AN INCREDIBLE supercar that once started off as a 1968 Ford Falcon has won the ultimate Hot Wheels prize.
The jet black 600bhp supercar “La Liebre”, will soon be transformed into its own 1:64 die-cast toy after winning the 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour.
The announcement was made during the virtual Global Grand Finale on November 16.
The impressive custom built car was heavily modified, with the Falcon chassis modified by Baufer Garage and then fitted with a tubular frame and roll cage.
A custom built Chevrolet 350 small block V8 was then plugged in and connected to a Saenz 910 five-speed gear box.
The entire car weighs just under one tonne (900kg), with the entire body made from fibreglass.
La Liebre, Spanish for The Hare, is the brainchild of Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini.
The duo co-founded “Cars and Coffee” in 2013 in Chile, with the aim of growing the car community.
Ted Wu, senior VP and global head of design of vehicles and building sets at Mattel, who owns Hot Wheels said: “This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought out so many incredible builds, making it difficult to select just one.
“However, the mission behind the La Liebre built by Cars & Coffee Chile was emblematic of what the tour is all about.
“Not only is it an extremely impressive build, but it was created to help grow the car community in Chile and inspire others to participate.
“That’s what makes this vehicle, and the team behind it, deserving of the win and entry into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.”
The Legends Tour has been running since 2018 and describes itself as ‘the world’s largest travelling car show’.
Each year heats are held around the world before a Grand Finale sees a global winner crowned.
The 2024 Legends Tour spanned 13 countries, including new stops in Colombia and the UAE, evaluating over 5,000 cars with millions of attendees worldwide.
The UK finalist, a modified Mini nicknamed ‘Mentley,’ reached the Global Grand Finale for the fourth consecutive year.
The winner then has their car turned into a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast.
Meanwhile, people have been urged to check their Hot Wheel collection to see if they own one of the rarest and valuable cars.
Rare Hot Wheels models can fetch as much as £3,200 at auction, according to Peter Morris, an avid Hot Wheels collector and auctioneer at Vectis Auctions.
While the majority of toy cars are unlikely to fetch thousands of pounds, you could still walk away with a handsome profit.
Hot Wheels are a brand of model cars and race tracks, created my Mattel – the inventor of Barbie – in 1968.
The first line of Hot Wheels cars, known as The Original Sweet 16 was manufactured in 1967.
These were the first of the Red Line Series, named for the tires which had a red pin stripe on their sides.
Since then, they’ve gone to to reproduce millions of die-cast hot-rod inspired cars, as well as scale models of cars, VW vans and more.
In addition to the cars, Mattel also produced a racing track set. Hot Wheels cars were designed to roll easily and at high speeds, which was a great innovation at the time.
Through the years, Hot Wheels cars have been collected mostly by children. However, since the late 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of adult collectors.
Original Hot Wheels cars from the 1960s and 70s tend to be the most valuable, Mr Morris said.
“The most expensive ones are the original red line cars, which were made in the first ten years of production,” he explained.
“You can spot them because each tire will have a red ring on it.”
The cars should also have a date on the bottom of the base which will tell you when they were made.
Look out for cars that were produced between 1968 and 1977, he said.
These cars can be picked up for about £30 to £50 but can sell for hundreds of pounds at auction.
“The most expensive one we sold was £3,200,” Mr Morris said.
“It was a Mustang Boss Hoss and still had its original card box as if it had come straight from the shop.”
But it does not matter if you still have the box as these cars are still valuable without it.
Focus on the condition of the car as this will dictate how much it is worth, warns Robert Wilkin, an auctioneer at C&T Auctioneers and Valuers.
“The value of a car will depend on whether the paint is chipped and if the wheels go round,” he said.
“The axles on Hot Wheels cars are a lot thinner than on a Matchbox car because that makes them spin quicker, which makes them go faster on the track.
“If the wheels still go round nicely then the car is worth more money than if it’s got bent axles and the wheels are out of shape.”
It can be difficult to tell how much your Hot Wheels car is worth.
Here Robert Wilkin, auctioneer at C&T Auctioneers and Valuers, shares how to spot them:
The valuable cars have got red lines around the wheels.
They often look almost like space age or old Cameros and Ford Mustangs.
The more decorated they are and the more fancy graphics they have on them, the more modern they will be.
This won’t necessarily mean that they are worth more.
Look out for the plainer looking, metallic colours rather than graphic details on the cars.
Usually they have a metal base, but more modern ones have a plastic base.
Look out for markings such as a circle with a flame on the packaging as sometimes this will indicate that it is a treasure hunt car.
