Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until Mattel bought Matchbox owner Tyco Toys in 1997.
90-477: Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be children's toys, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler . Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create
180-425: A 50th Anniversary logo. Hot Wheels also launched several collector-focused lines for that year, including Favorites , which was a series that consisted of 11 highly detailed vehicles (which were based on real cars), all with metal bodies and rubber tires. For this year, Hot Wheels also launched a display case , which could hold up to 48 cars, and could either stand up on its own (via attachable "feet") or be mounted on
270-501: A Hot Wheels collectors website. Also in 2001, Mattel issued 240 mainline releases consisting of 12 Treasure Hunts , 36 First Editions , 12 Segment Series with four cars each, and 144 open stock cars. Popular models that debuted include the HyperMite and FrightBike . For 2002, the mainline consisted of 12 Treasure Hunts , 42 First Editions , 15 Segment Series of 4 cars each, and 126 open stock cars. Popular new models included
360-430: A car, and prefer other modes of transport. Other potentially powerful automotive markets are Iran and Indonesia . Emerging automobile markets already buy more cars than established markets. According to a J.D. Power study, emerging markets accounted for 51 percent of the global light-vehicle sales in 2010. The study, performed in 2010 expected this trend to accelerate. However, more recent reports (2012) confirmed
450-529: A change in the look of the packaging cards which includes a quartet of helmeted motorcycle riders standing behind the flame logo and the Treasure Hunt series cards no longer marked with a treasure chest . Some of those cars include Rodzilla , Fangula , Twin Mill III (3), Bone Shaker and Baja Bone Shaker . General Motors also released a special Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition , which
540-490: A die-cast version of the 1984 Corvette. GM was angered and almost pulled its licensing with Mattel, but this controversy helped Corvette enthusiasts see what the new Corvette was going to look like. The 1984 Corvette production ran for 1.5 model years covering half of the remaining 1983 model year and ending on time for the 1985 model year. In conjunction with Epyx Software, Mattel released a computer game edition of Hot Wheels for various 8-bit platforms in 1985, as part of
630-606: A full-length sunroof , to lower the center of gravity . Nicknamed the Side-loader by collectors, this was the production version of the Beach Bomb. The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is widely considered the " Holy Grail ", or ultimate pinnacle, of a serious Hot Wheels collection. An unknown number were made as test subjects and given to employees. A regular production Beach Bomb may be worth up to $ 600, depending on condition. Market prices on RLBBs however, have easily reached
720-542: A good friend, Ira Gilford. Gilford, who had just left Chrysler , quickly accepted the job of designing the next Hot Wheels models. Some of Hot Wheels' greatest cars, such as the Twin Mill and Splittin' Image , came from Ira Gilford's drawing board. The Twin Mill was introduced in 1969 and was used to create the company's first full-scale replica car in 2001. The success of the 1968 line was solidified and consolidated with
810-551: A group of major car manufacturers including GM , Ford , Volvo , BYD Auto , Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like the United States, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as Volkswagen , Toyota , Peugeot , Honda , Nissan and Hyundai , did not pledge. The global automotive industry
900-504: A holiday based theme), Factory Fresh (a series including newer, sometimes older castings with fabric painting) and Camaro Fifty (a series dedicated to the Chevrolet Camaro , and its 50th anniversary). In 2018, Hot Wheels celebrated its 50th anniversary. The style of the blister cards were changed again, depicting a city in the background of the car, thus emulating a "Hot Wheels City" theme. For that year, each blister card had
990-400: A line to compete with Matchbox. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to be more like " hot rod " cars (i.e., customized /modified or even caricaturized or fantasy cars, often with big rear tires , superchargers , flame paint-jobs, outlandish proportions, hood blowers, etc.), as compared to Matchbox cars which were generally small-scale models of production cars. He began producing
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#17327916192511080-430: A major change in casting numbering. Since that moment, recolors are named with a different number than the original, thus causing the number limit of cars to expand to 365. The idea of numbering a casting with a number corresponding to their own series was also aborted. There were also some new mainline series introduced, such as Experimotors (cars with moving parts, or a secondary purpose), Holiday Racers (cars that have
