The Hot Wheels Baja Bug – an off-road VW Beetle with a super-tuned engine and a roll-cage inside – made its debut in the 1984 Hot Wheels Real Riders series. The popular casting has since been produced in about 65 variations and counting.
This Collector #835 is from my recent neighborhood Facebook Marketplace purchase. Released in 1998, it becomes the latest (by year of release) item in my blackwall collection, and is only the second model I have that was cast in India – the other being the 1997 Beach Blaster.
This is the first Baja Bug I’ve added to my collection, but I do have the Hot Wheels Wisconsin Toy Company Custom Volkswagen from 1980, as well as the purple VW Bug from 1992.
Hot Wheels | 1998 | #835 | Baja Bug | metalflake blue with red, yellow and white Hot Wheels logo, NITHIA on sides | India | BW
The Race Case 
I have a couple of the 65 castings, I also have a few castings of the Matchbox 4 x 4 Beetle, which I like to take for outdoor photos in snow, in the countryside etc…