Forty Years Of Hot Wheels

[Guest rick r]

The Editor at Muscle Car Review has given me a Task, do a March issue story on the 40th Anniversary of Mattel Hot Wheels.

I have a little time to work, so I figured 'youse guys' might have some opinions on the subject.

Any all-time favorites?

What's the all-time WORST?

Did HW ifluence the real car hobby?

How about the Model Car hobby?

Did the HW fad help introduce people to plastic?

Talk to me!

My e-mail is rickrothermel@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Edited December 8, 2007 by rick r

[ramonesblues]

My favorites are the black '32 three window. and the '40 ford sedan with the soft rubber tires.

[Jairus]

Rick, remember the Petersen Hot Rod Museum? You had better... you and I were both there!

There were three full sized built up replicas of little Hot Wheels cars.... Deora, Deora II and Twin Mill on the second floor.

Not to mention Red Baron was a real car too... or maybe that was a design that came from the model... or was it a full size car first?

A lot of the first batch of cars in 1968 were designed by none other than Harry Bentley Bradley, something to think about.

I will add more info as I think of it.

Edited December 9, 2007 by Jairus

[LVZ2881]

my favorite was the blue '56 ford pickup w/ the bikes in back.....

uncle had a 1:1 blue '56 f100, maybe thats why...

[Jantrix]

I think Hot Wheels is more-or-less responsible for my love of custom cars. I didn't have hot rods or race cars around me to inspire as a kid, but I sure had gobs of Hot Wheels. My Dad would take us out to car shows and I'd walk around pointing to the ones I had Hot Wheels of. When I got into models as a teen, I stopped collecting HW because I no longer played with them as I had a kid, but I did then as I sure do now, always stop by the HW rack in any store and just check out the awesome designs. They still inspire to this day. I've always thought of HW's as being built by guys who REALLY love cars and designing toys of them, and getting to make money doing it is just about the coolest thing in the world.

[S. Svendsen]

I loved them when I was little and insisted upon sleeping with them. My mom said I use to wake in the morning with impressions of hotweels cars on my face! LOL. I stopped playing with them when I was about 13 or 14 but I never stopped buying them. I just stopped opening the packages. I have about 500 or so in the packages today and I still have about 20 to 30 of my original redlines from when I was a kid.

I also remember having tons of that orange track and the loop setup. I had a Thundershift 500 racetrack too. I played with that thing for hours! Now, my 4 year old son loves hotwheels and we play on the floor with them together just like when I was 4, so I guess it has come full circle.

If I had to pic a favorite, I'd have to pick the original 68 redline Camaro. I had a metallic brown one when I was little that was like my grandfather's 1=1 67 Camaro.

Here's some pics of my collection.

[Guest rick r]

GOOD STUFF GUYS, keep 'em coming!

Re: the Baron, Larivee was a car show promotor through the '60s into the '80s, and he would commission builds of feature cars by journeyman builders so as not to have the budget of the majors like Barris.

When I dealt with Jay Ohrberg in the 80s he was touring a replica that he had recently built himself, to European car shows (as to make them hate America even more....) I know his car had the Pontiac OHC 6, I'll ask him about the original. Right on about the silver roof, Jay would stock a case of Krylon before every tour. ACRES of silver overspray! His car had a microscopic entry zone, doubt anyone ever sat in the thing.

The HW posts are great, lend credence to my 'intro' theory, just a masterstroke by Mattel at a time when they had the momentum to rule the world...

[Phil Patterson]

I liked taking the big slicks and little fronts from the cars that had them like "The Spoilers" series, then swap them onto the ones that didn't. You had to be careful though because sometimes the rear slicks would rub on certain vehicles.

I remember being quite upset when they made the wheels permanently attached, I felt they shouldn't have been letting "babies" play with those toys in the first place!

I was around 11 at the time, IIRC.

[82notch]

I would like to thank you for doing the article. These little cars have been a thrill to play with and collect for the past 25 years. SOme of my favorites over the years are the 65 mustang and 67 camaro. They do go hand in hand with the automotive industry, for instance you can buy hot wheels of the new camaro and challanger already...good luck with the article.

[Dr. Cranky]

I have a small collection, but almost a complete collection of Johnny Lightning vehicles . . .

[MrObsessive]

I got my first Hot Wheels when they were intro'd in '68............it was the Custom Camaro in Antifreeze. I LOVED that car!! I carried it around with me all the the time...........and as a 7 year old I thought Hot Wheels were the neatest thing ever!

The second Hot Wheels I got didn't stick around too long though............it was the Custom Mustang in Candy Red I had all of three days, when a best friend of mine and I were playing with our Hot Wheels on the porch steps. There was a 1½" gap between the the top step and the porch and............you guessed it! The Mustang went down the gap never to be seen again!