1170-665: A marketing manager at Ford for the Continental Mark IV . For the first year, Ford sent out its Mark IVs to American Sunroof Company for offline installation. Variations of both the sunroof and moonroof have become the norm in both factory installed and aftermarket offerings, creating a wide range of features and choices. Sunroof systems may be manual or electric, while most moonroof systems are electric/electronic. Manual sunroofs may be lever actuated, as in venting type pop-ups, manual lever or crank operated for sliding systems. Electric roof systems are usually cable driven by
1260-679: A membership to the Hot Wheels Club. These three cars featured " supercharged " engines (featuring large Roots blowers ) without hoods, and open exhaust headers , after the style of drag racing cars of the era. Popular among children, these 'Silver Cars' were considered faster than the rest of the Hot Wheels lineup, because they were supposedly heavier than the other gravity models, but the accuracy of this claim has never been tested under scientific conditions. However, 1972 and 1973 were slow years. Only seven new models were made in 1972. Of
1350-409: A motor and feature some form of sliding opening. Most moonroof systems today are electric and have either a combination pop-up/inbuilt or a pop-up/spoiler configuration (see sunroof types below). Roof systems may be original equipment, factory options (provided by the car company), or installed aftermarket by a roof installation professional for the car dealer or retail customer. Once the vehicle leaves
1440-599: A new advertising slogan for the cars: "Go With the Winner". 43 new cars appeared that year, including the Sizzlers and Heavyweights lines. Howard Rees, who worked with Ira Gilford, was tired of designing cars. He wanted to work on the Major Matt Mason action figure toy line-up. Rees had a good friend by the name of Larry Wood, whom he worked with at Ford designing cars. When Wood found out about Hot Wheels at
1530-541: A new style of wheel called Real Riders was introduced, which featured real rubber tires. Despite the fact that they were very popular, the Real Riders line was short-lived, because of high production costs. In the late 1980s, the so-called Blue Card blister pack color scheme was introduced, which would become the basis of Hot Wheels colors still used today (original blister packs were red and yellow). Two other innovations were introduced briefly in Hot Wheels cars in
1620-443: A number of coach-built, custom "tourer saloon" automobiles sold from their premises at 201 - 203 Great Portland Street London. In 1927 they claimed for a Daimler 20/70 hp that "This roof slides at the touch of a finger and opens up 50% of the roof area giving greater visibility and more air without draughts." The sliding roof system evolved from a device that Pytchley installed themselves, to an option which manufacturers offered as
1710-460: A panel which could be slid back over the roof behind to create an opening above the driver and passenger. The sliding panel also incorporated locks which allowed the panel to be fixed at any position from fully closed to fully open. By 1935 Wolseley were using the Pytchley roof and by 1936 Austin too were also selling models with the sliding head. The Hillman Minx was another low-cost small car which
1800-527: A party Rees was holding, Rees offered him the job of designing Hot Wheels models. Wood accepted, and, by the end of the week, Wood was working at Mattel, where his first design was the Tri-Baby . Larry Wood retired in 2019 after over 40 years of designing cars. Another designer, Paul Tam, joined Wood and Gilford. Tam's first design was the Whip Creamer . Tam continued to work for Mattel until 1973. Among
1890-538: A series called Modifighters , which are similar to Transformers except for the fact that they were originally cars and were modified into robots. The Modifighters names are: Streetwyse, Skullface, Live Wire, Bedlam, Nightlife, Mr. Big, and Quick-Tyme. In 2008, all the series and vehicles were relatively similar to 2007's cars. Approximately 180 to 200 new vehicles were released. In 2009, Mattel released 42 New Models , 12 Treasure Hunts , 12 Track Stars , 24 Mystery Cars , 10 Segment Series of 10 cars, and introduced
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#17327916192511980-450: A special mail-in promo. Each Mystery Car came with a special voucher. Upon collection of all 4 vouchers, one was able to send away for a special 13th Treasure Hunt , a VW Drag Bus. Hot Wheels also unveiled its new "Faster than Ever" line of cars, which had special nickel-plated axles , along with bronze-colored Open-Hole 5 Spoke wheels. These adjustments supposedly reduce friction dramatically, resulting in cars that are called
2070-516: A standard body style. It was factory fitted to vehicles from a number of different manufacturers. By 1929 the design had improved so that when closed the moveable panel was flush with the rest of the roof. Morris built several models using Pytchley's technology from 1932, including the Morris Minor, Morris Major and Morris Ten adding what became known as a Sliding Head (using the term head in the same way as Folding Head or Drop Head). This comprised
