Hot Wheels facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Hot Wheels

An assortment of original and licensed Hot Wheels cars from various years
Type	Scale model cars, racing tracks
Owner	Mattel
Country	United States
Introduced	May 18, 1968; 57 years ago (1968-05-18)
Markets	Worldwide

Hot Wheels is a super popular American brand of toy cars. Elliot Handler invented them, and his company Mattel launched them on May 18, 1968. For a long time, Hot Wheels was the main rival to Matchbox cars. But then, in 1997, Mattel bought the company that owned Matchbox!

Many real automobile manufacturers now let Hot Wheels make tiny versions of their cars. This means Hot Wheels can use the original car designs and details. Even though Hot Wheels were first made for kids, adults love collecting them too. There are even special limited edition models made just for collectors.

Hot Wheels History: How It All Started

The First Hot Wheels Cars: 1968

Elliot Handler, the creator of Hot Wheels, got the idea when he saw his son, Kenneth, playing with Matchbox cars. Handler wanted to make a new line of toy cars that were more exciting. He imagined them as "hot rod" cars. These are customized or fantasy cars, often with big back tires, cool paint jobs, and wild designs. Matchbox cars, on the other hand, usually looked like regular cars. Handler started making these new cars with help from an engineer named Jack Ryan.

The Sweet 16: Original Hot Wheels Cars

The very first Hot Wheels cars were made in 1967. This first group was called The Original Sweet 16. They were part of the Red Line Series, named because their tires had a cool red stripe on the sides.

There were sixteen different car designs released. Eleven of these were created by Harry Bentley Bradley, with help from Handler and Ryan. The first car ever made was a dark blue Custom Camaro. Bradley used to design real cars. He even designed the full-sized Dodge Deora concept car!

Hot Wheels Racing Tracks

Besides the cars, Mattel also sold racing track sets separately. These tracks were bright orange and could be put together to make a race track. Some sets even had "superchargers." These were like pretend gas stations with battery-powered spinning wheels that would push the cars along the track. Hot Wheels cars had wide, hard-plastic tires. This made them roll much faster and smoother than other toy cars at the time. This was a huge new idea!

Hot Wheels in 1969

The Hot Wheels brand was a massive hit! It completely changed the toy car industry from 1968 onwards. Other companies like Matchbox had to quickly come up with new ideas to catch up. Harry Bentley Bradley, who designed the first cars, had left Mattel. But when the company asked him to come back, he suggested his friend, Ira Gilford. Gilford, who used to work for Chrysler, quickly joined the Hot Wheels team. Some of Hot Wheels' most famous cars, like the Twin Mill and Splittin' Image, came from Ira Gilford's designs. The Twin Mill was even made into a real, full-sized car in 2001!

The success of Hot Wheels grew even more in 1969. Cars like Splittin' Image, Torero, Turbofire, and Twin Mill were part of the "Show & Go" series. These were some of the first original designs made entirely by Hot Wheels.

The Rare Beach Bomb

An early version of the Beach Bomb car looked just like a real VW Type 2 "bus". It even had two surfboards sticking out the back window. This was a nod to how VW buses were popular with surfers. However, this early design (now called the Rear-Loader Beach Bomb by collectors) was too narrow to roll well on Hot Wheels tracks. It was also too top-heavy for fast turns.

Hot Wheels designers Howard Rees and Larry Wood changed the car. They made the sides wider to fit the track and added new spots on the side to hold the surfboards. They also cut away the roof and added a full-length sunroof to make the car less top-heavy. This changed version, called the Side-loader by collectors, was the one that was sold in stores.

The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is now considered the "Holy Grail" for serious Hot Wheels collectors. Only a few were made as test models and given to employees. A regular Beach Bomb can be worth up to $600. But a Rear-Loader Beach Bomb can sell for anywhere from $70,000 to $120,000! The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles even has a pink one on display.

The 1970s: New Cars and Challenges

1970 was another great year for Hot Wheels. Mattel came up with a new slogan: "Go With the Winner." They released 43 new cars, including the Sizzlers and Heavyweights lines. Howard Rees, another designer, wanted to work on other toys. He suggested his friend Larry Wood, who used to design cars for Ford. Wood joined Mattel, and his first design was the Tri-Baby. Larry Wood worked for Hot Wheels for over 40 years!

Another designer, Paul Tam, also joined the team. His first design was the Whip Creamer. Tam created many cool designs, like the Evil Weevil (a Volkswagen Beetle with two engines) and Open Fire (an AMC Gremlin with six wheels).

