Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels Car - Dodge Viper

Hot Wheels is a popular brand of toy automobile, introduced by U.S. toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to that brand as well.

Most Hot Wheels cars measure about 2½ inches (6 cm) in length, and are approximately 1:64 scale.

Aside from their popularity as toys, Hot Wheels cars are also popular collectibles. Mattel estimates that 41 million children, mostly boys, grew up playing with the toys, the average collector has over 1,550 cars, and children between the ages of 5 and 15 have an average of 41 cars. A June 2005 episode of Antiques Roadshow valued a late 1960s collection of Hot Wheels cars in their original packaging at roughly $100 each, with some of the more rare models worth $200-$300 each. Since 1998, Hallsguide has been an accurate source of pricing and information for Hot Wheels online.

The Hot Wheels brand also sold plastic track on which the cars rolled and which could be placed to make interesting jumps and loops. Motive power was by means of gravity, with the starting end of the course placed higher than the end by means of an included C clamp. A dual set of tracks could be set up and using a starting gate a race could be conducted. Later sets had both a plastic starting gate and finishing flag which would be tripped by the first car although a visual ascertainment was usually sufficient.

Other sets included a Supercharger that had an electric motor and foam covered wheels that propelled the car around a loop of track as the cars passed through. Accessories included a lap counter and a speedometer. Sizzlers had a built in motor and a tiny rechargeable battery. Fat Track was black (in contrast to the regular track's orange color), about four times as wide as regular track, and was intended for Sizzlers.

1968

Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, decided to produce a line of toy-diecast miniature cars for boys. Although his executives thought it was a bad idea, the cars were a big success. There were sixteen cars (or castings) released in 1968. All of the cars were designed by Harry Bentley Bradley, with the exception of the Custom Volkswagen which was designed by Ira Gilford. Even though Harry Bentley Bradley was from the car industry, he didn't design the full-fuctioning versions of the real cars. However, the Deora, which was directly based on the Dodge Deora concept car, was his original design. He had previously worked with Chrysler Corporation on designing a concept car which was built by Mike and Larry Alexander. The Custom Fleetside was also his original design, based on his heavily customized '64 El Camino.

Cars released in 1968

• Beatnik Bandit (designed by Ed Roth)
• Custom Barracuda
• Custom Camaro
• Custom Corvette
• Custom Cougar
• Custom Eldorado
• Custom Firebird
• Custom Fleetside
• Custom Mustang
• Custom T-Bird
• Custom Volkswagen
• Deora
• Ford J-Car
• Hot Heap
• Python (designed by Dean Jeffries)
• Silhouette

All of the cars featured Spectraflame paint, delrin bearings, redline wheels, and working suspension. The Spectraflame paint was a transparent, "candy" color paint, that when viewed through polished metal, looked like a dazzling, bright custom paintjob.

In order for the cars to go fast on the plastic track, Mattel picked out a cheap, durable, low-friction plastic called Delrin to be placed in between the axle and wheel. The result was cars that could go up to 200mph at 1:64 scale.

A symbol among collectors, the Redline wheels are what gave this era of Hot Wheels its name; redlines. Just a simple stamped-on redline around the face of a wheel, the redlines were on Hot Wheels cars until 1977.

The working suspension for the cars was simple, but flawed. The axles were bent into a weird "C"-like shape that was connected to the chassis. When the child pushed down onto a car, the axles would bend like a real car. However, the axles were hard to install on the chassis while being assembled and would break off the chassis if very hard pressure was applied. The suspension was redesigned in 1970.

Packaged along with the cars was matching metal buttons, that could be attached onto a belt so a fellow collector wearing the buttons could show off what cars he had.

1969

As it turned out, the Hot Wheels brand was a staggering success! Unfortunately, Harry Bentley Bradley didn't think that would be the case and had quit Mattel to go back to the car industry. When the company asked him back, he recommended a good friend, Ira Gilford. Gilford, who just had just left Chrysler, quickly accepted the job of designing the next Hot Wheels models. Some of Hot Wheels' greatest cars, like the Twin Mill and Splittin' Image, came from Ira Gilford's drawing board.