2160-500: A top producer 1950s : United Kingdom, Germany, and France restarted production. 1960s : Japan started production and increased volume through the 1980s. United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom produced about 80% of motor vehicles through the 1980s. 1990s : South Korea became a volume producer. In 2004, Korea became No. 5 passing France. 2000s : China increased its production drastically, and became
2250-497: A wall. Each display case came with an exclusive car. On October 4, 2018, Hot Wheels filed a new trademark for the motto it's not the same without the flame . In 2019, a seal was added in the bottom left corner of the blister card with the motto. On February 18, 2021, the Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover was released; a die-cast scale model latest vehicle in its Space mini-collections inspired by
2340-710: A wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design , development , manufacturing , marketing , selling , repairing , and modification of motor vehicles . It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16% such as in France up to 40% to countries such as Slovakia). The word automotive comes from the Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion ), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry (1860–1930), first came into use to describe automobiles in 1898. The automotive industry began in
2430-643: Is a major consumer of water. Some estimates surpass 180,000 L (39,000 imp gal) of water per car manufactured, depending on whether tyre production is included. Production processes that use a significant volume of water include surface treatment, painting, coating, washing, cooling, air-conditioning, and boilers, not counting component manufacturing. Paintshop operations consume especially large amounts of water because equipment running on water-based products must also be cleaned with water. In 2022, Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg ran into legal challenges due to droughts and falling groundwater levels in
2520-431: Is a movable panel that opens to uncover a window in an automobile roof , allowing light and fresh air to enter the passenger compartment. Sunroofs can be manually operated or motor driven, and are available in many shapes, sizes and styles. While the term "sunroof" is now used generically to describe any moveable panel in the roof, the term "moonroof" was historically used to describe stationary glass panes rigidly mounted in
2610-463: Is a primary mode of transportation for many developed economies. The Detroit branch of Boston Consulting Group predicted that, by 2014, one-third of world demand would be in the four BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Meanwhile, in developed countries, the automotive industry has slowed. It is also expected that this trend will continue, especially as the younger generations of people (in highly urbanized countries) no longer want to own
2700-462: The Bonus Car program, causing stores across the nation to have shortages. Purchasing the four car sets and sending in the packaging backs plus a handling fee gave you the opportunity to collect the bonus cars, 1 each released for each quarter of the year starting in 1996 through at least 2000. Several new wheel designs were also introduced in the 1990s. Mattel bought Tyco Toys in 1997. Along with
2790-649: The DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future series . This was followed by the 15-car Treasure Hunt series with 1957 Chevy and 1958 Chevy Impala , 15 Track Stars including the 2010 Formula Street series, the 10x10 series, the Thrill Racers series, and 22 HW Video Game Heroes which were packaged with codes for an internet computer game. The new series "Team Hot Wheels" appear in late 2011. 2012 saw
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2880-632: The Indy Car Series drivers. Mattel released its first-ever animated episodic television series called Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 , which was a co-production between Canadian animation giants Nelvana and WildBrain . The US version of the series debuted on Cartoon Network on August 29, 2009.. 2011 saw the release of 244 cars beginning with the 2011 New Car Series which includes the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera , Custom 2011 Camaro , and
2970-599: The NASA -launched Perseverance rover . Hot Wheels designer Ryu Asada died on March 23, 2021, at age 42, after years of suffering from cancer. That same year, Hot Wheels began a partnership with Milestone S.r.l. to release their first game, Hot Wheels Unleashed , in which came out on September 30, 2021. On March 7, 2023, NBC ordered a reality competition series known as Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge with Rutledge Wood as host which premiered on May 30. Automobile manufacturers The automotive industry comprises
3060-527: The Nerve Hammer , Pharodox , Semi-Psycho as well as the fan-favourite Bone Shaker , Larry Wood's most popular design to date. In 2007, Mattel released 36 New Models (formerly First Editions ), 12 Treasure Hunts (with a hard-to-find regular version and even rarer " Super Treasure Hunt " version of each with rubber Real Rider tires and Spectraflame paint), 12 'Teams' of 4 cars each (formerly Segment Series ), 24 Code Cars (codes imprinted inside
