Hot Wheels is a brand of miniature die-cast toy cars created by American toy maker Mattel in 1968. The original Hot Wheels vehicles were a line of 16 small-scale die-cast cars. The cars were designed to resemble contemporary muscle cars from the time, including the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro.
The idea for Hot Wheels was originally conceived by Elliot Handler, co-founder of Mattel. Handler and his design team were inspired by the popularity of the then-new die-cast toy cars being produced in Japan by the company Matchbox. Handler wanted to create a miniature car line that was even more detailed and realistic than the Matchbox line. He and his team set out to create a line of cars that were made of metal, featured realistic detailing, and had realistic performance characteristics.
To promote Hot Wheels, Mattel created a number of marketing campaigns, including television commercials, print ads, and even a racing circuit, Hot Wheels Super Speedway. The first Hot Wheels car was released in 1968, and since then, the brand has gone on to become one of the most popular toy lines in the world. Hot Wheels cars are now sold in over 150 countries, and the brand has produced over 4 billion cars since its inception.
Hot Wheels is a brand of die-cast toy cars introduced by American toy maker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then-owner of Matchbox.
Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Hot Wheels were designed to be more "performance-oriented" than Matchbox cars. Made to look fast and aggressive, the cars were designed with oversized wheels and lowered suspension.
Many of the original cars had "Spectraflame" paint, which changed color depending on the angle and lighting. Hot Wheels also introduced the concept of "track sets" that allowed the cars to be used in a competitive setting.
The first sixteen Hot Wheels cars were released in 1968, and are now highly sought after by collectors. They include the Custom Camaro, Custom Mustang, Custom Volkswagen, Custom Firebird, Custom T-Bird, Custom Cougar, Beatnik Bandit, Deora, Custom Fleetside, Python, Silhouette, Custom Barracuda, Hot Heap, Heavyweights, Custom Corvette, and Custom Torero. All of these cars were designed with oversized wheels and featured Spectraflame paint. The cars were a huge success and remain popular to this day.