Hot Wheels

- is a brand of die cast toy car, introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to the Matchbox brand from Tyco.

Launched: 1968, by Mattel

Hot Wheels History 

Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel, decided to produce a line of die-cast toy cars for boys in order to compete the matchbox series of cars by Lesney corporation. There were sixteen castings released in 1968, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley, with the first one produced being a dark blue Custom Camaro.

Hot Wheels Trivia

1.  Before Hot Wheels, the huge market for small car models was dominated by the British company Lesney with their Matchbox cars
2. Of the first 16 cars (sometimes called the “Sweet 16″ by collectors), 10 were based upon customized versions of regular production automobiles of the era, and 6 were based upon real show cars and cars designed and built for track racing.
3. All of the cars featured “Spectraflame” paintwork, bearings, redline wheels, and working suspension.
4. Cars released in 1968: Barracuda, Camaro, Corvette, Eldorado, firebird, fleetside, mustang, T-bird, mercury Cougar, Volkswagen, Deora, Ford J-car, Hot Heap, Python, Silhouette, Beatnik Bandit.
5. Some of their greatest cars, such as the Twin Mill and Splittin’ Image, came from Ira Gilford, Harry Bentley Bradley’s friend
6.  The Splittin’ Image, Torero, Turbofire, and Twin Mill were part of the “Show & Go” series and are the very first original in-house designs by HotWheels
7.  The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is widely considered the “Holy Grail” of any HW collection.
8. 1970 was a first-rate year for the brand, so Mattel came up with a new slogan for the cars: “Go With the Winner“
9. In 1974, Hot Wheels introduced its Flying Colors line
10.  The Treasure Hunt series was introduced in 1995 with 12 cars that were specially detailed and produced in limited numbers.

In 1981, Hot Ones wheels were introduced, which had gold-painted hubs, thinner axles for speed, and additional suspension that most production Hot Wheels lacked but is one of the Greatest Brands for Children!