3150-467: The PSA Group had been in the top 8 1999 to 2012, and 2007 to 2012 one of the eight largest along with the seven largest as of 2017) and the five largest in the top 5 positions since 2007, according to OICA, which, however, stopped publishing statistics of motor vehicle production by manufacturer after 2017. All ten remained as the ten largest automakers by sales until the merger between Fiat-Chrysler and
3240-566: The United States led the world in total automobile production, with the U.S. Big Three General Motors , Ford Motor Company , and Chrysler being the world's three largest auto manufacturers for a time, and G.M. and Ford remaining the two largest until the mid-2000s. In 1929, before the Great Depression , the world had 32,028,500 automobiles in use, of which the U.S. automobile enterprises produced more than 90%. At that time,
3330-485: The value chain are made to avoid these product recalls by ensuring end-user security and safety and compliance with the automotive industry requirements. However, the automotive industry is still particularly concerned about product recalls, which cause considerable financial consequences. In 2007, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road, consuming over 980 billion litres (980,000,000 m ) of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. The automobile
3420-434: The " Faster than Ever " series. The first run of these cars were available for a limited time only, from the beginning of October towards the end of November 2005. Also, a continuation of the movie Highway 35 called Hot Wheels AcceleRacers was created, taking place two years after the events of Highway 35 . It is featured in four movies and many short segments where the drivers (old ones, gangs, like Teku, Metal Maniacs,
3510-469: The 1860s with hundreds of manufacturers pioneering the horseless carriage . Early car manufacturing involved manual assembly by a human worker. The process evolved from engineers working on a stationary car, to a conveyor belt system where the car passed through multiple stations of more specialized engineers. Starting in the 1960s, robotic equipment was introduced to the process, and most cars are now mainly assembled by automated machinery. For many decades,
3600-538: The 1969 releases, with which Hot Wheels effectively established itself as the hottest brand of small toy car models in the USA. 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. The initial prototypes of the Beach Bomb were faithful to the shape of a real VW Type 2 "bus" , and had two surfboards sticking out
3690-451: The 1980s – Thermal Color Change paint, and rotating 'crash panel' vehicles (" Crack-Ups "). The former was able to change color on exposure to hot or cold water, and there was an initial release of 20 different cars, available as sets of three vehicles. The latter were vehicles with a panel that, on contact, would rotate to reveal a reverse side that appeared to be heavily dented. Variations in crash panels included front, rear and side panels,
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3780-413: The 2015 black Ferrari 599XX was the last Ferrari model appearing in mainstream, both regular model and its Treasure Hunt variant. 2016 lineup was similar to 2015 and 2014 in terms of segments, and the design of the card was overhauled. Some car names were TBD ( To Be Determined ) or 2016 (Coming Soon). They're now divided into mini collections with their corresponding segments and their icons printed on
3870-533: The 24 models appearing for 1973, only three were new models. Also the cars changed from Mattel's in-house Spectraflame colors to mostly drab, solid enamel colors, which mainstream Hot Wheels cars still use today. Due to low sales, and the fact that the majority of the castings were not re-used in later years, the 1972-3 models are known to be very collectible. In 1974, Hot Wheels introduced its ' Flying Colors ' line, and added flashy decals and "tampo-printed" paint designs which helped revitalize sales. As with
3960-458: The 2nd year, debuting the Torpedoes line (skinny bodies and outboard wheels) and Drop Tops (flattened rooflines and wheel arches that extend above the car's roofline), in addition to 20 " Realistix " models. The rest of the line included the standard 12 Treasure Hunts , 10 Track Aces , 50 Segment Series Cars , and 50 Open Stock Models . Four Volkswagen " Mystery Cars " were offered as
4050-492: The Computer Activity Toys series. In 1989, Mattel released collector numbers. Each car had its own number. The cards were all blue, for all blister packs released from 1989 to 1994. Numbers included went as high as 274; however, these were skip numbered, and numbers such as 48, 61, and 173 were not used. The year 1995 brought a major change to the Hot Wheels line, where the cars were split up into series. One