Car released in 1969

• Brabham Repco F1
• Chaparral 2G
• Classic '31 Ford Woody
• Classic '32 Ford Vicky
• Classic '36 Ford Coupe
• Classic '57 Bird
• Custom Charger
• Custom AMX
• Custom Continental
• Custom Police Cruiser
• Ford MK IV
• Indy Eagle
• Lola GT70
• Lotus Turbine
• Maserati Mistral
• McLaren M6A
• Mercedes-Benz 280SL
• Rolls-Royce
• Shelby Turbine
• Splittin' Image
• Torero
• Turbofire
• Twin Mill
• Volkswagen Beach Bomb

Splittin' Image, Torero, Turbofire, and Twin Mill were part of the "Show & Go" series and are the very first original in-house designs by Hot Wheels.

The Volkswagen Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is what some consider, the Holy Grail of Hot Wheels. The regular version of this modified VW Bus has "pods" on the sides of it. The first prototypes do not have these "pods" and have surfboards sticking out of rear window, hence the name "rear-loader". During this Hot Wheels era, Mattel wanted every car to work with the track and make sure that the cars will do every stunt. Unfortunately, when the bus went through the Super-Charger, the car would spin-out and crash. Ira Gilford's assistant Howard Rees and his good friend Larry Wood came up with "sidepods" to widen the bus to work with the Super-Charger. That final prototype became the production version of the Volkswagen Beach Bomb, now nicknamed the "side-loader" Beach Bomb by collectors. A regular side-loader Beach Bomb, in mint condition, could be worth between $150 to $600 dollars. A Rear-loader, in any condition, can go over $15,000. A couple of years ago, a Hot Pink rear-loader Beach Bomb went for auction and was reportedly sold for over $70,000 to legendary Hot Wheels collector Bruce Pascal.

1970

The year 1970 was another great year for Hot Wheels. Howard Rees, who worked with Ira Gilford, was tired of designing cars. He wanted to work on the Major Matt Mason action figure toy lineup. A good friend of Rees' was a man by the name of Larry Wood. They worked together at Ford designing cars. When Wood found out about Hot Wheels at a party Rees was holding, Rees offered Wood the job of designing Hot Wheels. Wood agreed, and by the end of the week, Larry Wood was working at Mattel. His first design would be the Tri-Baby. After 36 years, Larry still works for Hot Wheels.

Another designer, Paul Tam, joined Larry and Ira. Paul's first design for Hot Wheels was the Whip Creamer. Tam continued to work for Mattel until 1973. Among the many futuristic designs Tam thought up for Hot Wheels, some of the collector's favorites include Evil Weevil (a Volkswagen with two engines), Open Fire (an AMC Gremlin with six wheels), Six Shooter (another six wheeled car), and the rare Double Header (co-designed with Larry Wood).

2000s

Paul Tam's son Alec Tam joined Hot Wheels' design team in 2000 and still works for Mattel today. Alec has also designed the updated version of his dad's first Hot Wheels design, the Whip Creamer II.

The Whip Creamer II was first introduced in 2002 as a 2003 First Edtion. Then it became A 2004 T-Hunt Series Car, A 2004 Roll Patrol Series Car, a 2005 White Heat Series Car, and a one that was included with the Third Hyperpod and the Third Episode of AcceleRacers on DVD.

2005

Hot Wheels continued with new "extreme" castings for the 2nd year, debuting 40 distorted cars in addition to 20 "Realistix" models. In addition to the 60 new First Editions, Hot Wheels also had the standard 12 Treasure Hunts, 10 Track Aces, 50 Segment Series Cars, 50 Open Stock Models and 4 Mail-in Volkswagen Promo Cars plus the special 13th Treasure Hunt, the Customized VW Drag Truck. Hot Wheels also unveiled its new "Faster than Ever" line of cars which had special nickel-plated axles along with Open-Hole 5 Spoke wheels. These adjustments reduce friction dramatically, resulting in cars that are "Faster than Ever." These cars were available for a limited time only from the beginning of October towards the end of November.

