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The Hot Wheels Legends Tour brings out all the craziest custom cars every year. We’re looking back on the event and at which car is getting turned into a toy!
Where Custom Cars & Hot Wheels Collide
Hot Wheels has been a key component in car enthusiasts’ automotive obsessions at an early age. For over 50 years now, these 1:64 scale toy cars have been churned out for a cheap price to kids and collectors who continue to enjoy them as a fun hobby. Hot Wheels has created over 25,000 different designs since debuting in 1968, but they’re always looking for more inspiration to add to their extensive catalog.
So, on the toy brand’s 50th anniversary in 2018, Hot Wheels started the Legends Tour. This event travelled around the United States of America to 15 different Walmart locations and provided collectors with a chance at some limited Hot Wheels cars as well as a chance to catch a glimpse of some life-sized versions of the Twin-Mill, Boneshaker, and the Deora II Hot Wheels cars. Not only that, but the Hot Wheels Legends Tour acted as an in-person car show that Hot Wheels used to search for custom cars that carried three key ideas – authenticity, originality, and garage spirit.
After having been around for so long, a lot of Hot Wheels fans have grown into adults and begun to craft their own Hot Wheels inspired custom cars. These eccentric designs now have their own event to come together and be on full display at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The best of the bunch goes on to the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Finals where they have a chance to see their very own car turned into a 1:64 scale Hot Wheel toy for fans to enjoy. Hot Wheels has brought back this fun tour every year since, so we’re looking at the past winners of this toy-inspired, travelling car show and checking out the finalists for 2023!
Previous Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champions
As previously mentioned, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour judges three categories in order to be chosen as the next Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion. The first is authenticity, which essentially means “How much does this look like a Hot Wheels?”. For instance, a stock Buick Encore screams “retired grandma” and doesn’t really evoke someone to think “that’d be great as a Hot Wheel”, so it wouldn’t score well in this category. If you lowered it, threw on a rear spoiler, and gave it a hood scoop, then we’re getting a little closer to that Hot Wheels authenticity.
The next category is originality. Hot Wheels has made a ton of unique car designs over the years, so they want something truly custom and eye catching that not even their team has conceived. The car needs to separate itself from the rest of the cars in attendance and make a statement. For example, a stock 1964½ Ford Mustang is an icon, but it’s nothing new to Hot Wheels. Now, if someone were to turn that Mustang into a racer with racing slicks, a ton of crazy aero, and a bright paint job – that might fit the bill.
Finally, these cars need something Hot Wheels calls “garage spirit”. Sure, you can have a crack team of professionals customize a car to your specifications, but it takes true passion to do it yourself. Hot Wheels loves a good do-it-yourself story when it comes to the history behind one of these Legends Tour entrants, so the garage spirit category looks at how much effort the owner personally puts into their car and how much they enjoy what they’ve built.
Five cars have exemplified these three categories since the event began and have since been seen as toys on shelves in store and a couple have even been added to Hot Wheels video games.
2018: 2JetZ
Louis Rodriguez hand-built this jet cockpit on wheels called 2JetZ that was inspired by jets, the Bonneville Salt flats cars, and a design known as “The Face Peeler” by Hot Wheels designer, Dwayne Vance. Not only is this futuristic open-wheel racer cool looking, but it also has the performance to back it up. It started as a Nissan 300ZX that’s subframe was welded to a tubular chassis, utilizes a Subaru STi 6-speed transmission, and an upgraded twin-turbo 2JZ-GTE engine sourced from a Toyota Supra was bolted in the rear. All this makes the 2JetZ capable of over 600 horsepower while weighing just 1,650 pounds. Couple that with its jet-inspired looks and you have a car worthy of being known as the first ever Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion.
2019: The Nash
While Greg Salzillo and Dave Ford affectionately named this build “Nashole”, Hot Wheels has taken to naming the 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion The Nash. This car started out as the economical, subcompact Nash Metropolitan before being hot rodded out. The team kept the classic teal and white paint scheme that the Metropolitan is known for, but it’s been patinaed slightly to give it more of a worn look. The Nash also had its roof chopped and the fenders were cut to make room for the larger wheels on the lowered car. The showstopper of this build though is the 300 horsepower 5.0L V8 engine that was shoved into this tiny car that features air cleaners made to look like dice that jut out of the hood.
2020: 1970 Pontiac Firebird
A 1970 Pontiac Firebird may not sound that unique when looking at the previous years’ winners, but this build by Riley Stair stole the show in 2020. Stair’s custom-built Pontiac was put together on the side of his parents’ house over the course of a couple years. Now, all that hard work is being immortalized as a Hot Wheel. What set this car apart, aside from Stair’s devotion to the build, was the custom fabrication that went into making this racecar inspired Firebird. An LSX V8 was thrown in but interestingly pushed backwards into the firewall to make it a front-mid-engine setup. With this unique engine positioning, Stair had to custom fabricate his own exhaust manifold that’s resulted in a uniquely crafted, winding assortment of welded metal piping. The car also features a custom-made front tube frame, roll cage, flared fenders, and has an Ohlins racing tuned suspension to aid in its performance on track and its style while parked.
2021: Volvo P1800 Gasser
The first Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion from outside the USA was Lee Johnstone and his 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser known as “Ain’t No Saint”. The drag racer based out of the United Kingdom had been racing long before Hot Wheels took their tour internationally, but this custom-built Volvo has everything that the toy company is looking for. Johnston saved the P1800 from being scrapped and took to working on the car to shape it into a drag racer. A Chevy 454 CID big-block V8 engine with a GMC 6-71 blower was shoved under the hood of this Volvo. Giant drag radials were installed at the rear and the suspension was raised at the front to help the Volvo hook up when the tree lights. Ain’t No Saint is capable of a 10 second quarter mile and is still hitting the drag strip after having been turned into a Hot Wheels car.