4140-657: The PSA Group in early 2021 ; only Renault was degraded to 11th place, in 2022, when being surpassed by both BMW (which became the 10th largest in 2021) and Chang'an . These were the twenty largest manufacturers by production volume in 2012 and 2013, or the 21 largest in 2011 (before the Fiat-Chrysler merger ), of which the fourteen largest as of 2011 were in the top 14 in 2010, 2008 and 2007 (but not 2009, when Changan and Mazda temporarily degraded Chrysler to 16th place). The eighteen largest as of 2013 have remained in
4230-471: The TR4 with a removable hard top roof split into two sections. The rear part, incorporating the rear window, could be left on the car when the centre piece was removed creating a Sedanca layout. This concept was resurrected again in 1966 when Porsche launched a version of its 911 sports car that established the term Targa, trademarked by Porsche. This bore even more of a resemblance to the traditional Sedanca form, as
4320-428: The U.S. had one car per 4.87 persons. After 1945, the U.S. produced around three-quarters of the world's auto production. In 1980, the U.S. was overtaken by Japan and then became a world leader again in 1994. Japan narrowly passed the U.S. in production during 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 also China , which in 2009 took the top spot (from Japan) with 13.8 million units, although the U.S. surpassed Japan in 2011, to become
4410-768: The `68 Cougar and the Nissan Skyline GT-R . Some cars from the first editions series are the Backdraft , Overbored 454 , and Super Tsunami . Hot Wheels celebrated its 35th anniversary with a full-length animated film called Hot Wheels Highway 35 World Race . This movie tied into the Highway 35 line of cars that featured 35 classic Hot Wheels cars with special graphics and co-molded wheels. In 2004, Hot Wheels unveiled its "Hot 100" line of 100 new models. These included mostly short-lived lines of cartoonish vehicles such as ' Tooned (vehicles based on
4500-407: The all-new C4 Corvette but had assembly line problems which pushed production back 6 months causing GM's Marketing Department to label all 1983s as 1984s once they got production perfected so it would seem to the public that the all-new C4 Corvette came out early rather than late. But Hot Wheels saw what the new model of Corvette was going to look like before GM's official unveiling, and they designed
4590-486: The automotive industry, safety means that users, operators, or manufacturers do not face any risk or danger coming from the motor vehicle or its spare parts. Safety for the automobiles themselves implies that there is no risk of damage. Safety in the automotive industry is particularly important and therefore highly regulated. Automobiles and other motor vehicles have to comply with a certain number of regulations, whether local or international, in order to be accepted on
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#17327916192514680-559: The back window, in a nod to the VW's perceived association with the surfing community and the slang term for a person who spends much time surfing—a " beach bum ". During the fledgling Hot Wheels era, Mattel wanted to make sure that each of the cars could be used with any of the playsets and stunt track sets. Unfortunately, testing showed that this early version (now known among collectors as the Rear-Loader Beach Bomb , or "RLBB")
4770-405: The car had both a permanently fixed roll-over hoop, and rear seats. While in 1969 Lamborghini showed the first full-roof framed transparent-panel roof, heralding the modern panoramic roof, on an Espada. Sunroofs, by historical definition are opaque. Today, most factory sliding sunroof options feature a glass panel and are sometimes marketed as moonroofs , a term introduced in 1973 by John Atkinson,
4860-489: The card. Some of them include HW Showroom , BMW (100th anniversary of BMW), HW Screen Time (Cars and characters seen on television, video games, and movies), and HW Snow Stormers . New models include the Cruise Bruiser , Side Ripper , Grass Chomper , and the ' 16 Acura NSX , while other models first see their release in the mainline series, such as the ' 52 Hudson Hornet . 2017 saw
4950-572: The cars with assistance from fellow engineer Jack Ryan . The flame logo was designed by Rick Irons, an art director working at Mattel at the time. The first line of Hot Wheels cars, known as The Original Sweet 16 was manufactured in 1967. These were the first of the Red Line Series, named for the tires which had a red pin stripe on their sides. There were sixteen castings released, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley with assistance from Handler and Ryan. The first one produced
5040-583: The cast alloy wheels found on a 1980s-era high-trim Renault Fuego or a Mazda 626 , with three parallel dark lines cutting diagonally across the flat chrome face of the wheel, all three broken in the center to form six individual shorter lines. These new " Ultra Hots " claimed further speed improvements. Hot Wheels started offering models based on 1980s-era sports and economy cars , like the Pontiac Fiero or Dodge Omni 024 , in addition to their typical ' hot rod ' and muscle car style offerings. In 1983,
