Porsche 962

The Porsche 962 is a prototype race car designed to race in Group C. It replaced the Porsche 956 in this regard.

Porsche 962

The Hot Wheels Porsche 962 debuted in the Car Culture Race Day series in 2017. As of this writing, this casting has yet to trickle down to the mainline. It has so far come out in the Team Transport series and this version from the Circuit Legends series.

This 962 comes in a beautiful black paint with the signature Advan livery. It is a circuit car from any angle. The painted headlights help liven things up a bit more in the front. But the details are where this car shines. The air intakes, canards, the fuel cap, and the windshield tampo all help bring this car to life. One thing that sets this car apart is how they used different color schemes on the wheels. On the front you have a pair of white RRAs and on the rear you have a pair of black wheels with chrome trimming. The effect of the chrome on black was beautifully executed and the wheelset really comes to life. This being on top of the black and red Advan livery, the wheels stand out even more.

Porsche 962

I’m not really into Group C race cars as the only one that I really followed was Mazda’s 787B. But these Porsches from Hot Wheels are starting to grow on me.

’69 COPO Corvette

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first. Is there a 1969 COPO Corvette in real life?

According to posts in the Corvette Forum, there has only been one 1969 COPO Corvette to leave the factory. On the auction site Mecum Auctions, it is also listed as only one COPO L88 Corvette and comes with complete documentation. I am not a Corvette expert so I can’t really put my 2 cents in. COPO stands for Central Office Production Order which allowed certain customers to spec-order non-standard parts and accessories. While there may only have been 1 COPO Corvette for the ’69 model, there was also a ’67 COPO Corvette ordered by a GM designer, Bill Mitchell. And it wasn’t just the Corvette, COPO Camaros were also available.

’69 COPO Corvette

But this here example from Hot Wheels is of the ’69 COPO Corvette. The casting first appeared in the 2011 New Models line and has been in production since. The one that I have is from the Car Culture Circuit Legends series. Which means that this sits on Real Rider wheels and tires. Very nice looking RRPrf in yellow (officially on the Wiki, but it looks more like gold). As with most Hot Wheels, this casting comes with broken size wheels which actually looks good especially with the Good Year marking on the tires. Decked out in yellow paint with a contrasting black roof and hood, the car looks very much like a circuit car. Being from the Car Culture series, you can bet that it has a better quality finish. It has decals galore, painted headlights and taillights, and a metal base.

’69 COPO Corvette

I am not a Corvette fan, but I do appreciate nice cars. And this one is very nice. The stance is good, it looks muscular, it looks American, and it feels good. A keeper then? I’ll need to spend more time with it for me to say.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

The Hot Wheels Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

This casting was introduced in 2007 as a “New Model” mainline car and was obviously based off of the real car. The original Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (that really is a mouthful) was a purpose-built race car made to take on the likes of the Ferrari 250 GTO. The Shelby Daytona has several racing championship titles under its belt including GT class wins from the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans among others.

The Hot Wheels casting comes close to the original car including the relatively large rear wheels. Being a Hot Wheels car, the design itself is quite nice, if a bit cartoonish when it comes to that bulging rear wheel. Don’t get me wrong as it looks just fine with the exaggerated rear wheels. It is a Hot Wheels after all and it just works with this car. And the example I have here is from the Car Culture Circuit Legends.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe

This Shelby Daytona comes in its signature blue color with white racing stripes. It has painted on headlights and taillights and even the gas cap which is nice. Livery-wise it has sponsor decals just like the race cars and it is emblazoned with the number “15” and “GT” designation. Even the rear half-white, half-blue paint scheme was nicely reproduced in this car. What sets the car apart in my opinion are the wheels. It comes in broken RR5SP wheels in white which really pop out. To top it off, the wheels are stamped with the Goodyear markings, again just like the real car.

Overall, this is a great piece. Exaggerated wheels aside, this version of this casting is an excellent choice.

Hot Wheels Car Culture: Circuit Legends

Hot Wheels Car Culture released the Circuit Legends set in 2018. The set is comprised of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, the ’69 COPO Corvette, the Porsche 962, the ’16 Ford GT Race and the Mazda 787B.

The Circuit Legends pays homage to legendary race cars as the series name suggests. How legendary?

The Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe took home several GT class wins from 1964 to 1965 in several races ranging from the 24 hours of Le Mans, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 12 Hours of Reims among others. The Central Office Production Order Corvette is the Holy Grail of COPOs in that there was only one example of the ’69 COPO Corvette to ever leave the factory. The L88 was also known for its performance in Sebring and Le Mans. The Porsche 962 was built as a replacement for the 956 and has garnered wins in the IMSA GT Championship, the Interserie Championship, the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship. The Ford GT Race is relatively new and was created as part of the Ford Race program. The car debuted at the 2016 24 Hour of Dayton finishing 7th. In the same year, it finished first in the 24 Hour of Le Mans in the LMGTE Pro class marking 50 years after the original Ford GT40’s spectacular win in the same race. The Mazda 787B is another 24 of Le Mans champion but it is wearing a different belt as it has the distinction of being the only Japanese manufacturer and only Rotary engine car to ever win the legendary endurance race.

These cars are very nice. To be honest, I am not really a big fan of GT cars. I still like watching GT races but not as much as I watch World Rally Championships and F1 races. Let’s just leave it at that. Getting back to the cars, they are very nicely detailed. Even for a GT race car, the decals and livery are spot on. It would be nice to have these on a diorama race track just to imaging them tearing up the asphalt.