PastImperfect/Hot Wheels miniatures:There must be many readers of this column who collected Mattel Hot Wheels cars, which took up where Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox left off, and have produced a staggering two billion Hot Wheels models of over 1,000 different models since their introduction in 1968.
Today they are as popular as ever and recently approached Group Lotus to produce a Hot Wheels concept car design as part of their 40th anniversary in 2009.
The resulting 1:5 scale model went on display at the recent SEMA Show at Las Vegas and caused quite a stir, not least because it's believed that several of the styling features will find their way on to the new Lotus +2 due to be launched at next year's London Motor Show.
The design will form the basis of a new Hot Wheels model next year at its usual scale of approximately 1:64.
The first Hot Wheels models were produced as a giveaway for the American fast-food chain Jack in the Box, and these proved so popular that Mattel then began producing them exclusively for Toys R Us. Today, they are made in India, China, Thailand and Malaysia and are sold in almost every country of the world.
The annual production of each model in the range is usually between 250,000 and 300,000, and the most popular models are often in production for up to 10 years.
It's estimated that six Hot Wheels cars are sold every second - that's 518,400 every day. No fewer than 41 million Americans are believed to have collected Hot Wheels models, and children aged between three and 10 own an average of 25 each. Serious collectors own in the region of 1,500 each. The all-time record price paid for a Hot Wheels model is believed to be $72,000 (about €49,000) for a design called the Beach Bomb, in rare pink paint finish.
The Lotus design is particularly interesting, as from the start Lotus set out to design a Hot Wheels car that could equally be a future road car. Steven Crijns, design manager at Lotus Design and creator of the concept design explained: "Hot Wheels cars are barely 75mm long, so specific attention went to create a bold design that would work well at this scale.
The car needed to be recognisable as a Lotus without having to turn it over to look at the badge underneath, so I took elements from the Elise and Exige such as the headlight design, the Lotus 'mouth', the pronounced wheel arches and trademark bonnet graphics.
I was keen for the design to express the Lotus philosophy of performance through light weight: the shrink wrapped body is kept to an absolute minimum to save weight. The dynamic voluptuous curves make the car look agile and fun to drive."
Whether or not this Lotus concept design does point the way for a future full-size Lotus design Hot Wheels collectors are going to have a rather special Lotus in their collections soon.