5130-505: The chauffeur to allowing the owner to better enjoy their surroundings on fine weather days. This evolution was eventually not limited to luxury motoring. The entrepreneur Noel Mobbs laid the foundation of the volume sunroof market when he evolved his coach building business into a company dedicated to the manufacture of sliding roofs in the name of Pytchley. The Pytchley mechanism was both patented and first publicly demonstrated in 1925. At first Pytchley used their sliding roof system to build
5220-410: The chauffeur, Bentley cars in particular were increasingly sold for owners to drive themselves. Indeed, some models were provided with a sliding panel for the front seats even though the vehicle had just two-seats. Early "Derby" Bentley hard-top models were therefore frequently equipped with sliding sunroof panels, possibly more often than not. The purpose of the sliding panels thus changed from uncovering
5310-400: The driver therefore, temporary cover was now demanded. These part-time roofs, sometimes at first just a stretched piece of leather, became more sophisticated comprising frame elements and leather or water-resistant cloth to form the construction, and installations even included spaces provided to store the parts when not in use. By the late 1920s, a more convenient version of the temporary roof
5400-438: The driver to be more connected to their surroundings, demonstrated that the car's owner employed a paid driver (one reason chauffeurs wore uniform) and identified the owner through the driver's livery (the other reason for the uniform). Road speeds were increasing and vehicles were changing from occasional use to full-time transport meaning that they were increasingly being used in bad weather. In order to provide better shelter for
5490-469: The evil Racing Drones, and the stealthy Silencerz). All of the shorts and previews of the movies were placed on a temporary website that was deleted shortly after the last movie. 2006 was the final year of the First Editions series consisting of 38 cars for that year including a Toyota AE86 , 2006 Honda Civic Si , Plymouth Superbird and 2007 Cadillac Escalade alongside with fantasy models like
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#17327916192515580-539: The five-figure plateau, ranging from $ 70,000 to $ 120,000. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles had a pink RLBB in its Hot Wheels exhibit, displayed alone on a rotating platform under glass. The Hot Wheels Collectors Club released a new, updated version of the Rear Loading Beach Bomb in 2002 as a limited edition . 1970 was a very successful year for Hot Wheels, so Mattel came up with
5670-698: The larger Hot Tunerz line of Hot Wheels created by Eric Tscherne), Blings (boxy bodies and big wheels), Hardnoze (enlarged fronts), Crooze (stretched out bodies), and Fatbax (super-wide rear wheels and short bodies). Fatbax models included vehicles such as the Toyota Supra and Corvette C6 . These vehicles did not sell as well as Mattel expected, and many could still be found in stores throughout 2005. Mattel also released 2004 First Editions cars with unpainted Zamac bodies. They were sold through Toys 'R' Us and were made in limited numbers. In 2005, Hot Wheels continued with new "extreme" castings for
5760-523: The last of whose mechanism has proven to be the most durable. In the 1980s, Hot Wheels had gotten into a controversy with General Motors ' Chevrolet Motors Division . In 1982, the Chevrolet Corvette had ended the curvaceous " Mako Shark " body style that had been in production for almost 15 years, and GM announced that the Corvette would be redesigned. In 1983, Chevrolet started to produce
5850-488: The list below) currently possess the capability to design original production automobiles from the ground up, and 17 countries (listed below) have at least one million produced vehicles a year (as of 2023). These were the ten largest manufacturers by production volume as of 2017, of which the eight largest were in the top 8 positions since Fiat's 2013 acquisition of the Chrysler Corporation (although
5940-405: The lower-friction wheels in 1968, this innovation was revolutionary in the industry, and—although far less effective in terms of sales impact than in 1968—was copied by the competition, who did not want to be outmaneuvered again by Mattel product strategists. In 1977, the 'Redline Wheel' was phased out, with the red lines no longer being printed on the wheels. This cut costs, but also reflected that
6030-650: The many fantastic designs Tam thought up for Hot Wheels, some of the collector's favorites include Evil Weevil (a Volkswagen Beetle with two engines), Open Fire (an AMC Gremlin with six wheels), Six Shooter (another six-wheeled car), and the rare Double Header (co-designed with Larry Wood). The year 1970 introduced " the Snake and the Mongoose ", a manufactured 'rivalry' between two professional drag racers calling themselves "the Snake" and "the Mongoose " for
6120-545: The market. The standard ISO 26262 , is considered one of the best practice frameworks for achieving automotive functional safety . In case of safety issues, danger, product defect , or faulty procedure during the manufacturing of the motor vehicle, the maker can request to return either a batch or the entire production run. This procedure is called product recall . Product recalls happen in every industry and can be production-related or stem from raw materials. Product and operation tests and inspections at different stages of