Realistix First Editions

• 1. 1 Ford Shelby Cobra Concept
  2. 2 Mitsubishi Eclipse Concept Car
  3. 3 Ferrari 575 GTC
  4. 4 Airy 8
  5. 5 `69 Firebird T/A
  6. 6 2005 Ford Mustang GT
  7. 7 1971 Buick Riviera
  8. 8 Pocket Bikester
  9. 9 Firestorm
  10. 10 Acura HSC Concept
  11. 11 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
  12. 12 Symbolic
  13. 13 Formul8r
  14. 14 Bully Goat
  15. 15 Split Decision
  16. 16 Ford Shelby GR-1 Concept
  17. 17 Cockney Cab II
  18. 18 `69 Pontiac GTO
  19. 19 Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 9
  20. 20 Maserati MC12

Drop Tops First Editions

• 1. 21 Low C-GT
  2. 22 Lomad
  3. 23 Curb Side
  4. 24 Low Carbs
  5. 25 `63 Corvette Sting Ray
  6. 26 Flattery
  7. 27 Mid Drift
  8. 28 Drop Top
  9. 29 Speed Bump
  10. 30 Dodge Super 8 Hemi

Blings First Editions

• 1. 31 Chrysler 300
  2. 32 Ford Bronco Concept
  3. 33 L'Bling
  4. 34 Mercedes-Benz G500
  5. 35 Quadra-Sound
  6. 36 Rocket Box
  7. 37 Hummer H3
  8. 38 Block O' Wood
  9. 39 Dodge Magnum R/T
  10. 40 `67 Chevy II

Torpedoes First Editions

• 1. 41 Tor-Speedo
  2. 42 `71 Dodge Charger
  3. 43 Bullet Nose
  4. 44 Itso-Skeenie
  5. 45 Blastous
  6. 46 Subaru Impreza WRX
  7. 47 Slider
  8. 48 Overbored 454T
  9. 49 Trim TRK
  10. 50 Willys Coupe

X-Raycers First Editions

• 1. 51 Ferrari 360 Modena
  2. 52 Paradigm Shift
  3. 53 Scion xB
  4. 54 `69 Chevelle
  5. 55 Horseplay
  6. 56 Stockar
  7. 57 Phantasm
  8. 58 Vandetta
  9. 59 Poison Arrow
  10. 60 Burl-Esque

Track Aces

• 1. 61 Trak-Tune
  2. 62 Backdraft
  3. 63 Flashfire
  4. 64 Power Pipes
  5. 65 Vulture
  6. 66 Open Road-ster
  7. 67 Chevy Stocker
  8. 68 Power Pistons
  9. 69 Sling Shot
  10. 70 Speed Blaster

Final Run Series

• 1. 71 Thomassima 3
  2. 72 Treadator
  3. 73 Buick Wildcat
  4. 74 Hydroplane
  5. 75 Big Chill

Rebel Rides Series

• 1. 76 Outsider
  2. 77 Blast Lane
  3. 78 W-Oozie (Crooze)
  4. 79 Scorchin' Scooter
  5. 80 Fright Bike

Asphalt Jungle Series

• 1. 81 Combat Ambulance
  2. 82 Low Flow (Crooze)
  3. 83 Dodge Neon (Hardnoze)
  4. 84 Deora ('Tooned)
  5. 85 Anglia Panel

Hot Wheels Racing Series

• 1. 86 Mustang Cobra
  2. 87 Shadow MK IIa
  3. 88 Pikes Peak Celica
  4. 89 Escort Rally
  5. 90 F-Racer

Pin Hedz Series

• 1. 91 Custom `59 Cadillac
  2. 92 `40s Woodie
  3. 93 `64 Chevy Impala
  4. 94 Way 2 Fast
  5. 95 `56 Ford

