One of These 10 Badass Builds Will Get a Hot Wheels Mini-Me
Car enthusiasts of all stripes, mark your calendars for November 16. At noon Eastern Standard time, one of the ten cars below will be crowned the winner of the 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour. (The process will be livestreamed on YouTube.) In this annual, international competition, custom vehicles of all imaginable kinds vie for the chance to be immortalized as a Hot Wheels die-cast model.
The judging panel includes some familiar faces, some of them from these very (digital) pages: Jay Leno and Larry Chen, along with Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias and NASCAR driver Toni Breidinger. Of course, Hot Wheels own designers have been involved at every step of the process—someone with Hot Wheels-specific knowledge has to make sure that models of these real-sized cars are actually feasible to make, and that they fit with the Hot Wheels ethos.
We chatted with one of those designers when the tour stopped in Detroit to crown a regional winner. You can check out that article here. Watch this space to see who wins the 2024 Tour—and, in the meantime, check out the badass finalists. Which one deserves the prize?
Chile — 1968 Ford Falcon “La Liebre”
Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Well, the Chilean arm of Cars & Coffee turned a tortoise into a hare. “La Liebre” began as a Chile-built 1968 Ford Falcon, which we … never in a million years would have guessed. We would love to know how much of this sub-2000-pound, 350-powered track monster actually is Ford material—the body is custom fiberglass sitting atop a custom tube-frame chassis and roll cage.
Dallas — 1988 Ford Mustang “Timefox”
The ’80s and the ’90s are so in—and “Timefox,” a 1988 Ford Mustang, capitalizes on their popularity. The most interesting thing about this Fox-body lies under the hood: A 4.0-liter Ford with … not eight, but six cylinders, originally offered in the Australian market. Of course, builder Regan McLaughlin juiced it further with a PSR turbocharger.
El Segundo — 1934 Ford Pickup “FordTruss”
This Model A pickup was, at some point in its life, a dump truck. Now, it’s something even more unusual—a Chevy-powered hot rod infused with aerospace influence. Owner and builder Scott Roberson didn’t just take aesthetic influence from planes in the cut-out sections of the trunk, hood, and grille; he repurposed a plane’s brake caliper for part of the dashboard! (That Chevy, in case you were wondering, is a 6.2-liter LS3 making 430 hp.)
France – 1981 DeLorean
If you’re a fan of racing, you already know where this photo was taken—Le Mans, home of the legendary 24-hour endurance classic (and a Porsche experience center, which maintains this actual-race-track part of the course.) The builder of this 1981 DeLorean loved Back to the Future so much that he imported not one but two of the gullwing cars to France. He sold one to finance the build of this one, which has received a wallop of extra power thanks to a 500-hp V-8 from a Corvette.
Germany – 1987 Porsche 944
The winner of the German leg of the Legends Tour is a father-son build. Benjamin Pflug and his father might have had limited resources, but they had vision and determination. The evidence? This Porsche 944, lowered on air suspension, blessed with an updated leather interior, OZ wheels, a bespoke rear wing, and a custom paint job.
Houston – 1957 BMW Isetta
If we’re picking—and we aren’t—we’re torn between this camper-build Isetta and the widebody, patina-heavy Lancia below. Mikey Brown built this funky, charming, surprising BMW from a “scrap pile” in just 80 days. We’re astounded … and more than a little in love.
Italy – 1976 Lancia Beta HPE HF Turbo
Hard to look away, right? Builder Francesco Besana took inspiration from Japanese tuner culture, and we love the mashup of widebody stance with this Lancia’s Italian style. We’re also impressed by how Besana kept this build Italian through and through: The engine is also of Lancia make, an oh-so-Italian 1.6-liter modified with fuel injection and upgraded with a Garret T4 turbo. Oh, to see this thing sideways, drifting through its hometown of Monza!
Phoenix – 1960 Chevrolet Apache
This year’s finalists include some great trucks—street trucks, specifically. Overlanding may be hot right now, but low … is so in. Over six years, Robert Zoller, a native of Arizona, built his 1960 Chevrolet Apache into an LS-powered lowrider. The extroverted stance is nicely balanced by the subtle gray paintwork.
UAE – 2016 VW Beetle
We wish there were more photographs of Sameh Helal’s 2016 Beetle—there are some great details here that we just can’t admire as closely as we’d like. Helal designed the widebody kit himself, and the clearance of the fenders over the dished wheels looks juuuust right. The interior—alas, we can barely see it—is bedecked in Alcantara and upgraded with Recaro racing seats. The engine must be well-packaged indeed—Mattel says it has almost 400 hp and an IS38 turbo.
UK – 1983 Austin Mini “Mentley”
This is just delightfully insane: A 1983 Austin Mini packing a Rover V-8! Dominic Whittle and his two friends, who built this car, originally planned it as a weekend track toy. It evolved into a tribute to a 1920s Bentley Speed 8, British Racing Green and all. Dominic, you’re our kind of crazy.