6210-454: The modern sunroof were regularly fitted to Bentley and Rolls-Royce models built by coach builders such as Barker, Gurney Nutting or Park Ward. In these cars, the continuous roofline, between the windscreen and passenger compartment, was unbroken and so, unlike the Coup de Ville, a coverable opening had to be let into the roof panel itself. While at first the purpose may still have been to expose
6300-643: The opposite; namely that the automotive industry was slowing down even in BRIC countries. In the United States, vehicle sales peaked in 2000, at 17.8 million units. In July 2021, the European Commission released its " Fit for 55 " legislation package, which contains important guidelines for the future of the automotive industry; all new cars on the European market must be zero-emission vehicles from 2035. The governments of 24 developed countries and
6390-430: The packaging that can be used to unlock web content), 12 Track Stars (formerly Track Aces ), 24 Mystery Cars (packaged on a card with an opaque blister, so the buyer cannot see which car is inside without opening it), and 24 All-Stars (formerly Open Stock ). In late 2006, a new package design for 2007 was released. Some 2006 cars and all 2007 cars are packaged on a blister card with the new design. Hot Wheels released
6480-599: The prototypical "red line tires" popular on high-speed-rated automotive tires during the era of muscle cars and Polyglas tires were no longer popular. During this period, there was a trend away from wild hot rods and fantastic cars, and a move to more realistic cars and trucks, like the competitor Matchbox. In 1981, Hot Ones wheels were introduced, which had gold-painted hubs, and claimed to have thinner axles for greater speed, along with additional suspension compliance that older production Hot Wheels lacked. Ultra Hot Wheels were introduced in 1984, and looked something like
6570-399: The purchase came the company's old competitor Matchbox. Arguably the two dominant companies in matchbox-sized cars were now under one roof. In 1998, Mattel celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Hot Wheels brand by replicating various cars and individual packaging from its 30-year history and packaging these replicated vehicles in special 30th Anniversary boxes. In 1999, Hot Wheels Interactive
6660-638: The purposes of publicity. This was notably drag racing's first major non-automotive corporate sponsor , and the beginning of the NHRA 's booming popularity with large-budget teams and championships. 1970 also introduced the first 'Silver Series', which contained three silver-painted models: the Boss Hoss , the Heavy Chevy , and the King ' Kuda , which were only obtainable through a mail-in offer that included
6750-780: The region. Brandenburg's Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach said that while water supply was sufficient during the first stage, more would be needed once Tesla expands the site. The factory would nearly double the water consumption in the Gruenheide area, with 1.4 million cubic meters being contracted from local authorities per year — enough for a city of around 40,000 people. Steinbach said that the authorities would like to drill for more water there and outsource any additional supply if necessary. 1960s : Post-war increase 1970s : Oil crisis and tighter safety and emission regulation 1990s : Production started in NICs . 2000s : Rise of China as
6840-705: The release of 247 cars, beginning with the 2012 New Car Series which includes the Lamborghini Aventador , Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca , KITT from Knight Rider , and the ever-popular Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine . 2012 also saw the release of two vehicles from the Angry Birds video game franchise, consisting of the Red Bird and the green Minion Pig. 2013 saw the release of 250 cars including Stunt , Racing , Imagination , City , and Showroom , all of which contain sub-series. 2013 also saw
6930-434: The roof panel over the passenger compartment. A moonroof has a glass panel that is transparent and usually tinted. Previous terms include sunshine roof, sliding head, and sliding roof. A common configuration for early automobiles included a fixed roof for the rear passenger compartment and an uncovered section for the chauffeur in a style known as Coupe de Ville , Sedanca (two door) or Sedanca de Ville. An open cabin allowed
7020-461: The second-largest automobile industry. In 2023, China had for the first time in history more than 30 million produced vehicles a year, after reaching 29 million for the first time in 2017 and 28 million the year before. From 1970 (140 models) over 1998 (260 models) to 2012 (684 models), the number of automobile models in the U.S. has grown exponentially. Safety is a state that implies being protected from any risk, danger, damage, or cause of injury. In