Needless to say I was one upset 7 year old! Of course, my Mom wouldn't buy me another one (right away)........... she told me to "Learn to be more careful where I played with my toys"!

I liked all of the original Hot Wheels especially the 1968-70 versions......after 1970, they got kinda wierd with body styles I couldn't relate to because they looked like nothing I was seeing on the streets at the time.

I'd have to say my all time favorite Hot Wheel of that era is probably the Sand Crab. I think every kid I knew in the Fourth Grade when that one came out had a Sand Crab!

Right now I got probably about 30 or 40 original Hot Wheels in pristine shape all from the '68-'70 era. I started collecting them again about 5 years ago..........and BOY are they pricey now!! I also have a bunch of the original "Sizzlers"..........You remember, those little motorized cars that ran on the "Fat Track"?

I've got some of the original ones, and yes, they do run! They've been restored though. Mattel is even making Sizzlers again, and they're at your local Target Store! I have some of the accessories of course, such as the curves and orange track, Fat Track, Super Charger Sprint Set, and "Tune Up Tower".

Both the Super Charger Sprint Set and Tune Up Tower are in working condition!

BTW, anyone here remember the "Hot Wheels" cartoon series that ran on ABC during the 1969-70 season? That featured none other than the Sand Crab and "Jack Rabbit Special". (Got an original of that one too! heehee)

[Dr. Cranky]

The reason I stopped collecting Hot Wheels is because I realized I could never own all 1 Billion plus of them!!!

Now, there's a room I'd love to see . . . someone with even a million Hot Wheels in the collection!!!

[Jairus]

BTW, anyone here remember the "Hot Wheels" cartoon series that ran on ABC during the 1969-70 season? That featured none other than the Sand Crab and "Jack Rabbit Special". (Got an original of that one too! heehee)

Bill,

Yes, I watched every episode! The Demon was one of the cars used in that series for one episode. If I remember right some young kid wanted to buy it as a used car and the leader of the pack, older brother, whatever his name was, stated that it was an unsafe jalopy. Of course the kid bought it and crashed. The moral of the story, as there was always a moral, was always listen to your elders.

There were comic books with the same characters too....

My first Hot Wheels was a Dodge Deora in Antifreeze purchased by my parents in '68. Car got lost about 15 years ago so I bought another to replace it off eBay pretty cheap w/surf boards even!

J

[Dr. Cranky]

I knew someone in the "antique" business who bought Hot Wheels on sale from Wal Mart (at 47 cents a piece), burried them for a few months, then sold them as "attic" finds, some for as much as 4.99!!!

[MrObsessive]

Bill,

Yes, I watched every episode! The Demon was one of the cars used in that series for one episode. If I remember right some young kid wanted to buy it as a used car and the leader of the pack, older brother, whatever his name was, stated that it was an unsafe jalopy. Of course the kid bought it and crashed. The moral of the story, as there was always a moral, was always listen to your elders.

There were comic books with the same characters too....

My first Hot Wheels was a Dodge Deora in Antifreeze purchased by my parents in '68. Car got lost about 15 years ago so I bought another to replace it off eBay pretty cheap w/surf boards even!

J

Hee Hee........just did a little diggin' around, and I came up with this!

[Aaronw]

Thanks for that pic, I very distinctly remember the nearest 3 the green #7 car, the blue one next to it and the VW. That brings back a lot of memories.

Didn't they give away hot wheels at some gas stations during the early 70's? I remember getting toy cars that I'm pretty sure were hot wheels when I'd go to the gas station with my grandmother. I think it was Shell, because I only remember getting them with her, my parents favored Texaco, Mobil and Standard Oil / Chevron (ok so maybe they had something against Shell and Exxon rather than being faithful to the other oil companies ).

When I started reading this the first hotwheels cars that came to mind were the Mantis (I think thats the name) that had side by side seats and a double flip up bubble top, the other I think came a bit later because I remember getting it in second grade ('76) it had a high voltage theme, kind of a door stop covered with lightning bolts.

[MrObsessive]

I LOVE this thread! Takes me back to being a kid!

The green one in the front is the "Sugar Caddy" modified from their Custom Eldorado, (One of the "Spoilers" editions) and the blue one I believe is a Lincoln Mark III.

[Howard Cohen]

I have to say that Hot Wheels definitely had an effect on the hobby and the 1:1 car world. I didn't collect Hot Wheels when I was young but my cousin had a pile of them and we used to race them all the time.