In 1970, Hot Wheels also sponsored two famous drag racers: Don "the Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen. This was a big deal for drag racing, bringing in major sponsors and helping the sport grow. Hot Wheels also introduced the first 'Silver Series' cars. These three silver-painted models—the Boss Hoss, Heavy Chevy, and King 'Kuda—could only be gotten by mailing in for them.

However, 1972 and 1973 were slow years for Hot Wheels. They made fewer new models. Also, the cars changed from Mattel's shiny Spectraflame colors to duller, solid enamel colors, which are still used today. Because of low sales and fewer cars being re-used, the 1972-73 models are now very collectible.

In 1974, Hot Wheels launched its 'Flying Colors' line. These cars had flashy decals and cool printed designs. This helped sales go up again. This idea was also copied by other toy car companies.

In 1977, the red lines on the tires were removed. This helped save money. It also showed that real cars were no longer using red line tires as much. During this time, Hot Wheels started making more realistic cars and trucks, similar to Matchbox.

1977–1988: The 'Blackwalls' Era

In 1981, Hot Ones wheels came out. They had gold hubs and were said to have thinner axles for more speed. Ultra Hot Wheels were introduced in 1984. These wheels looked like fancy car wheels from the 1980s. Hot Wheels also started making models based on 1980s sports and economy cars, not just hot rods. In 1983, Real Riders wheels were introduced. These had real rubber tires! They were very popular but cost too much to make, so they didn't last long.

In the late 1980s, the Blue Card packaging was introduced. This blue color scheme is still used for Hot Wheels today. (The original packages were red and yellow.)

Two other cool things came out in the 1980s: Thermal Color Change paint and Crack-Ups cars. Thermal Color Change cars changed color when put in hot or cold water. Crack-Ups cars had a panel that would spin around when hit, showing a dented side.

In the 1980s, Hot Wheels had a small problem with General Motors' Chevrolet Motors Division. In 1982, the Chevrolet Corvette was getting a new design. Hot Wheels saw what the new 1984 Corvette would look like before GM officially showed it! They quickly made a toy version. GM was upset and almost stopped letting Mattel make their cars. But this actually helped Corvette fans see the new car early!

In 1985, Hot Wheels even released a computer game with Epyx Software.

1989–1994: Collector Numbers

In 1989, Mattel started putting collector numbers on each car. All the cards were blue from 1989 to 1994. The numbers went up to 274, but some numbers were skipped.

1995–1999: The Treasure Hunt Era Begins

1995 brought a big change to Hot Wheels. Cars were split into different series. The 1995 Model Series had all the new car designs for that year. In 1996, this was renamed First Editions. 1995 also saw the start of the famous Treasure Hunt Series. Other series had four cars with similar paint jobs, like the Pearl Driver cars, which all had shiny, pearlescent paint. Sales for these series went way up!

In 1997, Mattel bought Tyco Toys, which owned their old rival, Matchbox. Now, the two biggest toy car companies were under one roof!

In 1998, Hot Wheels celebrated its 30th birthday. They made special versions of old cars and packaging from their history. In 1999, Hot Wheels Interactive was launched.

The 2000s: New Designers and Movies

New Hot Wheels designers joined the team, like Eric Tscherne and Fraser Campbell, and Alec Tam (son of former designer Paul Tam). Eric Tscherne's Seared Tuner car was featured on the main packaging from 2000 to 2003. The Deora II, one of only two Hot Wheels concept cars ever made into real, working cars, also came out this year.

In 2001, Mattel launched a website for Hot Wheels collectors. That year, they released 240 main cars, including 12 Treasure Hunts and 36 First Editions. Popular new models included the HyperMite and FrightBike.

In 2002, the main line of cars included 12 Treasure Hunts and 42 First Editions. New popular models were the `68 Cougar and the Nissan Skyline GT-R.

2003: Hot Wheels on Screen

Hot Wheels celebrated its 35th anniversary with an animated movie called Hot Wheels Highway 35 World Race. This movie was connected to the Highway 35 line of cars, which featured 35 classic Hot Wheels cars with cool graphics.

2004: The "Hot 100"

In 2004, Hot Wheels introduced its "Hot 100" line of 100 new models. These included cartoonish cars like 'Tooned (cars with exaggerated features), Blings (boxy cars with big wheels), and Fatbax (cars with super-wide back wheels). These cars didn't sell as well as Mattel hoped.

2005: Faster Than Ever

In 2005, Hot Wheels continued with new "extreme" car designs. They also launched the "Faster than Ever" line of cars. These cars had special nickel-plated axles and bronze-colored wheels. These changes were supposed to make the cars roll much faster by reducing friction.

