How would you like to have your build transformed into a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast? This is the question the Hot Wheels Legends Tour asks participants. The event, which is also a massive on-the-road car show, kicked off in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mattel-owned brand. However, for this year, we got a bonus, namely the 2022 Hot Wheels Legends Fan Favorite.
For the “standard” HW Legends Tour, a panel of international judges comprised of automotive and design experts choose from thousands of vehicles from around the world. The three most important assets for participating builds are authenticity, originality, and garage spirit.
While other countries get virtual events, the U.S. sees local gatherings being held in various states. Judges select the top project car from each event, with the list getting shorter as the American picks also compete with vehicles from around the world for the one and only Hot Wheels Legend Award. Among others, the winning machine gets a 1:64 scale die-cast replica that will be offered in worldwide stores.
As for the Global Grand Finale, this is also a virtual event (last year it was broadcast live from Jay Leno’s Garage) and it’s scheduled for November 12 at 9AM PT.
Now, in a few hours (5PM PT), Hot Wheels will hold the global semi-final, a virtual event where the judges introduce us to the top 10 cars out of a previously-selected batch of 24 builds, which is showcased in the Instagram video at the bottom of the story—hey, the 3,000 HP Porsche 928 we previously covered is on the list. Just check out Hot Wheels’ Instagram and Facebook and you’ll be able to witness the event. And here is the livestream on Fb.
Update: The 2022 Hot Wheels Legends Tour winner is the Texas Toot. This is a 1992 Autozam Scrum that’s been given an eye-catching, muscle-backed monster truck conversion. A mini monster truck, that is—Autozam is a former Mazda sub-brand that was retired in 1998, with the Scrum being a tiny truck for Japan’s kei car segment.
Texas Toot builder Craig Means took the Scrum, which wasn’t offered in Nort America, and catered to the current JDM fetish of many enthusiasts (just check out some of the regional winners in the public-voted competition). The build started in 2020 and the five-foot lift kit of the once-a-kei-truck is accompanied by a Chevy 454 ci (7.4L) Big Block, with the V8 sporting a Weiand blower—Mad Max approves—so it can spin the hell out of all four (massive) wheels.
Also thanks to a three-speed GM automatic transmission and a custom-mounted transfer case, plus a 25o shot of nitrous, the Texas Toot will put its agricultural-style tires to work in the mud without breaking a sweat. No really, this is right there on the machine’s Instagram account.
As with the previous HW Legends Tour winners, Hot Wheels will build a Texas Toot casting and offer the 1:64 toy around the world.
In the comments section of the official Hot Wheels post showcasing the winner (once again from Jay Leno’s Garage), fans discuss the form of the casting, though. It looks like this will be a member of the Hot Wheels mainline (the regular range), even though some believe that the base and the larger wheels of the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks series would be a more fitting choice—the article continues below, detailing the regional winners of the 2022 Hot Wheels Legends Tour.
However, the toy maker has already announced the 2022 Hot Wheels Legends Fan Favorite Regional winners and we’ll go into the details below.
Enthusiasts had a 24-hour window to vote for their preferred rides on the Hot Wheels Instagram story and it was up to each contestant to promote their contraption on social media.
This fresh part of the competition was split into four regions (in alphabetical order): Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America. So, without further ado, let’s zoom in on the winning builds, all of which will get their globally-distributed 1:64 castings—oh, if only we could say the same about this 3D-rendered mini Audi S1 Hoonitron EV drifting machine…
Asia Pacific: Volkswagen Dakodok
Asia Pacific delivered what is probably the machine that will stand out the most. Indonesian enthusiast Denny Kusumah—the account was private at the time of press—managed to bring together the front part of the first VW Bus (named Dakota in Indonesia) and the posterior of the original VW Beetle (called Kodok in the country).
The seamless integration, which gifts the resulting Dakodok with a teardrop shape, came after six years of work. And yes, the two-tone white and red color scheme stands for the Indonesian flag.
Europe: R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R drift car
The closer you get to this R33-gen Nissan Skyline GT-R, the more you get to understand how it gets reborn over and over again after the inevitable crashes that come with professional drifting.
Spanish builder Marc Huertes has been fielding Godzilla for quite some time now. And, as he keeps rebuilding and upgrading the machine, which currently sports a Toyota 1JZ 2.5L VVT-i straight-six with a hefty turbo, the man provides an inspiration for the sideways community.
Latin America: Plymouth Duster Phoenix
Built by a Mexican enthusiast known as Zaky MX, this project fits right into the retromod culture that seems to be gaining more and more traction lately—have you seen this 2022 Challenger Hellcat gone 1971 Plymouth Duster at SEMA 2022?
Think of this breed as the opposite of a restomod. In this case, it means we’re looking at a 2009 Dodge Charger Super Bee SRT8 that’s been taken to great lengths to impersonate a 1971 Plymouth Duster. What does that mean, muscle-wise? A naturally aspirated 6.1L HEMI, baby!
North America: SFL Nissan 240SX
This 1998, second-generation Nissan 240SX (aka Kouki S14A Silvia over in Japan) came from the factory with a free-breathing 2.4L straight-four known as K24DE.
However, Kyle Murphy, who is the original owner of the machine and runs the South Florida 240SX and Skyline community, packs a turbocharged K24DET engine, which traces its roots to the pickup truck world.
And while the build appearing to be stock might have you scratching your head, this is the whole idea: to hide a plethora of mods targeting all the areas of the machine under this factory look (OEM+). Ok, the S-chassis Nissan is finished in BMW’s Laguna Seca Blue.
How will these look as toys?
Now, you don’t need to be a car buff to notice that while the VW looks completely bonkers and the Plymouth may raise some eyebrows, the pair of JDMs will probably look quite close to the existing Hot Wheels castings once translated into 1:64 form, save for the color schemes.
And there have been some social media comments pointing out that aspect. However, if we are to think of the silver lining here, this involves the incredible details of the real-world builds. This is why we provided Instagram links for all of them (minus the VW, which doesn’t seem to be on social media) and we encourage you to check them out in detail.
However, if we look at the previous years of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, most of the winners were vehicles whose shape easily stood out, even when placed on one’s desk.
And, as you can notice in the image portraying the said 24 intermediate selections, the judges have plenty of those to choose from for 2022.
2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour
The 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour is alive and kicking, once again as a global event. From May 13 to September 24, there are live events in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
Europe is also on the list, with one of the top events taking place in France, as three standout builds are set to be displayed at the 100th anniversary edition of the 24h Le Mans race (June 6-11).
