Sweet Sixteen
The Custom Camaro, the first Hot Wheels car introduced in May of 1968, is an icon of the
Redline era—a period named for the red-striped tires found on the cars.
Mattel’s inaugural run of sixteen Hot Wheels cars set the toy market on fire in 1968, revolutionizing the die-cast car industry and leaving competitors like Corgi and Matchbox scrambling to play catch-up.
The Hot Heap features all the goodies of a fine 1960s Model T street rod in pint-size cool.
Mattel co-founder Elliot Handler entered the die-cast car business after playing with his children in 1966. The die-cast cars they played with were clunky and not all that much fun. Handler figured Mattel could do better. So, he challenged his design team, which included a General Motors car designer and a rocket scientist, to create a toy car that was cooler and performed better than anything on the market.
The famous Ed “Big Daddy” Roth custom was immortalized in the Beatnik Bandit.
They answered with the first-ever trackable toy car. Handler was so impressed by the car’s groundbreaking new wheel design and performance that his first response when he saw it rolling along the floor was: “Those are some hot wheels!”
The Custom Corvette, shown here in rose, featured an opening hood.
Soon, deals were in place to re-create muscle cars from the Big Three car makers, along with a patented independent suspension to complement the speedy wheel design. The suspension in the original Hot Wheels cars utilized a thick gauge music wire as the axle, which, when lubricated and coupled with a unique plastic bearing, allowed the wheels to roll and spin freely with minimal friction, making them far faster than Corgi and Matchbox toy cars. The design team also zeroed in on making the cars eye-catching, accomplished through the unique “Spectraflame” paint jobs the cars sported. By polishing the car bodies down to an almost mirror shine and spray-painting them with transparent colored paint, the result was a candy-colored, metallic finish, the likes of which had never been seen before.
Custom Volkswagens were offered from 1968 to 1971, and nearly all featured an opening sunroof.
The first line of Hot Wheels die-cast cars introduced were called “The Sweet 16” and made their debut at the International Toy Fair in 1968. “The Sweet 16” were just that: sixteen cars whose designs were inspired by California muscle cars and hot rods. The first Hot Wheels toy car offered was the Custom Camaro, sold on May 18, 1968 – Hot Wheels’ official “birthday.” Following the Custom Camaro, the 15 other cars in the line were the Beatnik Bandit, Custom Barracuda, Custom Corvette, Custom Cougar, Custom Eldorado, Custom Firebird, Custom Fleetside, Custom Mustang, Custom T-Bird, Custom Volkswagen, Deora, Ford J-Car, Hot Heap, Python (now called Cheetah) and the Silhouette. Those first toy cars were radically different than anything else in 1968. Today, “The Sweet 16” remains among the most valuable and collectible toy vehicles ever made.
1. Custom Mustang, 2. Deora, 3. Python, 4. Custom T-Bird, 5. Custom Volkswagon, 6. Custom Firebird, 7. Hot Heap, 8. Custom Cougar, 9. Custom Camaro, 10. Custom Barracuda, 11. Silhouette, 12. Custom Eldorado, 13. Ford J-Car, 14. Custom Fleetside, 15. Custom Corvette, 16. Beatnik Bandit.