Also, a sequel to the Highway 35 movie was created, called Hot Wheels AcceleRacers. It had four movies and many short videos.

2007 and 2008: New Packaging and Modifighters

In 2007, Mattel released 36 New Models (which used to be called First Editions). They also had 12 Treasure Hunts (with a regular version and a super rare "Super Treasure Hunt" version). There were also Modifighters, which were cars that could change into robots, similar to Transformers.

In 2008, the cars and series were pretty similar to 2007. About 180 to 200 new cars were released.

2009 and 2010: Battle Force 5

In 2009, Mattel released 42 New Models and 12 Treasure Hunts. Mattel also released its first animated television series called Hot Wheels Battle Force 5. It started on Cartoon Network in August 2009.

2011: New Cars and Video Game Heroes

2011 saw the release of 244 cars. This included the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, Custom 2011 Camaro, and even the DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future series! There were also 22 HW Video Game Heroes cars that came with codes for an online computer game.

2012: Angry Birds and KITT

In 2012, 247 cars were released. New cars included the Lamborghini Aventador, Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca, KITT from Knight Rider, and the popular Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine. Hot Wheels also released two cars from the Angry Birds video game: the Red Bird and the green Minion Pig.

2013: Stunt, Racing, and More

2013 saw 250 cars released, grouped into themes like Stunt, Racing, Imagination, City, and Showroom. The packaging cards also changed, showing helmeted motorcycle riders behind the flame logo. Treasure Hunt cards no longer had a treasure chest symbol. Some cars from this year included Rodzilla, Fangula, and Bone Shaker.

General Motors also released a special Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition. It was a blue convertible with Hot Wheels designs all over it.

2014: End of an Era for Ferrari

2014 saw 250 main cars released. This year also marked the end of the agreement between Mattel and Ferrari. This meant the 2014 Ferrari 5 Pack would be the last, and the 2015 black Ferrari 599XX was the last Ferrari model in the main line.

2016: Card Overhaul

The 2016 lineup was similar to previous years, but the design of the card packaging was completely changed. Cars were now divided into mini-collections with their own icons printed on the card. These included HW Showroom, BMW (for BMW's 100th anniversary), and HW Screen Time (cars from TV, video games, and movies).

2017–Present: Big Changes and Anniversaries

2017 brought a major change to how cars were numbered. Now, different colors of the same car got different numbers, making the total number of cars released each year go up to 365! New series like Experimotors (cars with moving parts) and Camaro Fifty (for the Chevrolet Camaro's 50th anniversary) were introduced.

In 2018, Hot Wheels celebrated its 50th anniversary! The blister cards changed again, showing a city behind the car, like a "Hot Wheels City." Each card also had a 50th Anniversary logo. Hot Wheels also released special collector lines, like Favorites, which had highly detailed real cars with metal bodies and rubber tires. They even launched a display case that could hold 48 cars.

In 2019, a new motto, it's not the same without the flame, was added to the bottom left corner of the blister card.

On February 18, 2021, the Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover was released. This was a toy model of the NASA Perseverance rover that went to Mars.

Sadly, Hot Wheels designer Ryu Asada passed away on March 23, 2021. That same year, Hot Wheels teamed up with Milestone S.r.l. to release their first game, Hot Wheels Unleashed, on September 30, 2021.

On March 7, 2023, NBC ordered a reality competition show called Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge, which started on May 30.

On September 28, 2023, Netflix announced Hot Wheels Let's Race, a new animated series that premiered on March 4, 2024.

Hot Wheels Legends Tour

In 2018, Hot Wheels started a cool new program called the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. This tour was launched to celebrate Hot Wheels' 50th anniversary. Each year, there are 18 events held at Walmart stores across the United States. Over 111,000 people attend, and about 5,000 custom cars are entered!

At each event, one car is chosen to be made into a new Hot Wheels toy car. After all the events, one final winner is picked, and their car becomes a real Hot Wheels casting the next year. Hot Wheels looks for cars that show the fun and creative spirit of the brand.

Hot Wheels Legends Tour Winners

• 2018: Custom built "2JetZ", built by Luis Rodriguez
• 2019: 1957 Nash Metropolitan "The Nash", built by Greg Salzillo and Dave Ford
• 2020: 1970 Pontiac Trans Am, built by Riley Stair.
• 2021: 1969 Volvo P1800 "Ain't No Saint", built by Lee Johnstone.

