I watched the TV show “Hot Wheels Challenge” where people use their first cars as inspiration to create a hot wheels car. They tell their story of how that first car had an effect on their lives, usually some sad story about cancer or some other loss.
Then, using that car, they have to design and create a real car that they think will make a good hot wheels car.
They are pitted against another person with the same constraints. A team helps them use an actual car to create a life size hot wheels car. Then a couple of judges determine which car would best represent the hot wheels brand. There are two contestants each show that compete for a final show off of eight(?) finalist.
Realizing the “reality” of most reality shows being rather lax on real reality, I have questions.
First of all, where do they find the cars in such good shape? Is one of the reasons the people are chosen because the producers can find that persons particular car?
If the cars are in as good as shape as they look on TV (which I seriously doubt) I would hate to chop some of them up. Others? Meh, chop away!
I also wonder if the persons story is part of the judging process. Does a sick kid in a story rate a more likely chance of winning than a story where the kid and parent bond because of the car?
While the finished car creations usually look pretty good, I have to wonder if they look good close up, or if they even run. The fabricators only have two weeks to complete the build. Even if they knew what materials or parts they would need before they started, two weeks is a very short time for such a project.
I googled what happens to these cars after the show, thinking it would be cool to see them in a museum somewhere. According to host Rutledge Wood, “I think most of them are sitting in a warehouse, kind of wondering what their fate is going to be.” He also states that some of the cars will be recycled for their parts, while a few of the higher end vehicles may go to collectors who can fix them up and possibly make them street legal.”
The people that were featured in the TV build show may never see them again.
Being a bit of a Hot Wheels/Matchbook car collector myself, I obviously started to wonder how I might fare on the show. My first thought was “how many different models of Hot Wheels cars have been made?”
Google says: Over 20,000!
Then I thought about my first car; a 1964 two door Chevrolet Impala. A classic for sure! When I got it, it was just a seven year old car at a time when cars were designed to fall apart at 50,000 miles or five years, whichever came first. The car companies even had a term for it: Planned Obsolescence.
My ‘64 Impala was in pretty good shape in 1971 when I got it, considering the state of Chevy manufacturing practices at the time.
I knew that Hot Wheels had already made several models of a 1964 Impala. I even had one. Another quick google search showed over 20 models of that particular year and model! Hmmm. Making a new model from a ‘64 Impala was starting to sound like it would be quite difficult.
My story of how this vehicle affected my life did not have any sick kids or relatives. It did not really help me bond too much with either parent or sibling. My story was rather bland. It was a daily driver. It took me to work and Drive In Theaters. I cruised the neighbor hood in it. My only distractions while driving was whoever was in the car and trying to find an AM radio station.
The trunk was huge so it doubled as a Pick up truck. I could haul lawnmowers or bikes in it with the trunk closed. One time, the poor vehicle got the trunk loaded with a bunch of rocks that should have killed the suspension. When driving back with these, the front of the car was so high, the front tires seemed to be barely touching the road. Later in life my daily driver would be a pickup.
Suddenly, my vision or what my ‘64 Impala hot wheels car would be. An Impala Pick up truck! I instantly had a name for it; Mother Truckin’ Impala.
Since my drawing skills aren’t up to snuff to draw this, I will try to describe it.
I would want it to still be distinctly a ‘64 Impala. The front would be essentially the same look, except the hood would have two reverse hood scoops added. The rear seat would be removed and the roof line moved up to just behind the front doors. A T top would cover the front seats. The rear trunk area would be opened up for a truck bed. An extra set of axles would be added to the back. Not dually’s, but a twin axle. The rear lights, instead of being three horizontally, would be three vertically on either side of the tailgate. Maybe a swept tailpipe running from behind the front wheel, just below the door, to the front of the rear wheel well. It would have to have baby moon hubcaps and trim rings.
I think this would be a unique and cool addition to the Hot Wheels line.
I have recently found a web site that takes typed descriptions and makes an Ai image from it. It couldn’t figure out the tandem axles, the twin hood scoops, the T top or the baby moon and trim rings, but it did pretty good other than that...
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