A friend of mine was cleaning out a garage and came across this old Matchbox case. I don’t know much about these but I see there are a few on eBay and the plastic top halves were apparently molded in different colors. This one is pretty beat up – it’s missing a few stickers, has one broken rivet, and only has two of the four car trays – but it’s an interesting item nonetheless.
Happy Easter, everyone!
Y2088 | 2013 Easter Cars 5/8 | ’68 Chevy Nova | black & red with purple, gold and beige flames | 5SP
The Hot Wheels ’59 Chevy Impala has been on hiatus for a few years, so I was excited to find this one at WalMart yesterday. It’s interesting that they are using the 2002 Bel Air retool (notice the B-pillar and the missing rear fender skirt) but calling it an Impala again. The metalflake green paint and old-school flames are really gorgeous. I was so inspired that I pulled out all of the many variations of this casting that I have in my collection and I’m including photos here.
X1796 | 2013 HW Showroom | ’59 Chevy Impala | metalflake green with flames | MC5 wheels
The ’59 Chevy Impala casting made its first appearance in 1997 as this pink and orange model with gold lace wheels.
16670 | 1997 First Editions #517 | ’59 Chevy Impala | 5/12 | pink with silver, black and orange trim | gold lace wheels
In 1998, the ’59 Impala was part of the Low ‘N Cool series. I also have the same car with a blue car on the package, instead of the red illustration pictured here.
16670 | 1998 Low ‘N Cool #698 | ’59 Impala 2/4 | green with purple and black trim | gold lace wheels | red illustration on card
I’m missing the Treasure Hunt car from 1999, and the one that came in the K-B Toys 2-pack. But I do have this white one and the Cop Rods version.
16670 | 1999 Mattel Wheels #1000 | ’59 Impala | white with yellow and red trim | gold lace wheels
23440 | 1999 Cop Rods | ’59 Impala Birmingham, AL | white with blue and gold trim | gold hub Real Riders
For 2000, I have the silver version as well as the black model on two different card designs.
16670 | 2000 Mattel Wheels #116 | ’59 Chevy | metallic silver with yellow and red trim | saw blade wheels
16670 | 2000 Mattel Wheels #249 | ’59 Impala | black with gold and red trim | gold lace wheels |”Watch Petty Race” on package
16670 | 2000 Mattel Wheels #249 | ’59 Impala | black with gold and red trim | gold lace wheels
In 2001, the ’59 Impala was one of the Monster Series, with appropriately creepy mummy deco.
50115 | 2001 Monster Series #077 | ’59 Impala 1/4 | black with yellow, orange, red and white trim | lace wheels
For 2002, the ’59 Impala was deputized for the Wild Frontier series. Somehow – and I honestly can’t remember how – I landed a version from a factory sealed set as well as the standard issue off the pegs.
54333 | 2002 Mattel Wheels Wild Frontier #055 | ’59 Chevy Impala 1/4 | metalflake brown with gold, red, white and brown trim | gold 5SP wheels
In 2003, the ’59 Chevy was retooled to include a B-pillar and the fender skirt was removed. The new casting was called the ’59 Chevy Bel Air and it made its debut in the Pride Rides series. This version wears PR5s, but it could also be found in lace wheels.
57170 | 2003 Pride Rides | ’59 Chevy Bel Air 7/10 | red with yellow Redphin trim | chrome PR5 wheels
I also have the ’59 Chevy Bel Air from the 2009 Fire Rods series.
N8380 | 2008 Fire Rods | ’59 Chevy Bel Air 3/26 | metalflake red-orange with black, gold and white trim | gold 10SP wheels
Finally, here’s a link to the ’59 Chevy Impala from the 2012 Hot Wheels Racing Stock Car series.
In 1980, Hot Wheels began to spice-up its line-up by offering a new variety of wheels in addition to blackwall tires. The CAT Dump Truck and CAT Wheel Loader – both new castings from that year – featured the first appearance of construction tires. Other reissues wore gold or silver Hot Ones wheels. One of the cars that looks the best in gold Hot Ones is the Hot Bird, maybe because the wheels are more like those found on the real Trans Ams of the time. I think this version from 1982 is sharper-looking than the blackwall variations.
1982 | 2014 | Hot Bird | black with yellow and red trim, tan interior | Malaysia | gold hot ones wheels
While hunting on eBay for all the first-release Hot Wheels from 1979, I often get distracted. This Ford Stake Bed Truck from 1986 is one of those distractions. I think I like it most because it reminds me a lot of the Matchbox Dodge Cattle Truck from my childhood collection, but it didn’t hurt at all that I won the auction for only 1 cent.
The Ford Stake Bed Truck was first released in 1983 and has appeared in quite a few variations over the years. It also has been produced in different configurations as the Ford Dump Truck, Rig Wrecker, and Semi Fast II.
1986 | 4018 | Ford Stake Bed Truck | metallic dark red with yellow white and blue trim and yellow bed | Malaysia | blackwalls
Here’s another pretty clean eBay find, the yellow Inside Story from 1980, which makes a nice companion to the gray first release from the year before.
1980 | 2510 | Inside Story | yellow with purple and red trim | Hong Kong | blackwalls
One of my favorite childhood Hot Wheels was the Corvette Stingray. I don’t think I was the only kid who felt this way, since this popular casting has been released in multitudes of variations ever since its first release in 1976. For the first few years, the casting used the same tampo pattern as the original, but with variations in the color and underlying paint, such as this orange, black, purple and yellow version from 1980.
1980 | 9241 | Corvette Stingray | orange with black, purple and yellow trim | Hong Kong | blackwalls
This is another fairly clean first release from 1979 that I was able to find on eBay. Royal Flash is a diecast version of the Lotus Esprit with the Union Jack emblazoned on the hood.
1979 | 2501 | Royal Flash | white with red and blue Union flag trim | Hong Kong | blackwalls
This casting originated in 1970 as Tri Baby and was released again in 1973 as Buzz Off. This gold chrome version with groovy trim and a black plastic base is from 1977.
1977 | 6976 | Buzz Off | gold chrome with orange, maroon & black trim, black plastic base | Hong Kong | blackwalls
Originally released in 1975 wearing white paint and using the same casting as the much beloved Super Van, Paramedic was a fine compliment to the Emergency Squad. In 1977, Paramedic was produced in yellow and could be found with either redlines or blackwall tires.
1977 | 7661 | Paramedic | yellow with red & white trim, metal base | Hong Kong | blackwalls