I started building model cars and going to car shows in the early 60's and I have been working at car shows since 1964. I got to meet many of the builders and owners and many of them had Hot Wheels, quite often as part of their display.

The Deora was a design from Bradley (I think) and built by the Alexander Bros. The Red Baron was a Daniel design built by Chuck Miller on contract from Bob Larivee Sr. who still owns the car. I believe that both cars were model kits and 1:1 cars before they were Hot Wheels or very close in time.

We had the Red Baron at our car show in Toronto a few years ago. Bob and Chuck brought it from Detroit and I spent a lot of time with them talking cars and models. The Red Baron does run! I watched it drive around the building during move-in and move-out and my show associates wondered why I was watching it drive. I told them it was a 60's thing.

Then there was the effect Hot Wheels had on the worldwide Ferrari model car market when Mattel bought the worldwide rights to Ferrari models. I don't think it worked the way Mattel wanted but they did get a lot of press from it.

Look at the CadZilla Hot Wheels car and others like it. There must be a huge following of Hot Wheels collectors. I know there is an online club sponsored by Mattel.

I have a few Hot Wheels in my stash, not all in sealed packages and my favourite is the 'L'il Coffin' or whatever they call it. I have been putting BareMetalFoil on Hot Wheels for people for a few years now, although I think I exhausted the local market. At shows in the Toronto area, there are still lots of Hot Wheels collectors, most of whom have never opened a package.

Yup...big effect on collectors, builders, kids, adults, car people everywhere.

[gasman]

I was always more of a matchbox guy growing up. 07 was Matchbox's 75th anniversary. here's one of the 75th anniversary cars. there not rare. I know a lot of Hot Wheels people have migrated over to Matchbox now.

My favorite Hot Wheels car has been the Dodge Aries wagon. I had one when I was younger. lost it. now I need to find another one. my favorite matchbox was the Mercury Sable wagon. like the Aries wagon I need to find another

[Guest rick r]

Hey, Bill, here's a piece of trivia for ya ... the "Tank" Mallory character in the Hot Wheels cartoon series and comic books ... his real first name was Thaddeus!

This I know because I had an issue of the comic book where he and Jack go to visit Tank's sick grandfather, who calls Tank by his given name. Jack, or course, gives him a hard time about it.

Amazing how I can remember stuff like that but can't remember half the time what night I'm supposed to take out the freakin' garbage!

Yeah, I know how it is!

Welcome to the club!

There is a select fraternity of us who revel in possessing a cranium full of useless knowledge!

Neurosurgeons charge a fortune for that rare and risky trivia-ectomy surgery (done to enable the memory of IMPORTANT stuff!

[SoCalCarCulture]

Rick

I keep forgetting to tell you that my Mom was Executive Producer on the Hot Wheels Cartoon series, that was part of how I met Larry Wood back in '69.

We can talk about it when we get together for lunch.

[Guest rick r]

Rick

I keep forgetting to tell you that my Mom was Executive Producer on the Hot Wheels Cartoon series, that was part of how I met Larry Wood back in '69.

We can talk about it when we get together for lunch.

Thanks, Dave!!!

I've long suspected that life's path is determined in part by how well you choose your own PARENTS!

[samdiego]

I'm in the same catagory as s. svendson, I've got thousands and I just can't stop. I've got more little wheels in my place than any human should be allowed. The Custom Fleetside rendered in Jairus' post was a copy of Harry Bradley's daily ride. The powers that be at Mattel (would that have been Mr. Handler?, I'm too lazy to look it up) instructed HB to come up with something akin to the street machine and muscle cars, "like that thing you have in the parking lot" and Harry gave us his El Camino. The Deora was done in '63 I think, way before HotWheels. The full size HWs copy is a modern thing. I can't think of any HWs that inspired full size rods until the Deora II and the Twin Mill II were built.

I think the biggest influence that these little pieces of diecast joy offer is fueling our obsession with the automobile and are more reflective of what we want than they are directive of our passions. It involved us in the car hobby long before we could get into the 1:1 or even styrene.

The best part and one of the reasons I still collect is that they are still under a buck in most places. There aren't many things left in this world that have only doubled in price over the last 40 years.

I remember the cartoon fondly and still have a few of the comics. DC only did 6 different ones. The run was cancelled when the cartoon ended.

Exec Producer of the HWs Cartoon? How cool is that?!

Worst HWs? There was the dark period of the eighties. Some years showed no new models at all. Some years gave awful things like K-cars, Le Cars and Aries Wagons. I have a hard time with bests and worsts. I do know the slowest HWs is the Cat D5 Dozer, you can sit this one on a 45 degree incline and the rubber tracks still won't let it roll.

Edited December 15, 2007 by samdiego