Mention the name Hot Wheels and it’s likely you have a fond memory from childhood of these 1/64 scale cars—I certainly do. Hot Wheels ran the gamut in recreating realistic production vehicles to those based on wild outlandish designs that captured the imagination of youth and tossed aside the constraints of adulthood.
In 2018, Hot Wheels scoured the country looking for passionate custom automotive builders in the inaugural Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The tour spanned 15 states, attracted 3,600 custom builds and over 65,000 fans. At each stop along the tour, 15 finalists were chosen but in the end, only one person would walk away with the title of Hot Wheels Legend.
The 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour is back and Mattel will follow the same format and add three additional cites to the tour schedule.
Builds will be judged by a talented team of judges consisting of Hot Wheels designers and automotive influencers, who will select one finalist from each stop based on the criteria of authenticity, creativity, and garage spirit.
“Hot Wheels cars are known for their outrageous designs that not only look cool, but also perform,” says Chris Down, Global Head of Hot Wheels, “At each Legends Tour stop, originality usually draws us in first. Our design team creates hundreds of different models every single year, so it really takes something special to break through.”
Each finalist will win a trip to 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where they will be judged side-by-side to determine a grand prize winner. The chosen one will also be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends, a collection of one-of-a-kind cars that embody the brand’s challenger spirit and legendary design.
There is no shortage of amazing custom builds that occur around the United States but the Legends tour brings out wild creatives like few other shows. And for Hot Wheels, it’s not only the end result but the amazing stories that make the Legends Tour so impactful.
“The winning car from last year, Luis Rodriguez’s 2JetZ, will always hold a special place in my heart since it was the first fan’s vehicle we immortalized into a die-cast but I also really loved Robert Graham’s Surfn’ Rod. This was a Woody hot rod that Robert built with his grandson,” said Down. “They literally drew the design on a napkin and then built it from the ground up on a budget of just $25 per week – talk about ‘garage spirit’! Robert was committed to bringing his grandson’s vision to life and those are the types of stories we love to hear from our fans. The Legends Tour has really shown that Hot Wheels’ fan base is multigenerational, and Luis and Robert’s stories show that the challenger spirit transcends any age!”
Of the 18 stops on this year’s tour, attendees can look forward to on-site experiences with Hot Wheels partners Microsoft, Honda, Mobil1, Dickies, and Mechanix. To keep the fun rolling between each stop, Hot Wheels will send a traveling vending machine truck to over 75 additional Walmart stores so fans can get their hands on their own Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour will stop at Walmart stores in the following cities with specific locations still to be determined:
- Miami (March 16)
- Houston (March 30)
- Dallas (April 13)
- Atlanta (April 27),
- Bentonville (May 11)
- Charlotte (May 25)
- Philadelphia (June 1)
- New York City (June 15)
- Detroit (June 29)
- Chicago (July 13)
- St. Louis (July 27)
- Denver (August 10)
- Seattle (August 24)
- Phoenix (September 7)
- San Jose (September 21)
- San Diego (October 5)
- Los Angeles (October 19)
The tour will also make a special stop at Hot Wheels headquarters in El Segundo, California on May 15 to celebrate the brand’s 51st birthday.