The "Sweet 16" Original Cars

The Sweet 16 was the very first group of Hot Wheels cars made in 1968. Here are the cars that were part of that original lineup:

Collecting Hot Wheels Cars

An assortment of various Hot Wheels cars

A box full of Hot Wheels cars

For many years, mostly kids collected Hot Wheels cars. But since the late 1990s, more and more adults have started collecting them too. Mattel thinks that 41 million kids grew up playing with Hot Wheels. The average adult collector has over 1,550 cars! Kids between 5 and 15 years old have about 41 cars on average. Many people believe the collecting craze really took off with the Treasure Hunts in 1995.

Collecting Hot Wheels is usually not too expensive compared to collecting things like coins or stamps. A regular car costs about $0.97-$1.08 (USD) in stores. This price hasn't changed much in almost 40 years! However, once cars are no longer sold in stores, their price can change a lot. A common car might sell for less than its original price, but some rare cars can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The highest price ever paid for a Hot Wheels car was nearly $70,000 in 2000. This was for a very rare Volkswagen Rear Loader Beach Bomb that was made before the main production. Only about 50 of these rare "rear loaders" are known to exist today.

Dates on Hot Wheels Cars

The date you see on the bottom of a Hot Wheels car (like ©2008 Mattel) is the copyright date for the car's design, not when it was made or released. This date is usually the year before the car first came out, but not always. For example, a car released in 2001 might have a 2000 copyright date. The copyright date usually stays the same for a car's whole life. For instance, the Twin Mill, first released in 1969, still had a 1969 copyright date on cars released in 2019!

Since 2008, Hot Wheels cars also have a "base code" stamped on the bottom. This code tells you exactly when a car was made in the factory. The code starts with a letter, then two numbers. The letter tells you the year (for example, "L" was for 2018). The two numbers tell you the week of that year the car was made. So, "L42" means the car was made in the 42nd week of 2018.

Some cars have 4-digit date codes. These are even more specific, telling you the exact day. The first three digits are the day of the year, and the last digit is the year. For example, "1987" means the 198th day of 2017 (July 17).

These date codes only show when a specific car was manufactured. They don't always match the model year the car was released.

Hot Wheels Classics

The Hot Wheels Classics line was an instant hit with collectors. This line focused on muscle cars, hot rods, and other unique vehicles. Many of these were from the company's first ten years (1968–78). The series also introduced new car designs, like the 1965 Chevy Malibu.

Series 1 from 2005 had 25 models. Each car had a metal body and chassis, with shiny Spectraflame paint, just like the original cars from 1968-1972. Each car cost about three to four dollars (USD). Each of the 25 cars came in 7 or 8 different colors. Cars included the 1957 Chevy Bel Air and the 1963 Ford T-Bird.

There were also track sets with old-school packaging. For its 40th anniversary in 2008, Hot Wheels celebrated making its four billionth car! They made a special diamond-studded model worth US$140,000. It had 2,700 diamond chips and was made of white gold, with rubies for taillights.

Special Hot Wheels Models

Hot Wheels has also made larger, more detailed models. These include the original Gran Toros (1/43 scale) from 1970, and the Dropstars line of "blinged" cars. They also made models in standard scales like 1/43, 1/24, and 1/18. In 2004, they even released a huge 1/12 scale replica of the C6 Corvette.

In the early 1990s, Hot Wheels introduced the California Customs series. These cars had a cool California theme.

Other special lines from Hot Wheels include: R-R-Rumblers & Chopcycles (motorcycles from 1971), Hotbirds (metal airplanes), Sizzlers, and Hot Tunerz.

Over the years, Mattel has also worked with many stores and companies to make special Hot Wheels models. These include McDonald's, Walmart, Target, Kellogg's, and even Major League Baseball teams!

In 2016, Hot Wheels released a special collection for the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ song “Yellow Submarine.” The collection included five cars and a yellow submarine.

Hot Wheels Car Culture

In 2016, Hot Wheels started a new line of collector models called Car Culture. These are premium 1:64 scale models with metal bodies and bases, two-piece wheels with rubber tires, and more detailed designs. They are made for adult collectors and cost more than regular Hot Wheels cars.

This line started with "Japan Historics", a set of five Japanese sports cars. Every year, at least four more sets are introduced. All Car Culture sets have five cars, and often include new car designs. Car Culture cars are usually based on real cars. However, in 2018, Hot Wheels introduced a set called "Team Transport", which included some fantasy truck designs.

In 2018, for Hot Wheels' 50th Anniversary, Car Culture cards became bigger, and the cars had more details. A Hot Wheels "50th anniversary" logo was also added to the packaging.