Redline Series

• 1. 96 Surfin' School Bus
  2. 97 `32 Ford Delivery
  3. 98 8 Crate
  4. 99 `65 Bonneville
  5. 100 Tail Dragger

Muscle Mania Series

• 1. 101 `71 Plymouth GTX
  2. 102 `63 T-Bird
  3. 103 `64 Riviera
  4. 104 `69 Dodge Charger
  5. 105 `65 Impala

White Heat Series

• 1. 106 16 Angels
  2. 107 MS-T Suzuka
  3. 108 Whip Creamer II
  4. 109 Phantom Racer
  5. 110 2002 Autonomy Concept

Crazed Clowns Series II

• 1. 111 `49 Merc (Hardnoze)
  2. 112 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C (Fatbax)
  3. 113 Cool-One
  4. 114 `41 Willys
  5. 115 Dairy Delivery (Blings)

20+ Series

• 1. 116 Cadillac Sixteen
  2. 117 Power Panel
  3. 118 Boom Box
  4. 119 Switchback
  5. 120 Chevy S-10 ('Tooned)

Treasure Hunt Series

• 1. 121 Purple Passion
  2. 122 `67 Camaro
  3. 123 `58 Corvette
  4. 124 `57 Chevy
  5. 125 `56 Flashsider
  6. 126 3-Window `34
  7. 127 Mustang Mach 1
  8. 128 `67 Pontiac GTO
  9. 129 Rodger Dodger
  10. 130 Morris Cooper
  11. 131 `70 Plymouth Barracuda
  12. 132 Double Demon
  13. 133 Customized VW Drag Bus

2006

2006 is turning out to be one of the most highly anticipated years of collecting. The 2006 mainline will consist of 38 First Editions (all realistic), 12 Treasure Hunts, 12 Track Aces, 60 Segment Series, 96 Open Stock Models and 5 Mystery Cars. There were two limited editions: a Honda Civic Si that was only availible at the 2005 SEMA convention and the CUL8R with Faster Than Ever (FTE) wheels which was only availible by mail.

As of right now the following First Editions Models have been confirmed

First Editions

• 1. 1 Plymouth Superbird
  2. 2 Toyota AE-86 Corolla
  3. 3 Nissan Silvia S-15
  4. 4 Chrysler 300C Hemi
  5. 5 Ferrari 512M
  6. 6 Bone Shaker
  7. 7 `69 Corvette
  8. 8 Porsche Carrera GT
  9. 9 Cyclops
  10. 12 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe
  11. 19 Nissan Z
  12. 20 Hammer Sled
  13. 28 Honda Civic Si

Segment Series Drift Kings 1. Super Tsunami 2. Toyota Supra 3. 24/Seven 4. Mid Drift 5. Slider

Mopar Madness 1. 70 Plymouth Barracuda

Chrome Burnerz 1. What-4-2

Tag Rides 1. Hiway Hauler

Treasure Hunts 1. Asphalt Assault 2. 40 Ford Coupe 3. So Fast 4. Custom 59 Cadillac 5. VW Beetle Cup 6. 67 Mustang 7. 69 Dodge Charger 8. Hummer H3T 9. CUL8R 10. C6 Corvette 11. Pit Cruiser 12. Dairy Delivery

Hot Wheels Classics

The Hot Wheels Classics line was an immediate hit with enthusiasts everywhere. The series consisted of 25 models with all metal bodies decked out with Spectraflame Paint. Each of the 25 cars was released with 7 or 8 different colors. There were also 1:18 scale Hot Wheels Classics and Track Sets for the 1:64 scale Classics. The Classics version of the Purple Passion was released with Real Rider tires at the San Diego Comic Con.

External links

• Hot Wheels Homepage
• Hot Wheels Collectors Homepage
• Pennsylvania Hot Wheels Collectors Club
• Hallsguide for Hot Wheels Collectors