1stCertified Collision Center - Riverside

Top 5 Popular Hot Wheels Cars

The Custom Barracuda, Cougar and Corvette—all of these were part of the first 16 Hot Wheels Cars manufactured by Mattel toy company. Known as the “Sweet Sixteen”, the cars were launched in 1968 by inventor Elliott Handler during a time when diecast vehicles, such as Matchbox, were the rage. Hot Wheels became an overnight success and are still one of the most popular toys sold.

At 1stCertified Collision Center - Riverside, we love Hot Wheels. Kids in Riverside, CA still collect them, so we're delighted to be sharing this blog with you.

Collected by both young and old, the average collector of Hot Wheels cars has more than 1,550 cars and some have more than 10,000. They range in price from just $1 to more than $100,000! Mattel estimates there have been more than four billion cars produced. Here are some of the coolest, most famous Hot Wheels ever created. 

1.) 1969 Pink Rear-Loading Volkswagen Beach Bomb : One of the most famous Hot Wheels vehicles is a pink Volkswagen featuring removable surfboards. Mattel built 16 prototypes with the surfboards loaded through the rear window before realizing they were too narrow for the company’s Super Charger race tracks. The version that was eventually released featured side pods for the surfboards. Some believe there are only two in existence and collector Bruce Pascal reportedly bought one of them for $72,000!

2.) 1970 Ed Shaver Custom AMX: In 1970, Mattel sponsored Ed Shaver, a drag racer who was a United States serviceman based in the UK. The company created a special Hot Wheel car for him, which are now estimated to be worth $4,000 each. The cars were exclusively available in the United Kingdom and were all made in blue, the same color of the actual Ed Shaver AMX race car. The only difference between the toy car and the real one is the Ed Shaver decal sheet that comes inside the package.

3.) 1971 Purple Olds : Some of the popular Hot Wheels models were made in limited-edition colors. The Olds 442 was one of them. The majority of these vehicles are magenta-colored and worth between $1,400 and $2,000. The purple Olds reportedly sells for up to $5,000. The cars can also be found in salmon or hot pink.

4.) 1974 Blue Rodger Dodger : If you’re looking for a Rodger Dodger Hot Wheels vehicle, you can easily find the muscle car online in red, yellow or purple. However, only seven blue ones were reportedly made in the mid-1970s. Bob Parker traded some of his Matchbox cars with a collector in England and received seven blue Rodger Dodgers. He thought he might receive more and sold them through his mail order business. 

5.) 1995 Collector Number 271 Funny Car : Some say only 12 of these cars were produced, which means the model might be one of the rarest Hot Wheels made in the 1990s. They were released on a blue card with the collector number 271 on it. Valued at approximately $3,500, only six of them have been reportedly found to be on a card and no variations were made.

Sources: eBay, San Francisco Chronicle and Yahoo