40th-Anniversary Hot Wheels Rope in Big Designers From Detroit and Beyond
The ubiquitous Hot Wheels brand of toy cars is releasing a 40th-anniversary collection designed by real automotive car manufacturers. Designers from Chevrolet, Dodge, Honda, Lotus, Mitsubishi and Ford were invited to submit drawings for the limited edition set. The winning 1/64 scale models were selected by a panel of executives and writers from automotive publications like Car and Driver. Though most of the designs appear to be free of any rigorous DOT road-worthiness constraints, each entry had to pass the "one lap" test on Hot Wheels' own oval test track.
The Gangster Grin (shown here) was the winning entry from the Ford family. Its 1950s influence and low-slung appearance led co-workers of designer Steve Glimor, a former Hot Wheels intern, to suggest it was smiling. It's good to see that form doesn't always have to follow function.—MotoMatt Cokeley
As a member of the RLC I'm pretty excited to see what the designers of each car company has come up with. I can't say that I'm impressed with the Gangster Grin. You'll have to do better than that Ford to get my vote.
Posted by: Mike Watson | April 20, 2008 at 08:19 PM
As a member of the RLC I'm pretty excited to see what the designers of each car company has come up with. I can't say that I'm impressed with the Gangster Grin. You'll have to do better than that Ford to get my vote.
Posted by: Mike Watson | April 20, 2008 at 08:20 PM
i love this! too bad ford doesn't make a real one for the public to enjoy! i would put some rims from www.hubcap-tire-wheel.com on it and make it look real good!lol
Posted by: heather | April 27, 2008 at 04:31 PM
it looks like that car from that movie where a driverless car hunts down and kills people. Just a big pile of chrome. it looks cool but like most cars out of detroit probably cant handle a turn to save its life. new or used, you basically need something european for good handling.
Posted by: used jones | April 30, 2008 at 12:39 PM