2022: Texas Toot
Kei trucks are fun little JDM vehicles to zip around in that have gained their own subsect of car fandom. There are plenty of examples of these kei trucks being built with unique mods, but Texas Toot might take the cake. This 1992 Autozam Scrum has been transformed into a mini monster truck by Craig Meaux that he uses for mudding. Meaux threw a five-foot-tall lift kit on the kei truck in order to fit some giant tractor tires underneath. The original three-cylinder engine was tossed out in favor of a Chevy 454 CID big-block V8 that’s been given a nitrous oxide system. That’d probably be enough to separate this unique little truck from the pack, but Meaux added a train horn, some roof lighting, metal teeth for the grille, and gave it the perfect name for a vehicle of this stature.
Hot Wheels Legends Tour 2023
2023 saw competition heat up once again for the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, but one reigns supreme over the thousands of entrants. Here are a couple of finalists that stood out at the shows this year as well as the winner that you’ll soon be able to find as a scale toy soon.
1954 Chevrolet 6500 Farm Truck
This isn’t your typical farm truck. Instead, Jim Noble turned this classic Chevy into a triple-engined hot rod he calls “666”. At the front of this 15 year project are three Chevrolet straight-six engines that work together to produce around 550 horsepower. That unique engine configuration coupled with the rodded out appearance and giant rear wheels made for a quite the show stopper.
1985 Mercedes-Benz 300D
Mercedes-Benz sedans are typically synonymous with opulence and comfort, but David Almanzan and his high school students have transformed this 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300D into a Baja ready beast. What started out as a learning instrument to help teach vehicle maintenance and repair has been molded by over 200 students into “Tootsie”. The 300D still carries the original OM617 3.0L turbodiesel inline five-cylinder engine, but the teacher’s project car has been lifted, had the wheel arches widened, added fender flares, given mudding tires, and installed a racing seat among other modifications. If ever there was a car the stood for garage spirit, it’s this one!
1981 Chevrolet Camaro Roadster
This isn’t your everyday ’81 Chevrolet Camaro – it’s hardly a Camaro anymore really. Michael Scire originally bought the Camaro when he was 15 and has made extensive modifications to the vehicle over the course of 18 years with the help of his friends and father. This one-of-one roadster took the base Camaro and shortened it by about 18 inches to fit the unique custom body. Scire also installed a hand-built 350 CID V8 engine that runs exhaust out of dual, custom side pipes.
Kymera
Tim McDonald introduced what is possibly the coolest looking Chevrolet Colorado I’ve ever seen. The only thing left on Kymera that somewhat still resembles the Colorado anymore is the cab and the Chevy bowtie on the front of this off-roading beast. The front and rear of this truck is made up of completely custom metal work and the roof features metal spines that run towards the back into a tube frame. Kymera isn’t just for looks though as this truck runs off of a twin-turbocharged Cummins diesel engine. It also keeps things planted with the help of its giant off-road tires and the Baja-inspired suspension that’s comprised of Fox coilovers and triple bypass shocks. When things get rocky and speeds come down, McDonald also installed all-wheel steering to really navigate those tight spaces (or do some sweet donuts).
Rampy
Rampside Chevrolet Corvairs are already cool pieces of automotive history, but Wayne Dick took his restomod called “Rampy” to another level. The Corvair pickup is slammed and features a patinaed, two-tone paint job. That’s all well and good, but what really makes it standout is the engine sitting in the bed. Out in the open on full display is a 460-horsepower 6.2L LS3 V8 engine in all its glory. Dick paired this engine upgrade with a transmission, rear axle, and suspension sourced from a C5 Corvette. Surrounding that engine in the bed of Rampy is an old Coca-Cola cooler that holds the battery and ECU, air suspension bits and pieces, and stickers adorning the inside of the box.
Big Dill & Pickle Jar
Big Dill & Pickle Jar are a pair of green, modified BMW Isettas put together by Mikey Brown. While the Italian microcars are technically two entrants, it’s hard to separate such a perfect pair. Big Dill is the smallest of the two and features swapped in Harley-Davidson 1.2L V-twin motorcycle engine, a vintage drag racer inspire roll cage, and larger rear wheels. Its cohort is Pickle Jar, an Isetta that’s been elongated into a mini hauler and utilizes components from the Ford Model A and Volkswagen Beetle to achieve its custom, vintage style.
2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion: Chimera
The 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Champion comes in the form of this cyberpunk inspired 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata known as “Chimera”. Chris Watson built the car in a shed back at his home in New Zealand. It’s a futuristic take on kaido racer culture in Japan and has completely transformed the sports car into something straight out of a video game. The exterior has been given a wide body kit, rear spoiler, roof mounted fin, JDM inspired fender side mirrors, a full length rear light bar, and a gun metal paint job with lime green accents featuring some Kanji. Inside is an interior comprised of BRIDE aftermarket seating and door card upholstery, blue lighting in the foot wells, and a passenger side mounted laptop that displays techy vehicle diagnostics. You’ll be seeing the 1:64 scale Chimera Hot Wheel toys at stores near you soon enough.
Get Ready for Hot Wheels Legends Tour 2024!
2024 will introduce thousands more custom car entries for the Hot Wheels Legends Tour as well as more opportunities for fans to get their hands on some collectible toy cars during the event. Be sure to keep an eye out for Hot Wheels to drop the tour’s schedule of dates and locations in the coming months. Who knows? Maybe your own garage creation could be the next life-sized car turned into one of those toy cars speeding around on the orange plastic tracks.
