each.
Because of low production costs in China, GreenLight and most other U.S. die-cast replica companies contract with Chinese factories for production of their cars, Davey said.

GreenLight has one employee who works in China as a liaison between GreenLight and the two Chinese factories it uses. It also employs another production manager in Indianapolis who is a specialist in dealing with Chinese factories. Davey declined to disclose financial details of his business, but he said he is proud of the success his company has experienced while competing against large corporations.

"We're a small company," he said of the 12-employee operation. "We're an under-$10 million company competing against $250 million companies and bigger. Mattel is a $1 billion-plus company." Mattel owns several of the oldest and perhaps best-known 1:64 scale die-cast car replica brands -- Dinky, Hot Wheels and Matchbox. The Dinky and Matchbox brands started in 1934 and 1953, respectively, under different British companies. Mattel launched Hot Wheels as a competitor to such brands in 1968.
Davey was familiar enough with cars at age 4 and 5 that he remembers his frustration at seeing Matchbox cars modeled mostly after British cars. That was before Hot Wheels gained traction when he was a few years older. "I wanted to play with the American cars," Davey said.
Each time a company sells a toy car modeled after an actual automobile, it must pay royalties to the company that produced the real car. Every time a toy Mustang is sold, for example, Ford Motor Co. receives a cut.
In coming months, Davey plans to move his business from Broad Ripple to bigger offices near 56th Street and Keystone Avenue. He anticipates adding staff -- and, of course, selecting new cars to build in miniature. "We're looking at some street racers and some movie-type cars like the Bullitt Mustang," Davey said. "We're in the process of working on licensing for these new programs."

You can view this article online at IndyStar.com.