Roadkill “Rotsun”

The Rotsun was (is) a project car built from Motortrend’s Road Kill TV show. Motortrend is one of the original car magazines from the US that started its life way back in 1949! This was also the first year that they named a Car of the Year (Cadillac). At the time, the award was given to the manufacturer, and not a specific vehicle – how times have changed. Fast forward several decades, and Motortrend TV came to life in 2002, originally, as part of Discovery HD Theater. A decade later, in 2012, Motortrend TV aired Roadkill as a web series (that means, the Internet).

A Rotsun in a diorama

The Rotsun started its life as a 1971 Datsun 240Z. The team retained the crusty body of the donor car, and the engine was  swapped with a 4.3L V6 Chevy engine. In the rebuilds that followed, it eventually got a 5.0L Turbocharged Ford V8 engine. This is the final build of the car, and this is what the Hot Wheels car was based on. The Hot Wheels was designed by Mark Jones and was a promotional vehicle by Motortrend and Roadkill. The original promotion was actually a pair of Datsun 240Zs. One rusty 240Z, basically, the base car. And one Rotsun, the final product of the show.

Roadkill’s Rotsun

The vehicle that I have is actually the re-issue that came out from Hot Wheels Premium Car Culture. There are significant differences between this and the original promo car. The original car had more details on the engine, the decals, and even the wheels. The Car Culture version is still based on the original casting, though. It is just the lesser car. You will still love that overgrown engine popping out the front of the car. Intake, exhaust, and all. The wheels are grey RR10SPs on the front and a pair of RRMags on the back. The body is still rusty and crusty. Overall, it is still a great casting, just less shiny. You can still add some detail yourself if you choose to do so. I love this car. Both for what it is and what it represents in real life.

’17 Audi RS6 Avant

The 2017 Audi RS6 Avant was on the tail end of the C7 RS6 range. Still imbued with RennSport DNA, the RS6 Avant had always been a looker as a fast wagon (estate for the Euro-centric folks). As with previous RS6s, the 2017 Avant is still a beast of a performance car. It looks fast standing still, and that says a lot for a wagon. The Hot Wheels version is from the creative mind of the late Ryu Asada, and it is, as usual, a masterpiece.

First released in the mainline from 2018, I immediately fell in love with it. As with previous interviews with Hot Wheels designers, shrinking a 1:1 car to 1:64 isn’t just pointing a shrink ray at a real car and pressing the big red button. It takes some design adjustments for these miniature cars to look good in their scale. And this Audi RS6 Avant looks damn good.

Audi RS6 Avant

The Fast Wagons version comes in an unassuming grey color. It’s a bit bland, to be honest. It would definitely have stood out more in red. The design elements of the car do stand out in this color. You have detailed headlights and taillights. Grill details include Audi’s four rings, an RS badge, and ‘Quattro’ vanity plate. The rear gives us an RS badge, the four rings, and the ‘RS6AVANT’ number plate in the defacto Euro plate design. The rear valence is a nice touch. It is simple but noticeably purposeful. The front canards give off the same vibes, and I believe these are all part of the base of the car. Some missed design details, though, are the fog lights and exhaust tips, which could have been painted as well to make them stand out more against the blackness of the ground effects. Dark grey RR10SPM wheels fill the wheel wells on all four corners. It blends in with the understated look that this car is going for, but a little bit of bling can’t hurt. Then again, that may be just me.

Audi RS6 Avant

I loved taking pictures of this model. The grey stands out well enough on most backgrounds, even on my mostly grey carpark diorama. The details are clear and crisp, which also contrast well enough with the plain grey paint job of the car. Again, the stance of this model is spot on. I would like to see a brighter color of this car in the Premium line. Definitely a keeper, and it would be a shame not to see it displayed in all its glory.

Porsche 964

The Porsche 964 belongs to the 911 family which was manufactured between 1989 to 1994. It is also the internal naming convention for the Carrera 2 and Carrera 4 cars of that timeline. The Hot Wheels casting of the 964 debuted in 2016 under the Car Culture series called Track Day. It was revived in 2017 under the Car Culture Modern Classics series.

Porsche 964

The absence of a huge wing on the rear of the car would suggest that this is no RS version. And that is perfectly fine as this version comes in a plain glossy black suit of paint. A simple “Porsche” livery on the sides in contrasting red makes for a delicious little car indeed. Hot Wheels made it a full meal by including a red interior as well. Taillights are not red, unfortunately, but this is because the plastic mold for the tail lights is built into the rest of the car’s windows. Still, a dab of paint wouldn’t have hurt. The headlights are also painted on the car which helps this car achieve the simplicity that makes it very desirable. Grey RRA wheels keep with the times making this a true modern classic car.

Porsche 964

This casting is very well made. It’s simple presentation makes it stand out on its own merit. I am really happy to have this in my collection and Porsche collectors should be happy about it too.

’92 BMW M3

The M division of BMW is known for producing some of the world’s best sports cars. And of all the M cars, the 3-series is the bread and butter of BMW. Or it used to be. With so many M cars nowadays, the M3 is sometimes overshadowed by its other stablemates. But the E30 is where it all began, and this is what Hot Wheels decided to put on their Modern Classics Car Culture set. Not a bad choice then.

92 BMW M3

Hot Wheels chose to be a bit conservative with this version of the E30 M3. It stands out with its blue hue and M color striping on the side. Okay. No, it doesn’t stand out at all. It is a simple colorway of the fantastic E30. However, it seems that Hot Wheels has forgotten to put in detailed head and tail lamps on this Car Culture release. These are premium die casts and they are expected to be better than the mainline cars. However, this small omission of detailed head and tail lamps really put it down. The Real Rider RRA wheels in black with chrome looks okay, but it doesn’t bring out the full potential of this casting.

92 BMW M3

It still stays in my collection though, but it isn’t going to be one of those models that I would be looking at over and over. It would be something that I would look at and say to myself, “that looks nice” and move over to the casting beside it.