Treasure Hunt Series

The Treasure Hunt (or T-Hunt) is a special line of Hot Wheels cars that Mattel started in 1995. Each year, there were 12 of these cars (15 starting in 2011), with one or two released each month. At first, only 10,000 of each car were made worldwide. But this number has grown because Hot Wheels became so popular with collectors.

The Treasure Hunt congratulatory message hidden behind the model inside the packaging

You can spot a Treasure Hunt car by a special label on the package. The card used to say "Treasure Hunt" or "T-Hunt" on a green bar, sometimes with a picture of a treasure chest. Since 2013, Treasure Hunts don't have the green stripe. Instead, the cars have a "flame in a circle logo" on the car itself and on the card behind it. Before 2007, these cars had flashy designs and special "rubber" wheels.

In 2007, Mattel introduced two types of Treasure Hunts. A regular Treasure Hunt has normal paint and wheels, like other Hot Wheels cars. "Super" Treasure Hunts are much harder to find. Like older Treasure Hunts, a Super Treasure Hunt has premium wheels and shiny Spectraflame paint. Starting in 2015, they also have a golden-colored circle-flame logo printed on the card behind the car.

Generally, Hot Wheels aims the T-Hunt series at both kids and adults, but the "Supers" are more for adult collectors.

Hot Wheels Movies and Shows

On January 30, 2003, Columbia Pictures announced they would make a movie based on Hot Wheels. The story was about a young man trying to fix things with his dad. He steals his dad's racecar and goes through a portal into another world. The film was supposed to be produced by Columbia Pictures and Silver Pictures.

In 2009, the movie rights went to Warner Bros. Pictures. Joel Silver took over producing, and Matt Nix wrote the script.

On June 17, 2011, Legendary Pictures also started developing a Hot Wheels movie. They wanted to make a more action-packed film, like Mission: Impossible. On September 28, 2016, Justin Lin signed on to direct the movie.

In January 2019, Mattel Films and Warner Bros. Pictures agreed to work together on a Hot Wheels movie.

On September 25, 2020, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros. hired Neil Widener and Gavin James to write the film.

On April 25, 2022, it was announced that Bad Robot would produce the film. On January 23, 2023, Dalton Leeb and Nicholas Jacobson-Larson were announced as the writers.

Sizzlers: Electric Hot Wheels

The Sizzlers were a cool Hot Wheels spin-off from the 1970s. These cars had a built-in motor and a tiny rechargeable battery! (The X-V racers from the 1990s were similar.) They were introduced in 1970 and became super popular right away. Sizzlers could run on the regular orange Hot Wheels track. Mattel even made special race sets with loops and spirals just for these electric cars.

Sizzlers were charged using chargers that ran on four or two D batteries, called the Juice Machine and Goose Pump. Later, the Power Pit was introduced. This was an electric charger that plugged into a wall outlet and looked like a race track garage. A 90-second charge of the tiny battery gave up to five minutes of playtime. Advertisers used to say that the 90-second charge time was "the longest minute and a half in a kid's life" as they waited for their car to charge!

The Sizzler electric technology was also used for Hotline Trains and Earthshakers construction vehicles. Both of these lines were charged using the Sizzler Juice Machine or Power Pit.

Sizzlers came back in 2006 when Mattel made a special deal with Target stores. They re-released Sizzlers cars, the "Big O" Fat track, Juice Machine, and car carrying case—all in their original 1970s packaging! As of January 2009, the Sizzlers line was stopped by Target.

In 2011, Sizzlers were re-released as Cars 2 characters and sold at Target stores. This line was called Charge Ups.

Hot Wheels in Motorsports and Video Games

Motorsports

The Hot Wheels-sponsored car of Kyle Petty in 1997

Starting in 1970, Hot Wheels sponsored professional drag racers Don Prudhomme ("The Snake") and Tom McEwen ("The Mongoose"). Hot Wheels even created the Snake and Mongoose Drag Set in 1970.

Hot Wheels has also sponsored other race car drivers. In 1992, they sponsored Jack Baldwin when he won that year's championship. In 1997, Hot Wheels started sponsoring NASCAR driver Kyle Petty and his No. 44 car. This led to Hot Wheels making toy versions of NASCAR stock cars.

From 1999 to 2018, Hot Wheels had a Monster Jam license. They released monster truck toys and even had a Hot Wheels-themed truck in the real Monster Jam shows. This partnership ended in 2019. Soon after, Hot Wheels created their own Hot Wheels Monster Trucks line and the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live show.

Video Games

Many video games based on Hot Wheels have been released for different game consoles, computers, and phones:

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