7110-547: The sliding roof, which slid the panel under the rear section rather than over, was sufficiently different to mean that a license need not be paid. Pytchley won the case. Variations in moveable, removable and transparent roof panels continued. The Ford Lincoln X-100 concept car of 1953 revisited the Sedanca style for a non-chauffeured vehicle as it had a retractable transparent targa top which inspired later fixed moonroof panels on 1954 production vehicles. In 1961 Triumph launched
7200-407: The top 20 as of 2017, except Mitsubishi which fell out of top 20 in 2016, while Geely fell out of the top 20 in 2014 and 2015 but re-entered it in 2016. It is common for automobile manufacturers to hold stakes in other automobile manufacturers. These ownerships can be explored under the detail for the individual companies. Notable current relationships include: Sunroof A sunroof
7290-404: The tracks, featuring battery-powered spinning wheels, which would propel the cars along the tracks). Hot Wheels' use of wide, hard-plastic tires created much less friction and tracked more smoothly than the narrow metal or plastic wheels used on contemporary Matchbox cars. Hot Wheels cars were designed to roll easily and at high speeds, which was a great innovation at the time. The Hot Wheels brand
7380-457: The world's largest-producing country in 2009. 2010s : India overtakes Korea, Canada, Spain to become 5th largest automobile producer. 2013 : The share of China (25.4%), India, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico rose to 43%, while the share of United States (12.7%), Japan, Germany, France, and United Kingdom fell to 34%. The OICA counts over 50 countries that assemble, manufacture, or disseminate automobiles. Of those, only 15 countries ( boldfaced in
7470-404: Was a blue convertible that offered various Hot-Wheels-themed decorations throughout the car. 2014 saw 250 mainstream cars released with similar segments to 2013. Various playsets and other non-car merchandise were also released this year. 2014 also marked the end of the license agreement between Mattel and Ferrari , meaning the 2014 release of Ferrari 5 Pack would be the last for Mattel, and
7560-653: Was a dark blue " Custom Camaro ". Bradley was from the car industry and had designed the body for the (full-sized) Dodge Deora concept car and the Custom Fleetside , (based on his own customized 1966 El Camino). In addition to the cars themselves, Mattel produced a racing track set (sold separately). Though it would be updated throughout the years, the original track set consists of a series of bright orange road sections (pieced together to form an oblong, circular race track), with one (or sometimes two) "superchargers" (faux service stations through which cars passed on
7650-424: Was a staggering success. The series completely disrupted the industry for small die-cast car models from 1968 onward, forcing the competition at Matchbox and elsewhere to completely rethink their concepts, and to scramble to try to recover lost ground. Harry Bentley Bradley did not think that would be the case and had quit Mattel to go back to the car industry. When the company asked him to come back, he recommended
7740-418: Was clearly not designed to be chauffeured, and in 1931 it was offered in a variety of body styles as was usual at that time, among the options was a sliding roof section including, on the 1933 Aero model with glass panels, as photographed on the 1932 show car, making this the first moonroof. In 1941 Pytchley took on the manufacturer Vauxhall for failure to pay royalties. Vauxhall claimed that their variation of
7830-430: Was launched. A new generation of Hot Wheels Designers came in. Eric Tscherne and Fraser Campbell along with former designer Paul Tam's son, Alec Tam, joined the design team. Tscherne's Seared Tuner (formerly Sho-Stopper ) graced the mainline packaging from 2000 to 2003. The Deora II , one of only two Hot Wheels concept cars ever made into full-size, functional cars, was also released this year. In 2001, Mattel created
7920-467: Was often being used where a solid metal panel would slide into a slot at the top of the passenger compartment, sometimes called a de Ville extension. By the early 1930s, cars were being constructed in the Sedan style comprising a metal one-piece roof without the gap above the driver's cabin. To provide a similar facility to the earlier Coup de Ville configurations, sliding cloth or metal panels recognisable as
8010-638: Was the 1995 Model Series, which included all of that year's new castings. In 1996, the Model Series was renamed to First Editions. 1995 also saw the introduction of the Treasure Hunt Series (see below). The rest of the series included four cars with paint schemes that followed a theme. For example, the Pearl Driver cars all had pearlescent paint. Sales for the series models soared with another program also introduced that year called
8100-471: Was too narrow to roll effectively on Hot Wheels track or be powered by the Super Charger, and was too top-heavy to negotiate high-speed corners. Hot Wheels designers Howard Rees and Larry Wood modified the casting, extending the side fenders to accommodate the track width, as well as providing a new place on the vehicle to store each of the plastic surfboards. The roof was also cut away and replaced by
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