SEMA: Hot Wheels brings hot rods
John Neff checked in from SEMA all excited about Mattel's Hot Wheels booth and we totally understand. We'd be willing to bet that many regular Autoblog readers have 1:64 scale hot rods doing 360s on their desks.
Mattel knows their market, and sent not only hundreds of their beloved miniature cars, but also flew in three full-sized hot rods.
Hot Wheels fans from the 1960s might remember their toy cars being vibrant, metallic colors. Those hues went away in the 1970s due to the large amount of lead used in their Spectraflame paint. Mattel has now teamed up with PPG to produce a new (hopefully lead-free) Spectraflame paint for adult-sized rides.
Photos of the SEMA Hot Wheels display including the three hot rods after the jump.
Mattel commissioned a street rod 1966 GTO for their booth this year. Purevision handled the build and has the before pictures on their website. We, however, have the fabulous after shots. The '66 Goat wears a suit of PPG's new Hot Wheel Spectraflame Watermelon paint over a Pontiac 421 and KMC Hot Wheels 20" wheels.
Click on placard for high-res image.
The 1959 Chevy Impala is one sweet custom rod. An entry in the 2006 Detroit Autorama, the 540 cid rod is said to crank out 1,000 horses. And those are definitely not small scale.
Then there's the return of Johnson's Hot Rod Shop blazing orange 1971 G-Force Plymouth Barracuda. First built for SEMA in 2005, it still impresses with a NOS-fed, 572 cubic inch Hemi, carbon fiber body panels, and 20-inch rear wheels covering titanium brake rotors. We'll take one no matter the scale.
Mattel also brought along several hundred examples of what they're best known for. There will be many a Hot Wheels collector dreaming of this sight tonight.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doogie 9:16AM (5/14/2009)
That cuda keeps bringing me back here. Alan Johnson is a majician. He followed that one up with the Duzenburg that was built for Doug Cooper of New York and won the riddler award at Detroit Autorama. That is one of the most prestigious awards out there. If not you wouldn;t have builders of his and Troy trapnier and chip foose competing for it!
Gotta love old Bob Johnson for funding that project. That carbon looks awesome!
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Lizzy 9:08AM (11/03/2006)
This is so awesome...Those pictures are great. There are a bunch of articles from the SEMA show on the SEMA/car crazy site http://sema.carcrazycentral.com/Default.aspx that they were updating each day of the show...Insider info (like what you put above)...pretty good resource.
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Paul 10:16AM (11/03/2006)
whats the deal with Hot Wheels brand wheels - i have seem them kicking around the net and am curious about them...
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Richard Warren 11:41AM (11/03/2006)
That 59 Impala is sweet!
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jeffer 1:03PM (11/03/2006)
Beautiful! A real Pontiac from the glory days when Pontiac really did "Build excitement"
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Big Al 2:08PM (11/03/2006)
These cars are what define a hot rod to me. Tasteful paint schemes, plenty of chrome, immaculate detail, and most importantly they don't look loke they just rolled off the set of "Pimp My Ride".
I especially like the GTO and Cuda. Well done, indeed.
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Spekkio 7:37PM (11/03/2006)
Wow. That's hot. Especially the GTO. Now all we need are real cars done like Transformers Alternators and I'll be set.
-Spekkio, who dreams of owning a car that looks like Rodimus (aka Hot Rod)
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Andrew 9:44AM (11/04/2006)
And Mattel shows everyone else how it's done. Not too showy, not too conventional, and insanely beautiful in my eyes.
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hot wheels 11:53PM (11/06/2006)
the KMC wheels are part of their Hot Wheels line - the rim is called the '68 and they are available exclusively at Discount Tire - they look awesome.
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wjh 9:31AM (11/22/2006)
What surprises me is that The Cuda was unveiled last year at SEMA and now it comes back for a repeat showing and still there is nothing out there in the same ballpark.
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wjh 9:31AM (11/22/2006)
How long before someone tops The Cuda, or is that even possible?
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ROBBIE 12:44AM (11/25/2006)
guys is there anywhere I can get more pic of this car and who built it on the net ? want to see interior or engine shots I am building my 1966 GTO CURRENTLY
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james 12:36AM (11/30/2006)
hell yah
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Doogie 8:47AM (12/27/2006)
Robbie asked where it was built.
It was built at Alan Johnsons Hotrod Shop in Gadsden Alabama.
www.johnsonshotrodshop.com
there are plenty of pictures there and at www.g-forcecuda.com and at www.3gservicesinc.com
The guys at 3G did the carbon fiber.
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robbie 8:50AM (12/28/2006)
thanks but I am looking for pics on the 66 PONTIAC GTO
anyone out there no who built that and were more info is available
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