Hot Wheels' first-ever Designer's Challenge saw the participation of six automotive manufacturers, with the aim of designing and creating an original Hot Wheels vehicle.
This event marked the first time Hot Wheels has turned outside the company to seek new vehicle designs.
Automotive manufacturer participants in the Hot Wheels® Designer's Challenge™ - Dodge, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Lotus and Mitsubishi - were tasked with designing a car that captured the die-cast brand's core essence of speed, power, performance and attitude, while also encompassing the distinct attributes of each company's automotive brand values.
In addition, each car had to be able to perform a loop on classic Hot Wheels® orange track.
The top three designs from each automotive manufacturer were selected and presented to a panel of judges that included editors from the Los Angeles Times, Car and Driver, and Men's Journal, along with Hot Wheels® designers and executives.
The designs selected for the Hot Wheels Designer's Challenge line include:
- Dodge XP-07 (Dodge, designed by Mark Reisen)
- Ford Gangster Grin (Ford, designed by Steve Gilmore)
- GM Chevroletor (General Motors, designed by Amaury Diaz-Serrano)
- Honda Racer (Honda, designed by Guillermo Gonzalez)
- Lotus Concept (Lotus, designed by Steven Crijns)
- Mitsubishi Double Shotz (Mitsubishi, designed by Gary Ragle)
- HW-40™ (Hot Wheels®, designed by Jun Imai)
