Hot Wheels

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.

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.

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The Volkswagen Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is what some consider, the Holy Grail of Hot Wheels. The regular verison 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 verison 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.

Related Topics:
Holy Grail - Howard Rees - Larry Wood - Bruce Pascal

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