Last fall, I came across a large tub full of loose cars at an estate sale and spent a fair amount of time going through them one-by-one. I picked out 28 cars and paid less than $1 per car. I guess I would call them rescue cars, since many of them are in rough shape. But out of the 28 cars, I did end up with 20 that are new variations to my collection.
The Hot Wheels Firebird Funny Car was first released in 1982 and was produced in about 21 variations up until it was included in the 2002 Final Run series. This Malaysia-cast white model with red, yellow and black Fireball racing tampo – one of my scores from the estate sale tub – is one of five different variations from that first year alone.
Click here to see photos and links to all of the 1982 Hot Wheels in my collection.
The body of the Hot Wheels Firebird Funny Car is hinged at the back and lifts up to reveal the engine and cockpit cast into the unpainted metal base of the car.
Hot Wheels | 1982 | 3250 | Firebird Funny Car | white with red, yellow and black flames Fireball racing tampo, blue tint windows, hinged body, unpainted metal base and interior | Malaysia | blackwalls
This black version of the Firebird Funny Car with red, orange and purple Firebird tampo was a Kellogg’s Cereal promo from 1986. I found this one back in November at Bondie’s Antiques.
Other variations of the Firebird Funny Car that I have in my collection include a nice metalflake dark red version from 1983 and a well-worn example of the metalflake light blue 1995 Side Splitter, a well-worn 20th Anniversary chrome model, and a mint example of the 1995 Hot Wheels Race Team release, which was called Side-Splitter.
BonA Hot Wheels | 1986 Kellogg’s Mail-In | 3003 | Firebird Funny Car | black with red, orange and purple tampo, white headlights, blue tint windows, hinged body, unpainted metal base and interior | Malaysia | blackwalls
The Race Case 