Volvo P220 Amazon Wagon

Another stanced wagon. Okay, I know that ‘stanced’ is now common lingo, but in the old days, I would have just called this ‘lowered’. And this is another beautiful piece from Hot Wheels that I wish we had more of.

Volvo P220 Amazon

The Volvo Amazon comes in dark green and debuted here in the Fast Wagons set from the Car Culture line. The original Amazon Estate (wagon) was introduced in 1962 and ran until 1969. It featured a two-piece tailgate with the number plate able to swing down so that it was still visible even with the tailgate down. While Hot Wheels did not make this casting with moving parts, it was a nice bit of information to know while I was doing some research.

Back to the Hot Wheels version, then. As mentioned, it features a beautiful dark green paint job that would not look out of place from the 60s. Accent lines flowing across the sides are painted silver as well as the drip rails running across the side of the roof. More details in silver include the door handles and the accent on the bonnet. It is also nice to see the Volvo lettering on the front and badges on the sides of the front fender. The rear features a simple set of tail lights, a silver surround on the rear windscreen, and a hatch door handle. The front features signal lights on the corners and a distinctive front grille. Looking closer at the details, you will realise that the front grill is the plastic mold reaching back to the dash. This becomes more apparent when you see that the plastic of the interior is two-tone and the seats from the front are brown – in contrast to the grey on the dash. Even better, there are no rear seats here. Instead, you have a roll cage and the spare tire. Kudos to Mark Jones for the excellent design details of this casting.

Volvo P220 Amazon Wagon

As good as this casting is, though, you can’t deny that this car is not pretty by today’s standards. It looks cool for what it is, a retro wagon with a healthy history. It will be good for some collectors, for sure, but it isn’t for everyone. Personally, I’m actually still torn as this is a very nice piece. I just can’t get myself to love it.

64 Chevy Nova Panel

The 64 Chevy Nova Panel, by name in the Fast Wagons series, is the Chevy Nova Wagon from the mainline. I will be looking for a mainline in my collection to compare, but I don’t think I have one. So I will just be talking about the Car Culture version that I have here.

Chevy Panel Van

Metalflake Steel Blue is the color on the wiki. And just like the different shades of blue with similar naming conventions in real cars to the layman, this is just light blue. And to be a little more specific, light blue from the 60s. The white roof is a nice touch. And with the blue being metallic, it makes for nice separation. It is worth noting that the tailgate also has color separation between the white and blue. As with most cars in the Premium Car Culture series, this piece is chock full of nice details. Sidings are painted silver, and so are the door handles. Another nice touch is the silver painted round gas cap and the printed badges on the side. It has simple tail lights and headlights to complement the metal base. The thing that drew me to this casting is the stance and those beautiful chrome RRS wheels. The wagon body is devoid of any crazy shapes, colors, and flames (thank goodness). The color harks back to the cars of the era, but the dropped stance of the car really catches your eye. Those shiny wheels just add to the visual appeal of the car.

’64 Chevy Panel Van

The interior is a simple, off-white color. Although I haven’t looked inside well enough to check if it has any surprise Easter eggs. 

This goes to the keeper stash for sure. I am just a fan of old cars, and this wagon is definitely one that still has me swooning over it. Get it, crack it open, and enjoy.

Nissan Skyline Van

The Nissan Skyline Van debuted in 2018 from another Car Culture series set, the Cargo Carriers. Designed by Jun Imai, this wagon is actually based on the C10 Skyline – whose more well-known brother is the H/T 2000GT-X.

Hot Wheels Nissan Skyline Van

The C10 series began in 1968 and was offered in 4-door sedan, 2-door coupe, and a 5-door station wagon. While the 2000GTs and 2000GT-Xs were introduced in this run of Skylines, it should be noted that these were relegated to the coupes and sedans. The wagon did not get any performance version like its siblings but remained a functional workhorse.
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I have said it recently, but allow me to say it again. I love this Skyline casting. I prefer it to the 510 wagon casting that Hot Wheels also has circulating. I like this better because I feel that it is a bit more balanced. It is long and low with the proportions looking just right. When placed beside the 510 wagon, the 510 looks a bit chunkier. It might have something to do with the stance, but that’s just how it looks to me.

Nissan Skyline Van

This Skyline Wagon (or van) was designed by Jun Imai, and as mentioned, the car is actually spot-on. The proportions are just nice for a station wagon. It’s long without being overly lengthy. It was designed low to keep with the JDM spirit (although I would argue that this wagon was not hugging the ground when it came out). In the Fast Wagons series, the paint job has been turned to the red, white, and blue motif. This can be said to be a nod to the Nissan vehicles of an older era, and the color scheme had been used by Nissan before. The tampo on the side, I believe, says Hot Wheels (please do correct me if I am wrong). It is still wearing the same C4SPRR wheels, but this time in matte gray color. The design of these wheels is also perfect for this casting by the way, as it looks like some Work Wheels design.

The car’s silhouette exudes simplicity, which makes this a very pretty casting. The paint is your typical Premium line in that it is very good with just the right amount of detail. It still has imperfections here and there, but overall, you can’t fault it too much for what it is. The base is metal, which adds to the heft and feel of the car, which is nice and balanced. The wheels, even though low and small, actually roll quite well – one trait of Premiums that I love compared to more high-end collectibles.

Nissan Skyline C110 Van

Another keeper then. Which means I would need a bigger storage.

Hot Wheels Fast Rewind

Hot Wheels has been on a roll dishing us out Fast and Furious cars over their Premium line. Collectors like me have gone crazy over this hot mess to the point that I needed to pre-order my stuff because I can’t hope to collect them from the pegs.

Are these worth the effort?
The short answer is hell yeah!

Hot Wheels Fast Rewind

So technically, these cars are not in any of the movies. These are older generation models of the cars that were used in the movies. Grand daddies of the iconic cars such as the Skyline, Fairlady Z and RX-7. Cars that, if they did not exist, would not have brought us these modern classic gems. So what do we have here exactly?

We have the following cars in this set: Mazda RX-3, Nissan Skyline C210, Nissan Skyline HT 2000, Nissan Fairlady Z (240Z) and the Nissan Sylvia (CSP311). Some non-diehard JDM fans probably won’t recognize the model numbers C210 and the CSP311 but would still recognize the model name given to these classic cars. These are all really old-school classic JDMs and I am quite happy that Hot Wheels managed to bring these into scaled down miniatures.

Hot Wheels Fast Rewind

What Hot Wheels has done here is to re-imagine five of the iconic movie cars from the franchise as their older selves. The Mazda RX-3 for example has been presented in the livery of Dom’s Mazda RX-7 from the original The Fast and The Furious movie. The C210 Skyline is living its life as Leon’s yellow R33 Skyline also from the original F&F movie. The HT 2000 Skyline has the honor of donning Brian’s iconic R34 Skyline livery from 2 Fast 2 Furious. The Fairlady Z (240Z) has been re-imagined as DK’s tattooed gray 350Z from Tokyo Drift. And finally, the CSP311 Nissan Sylvia also gets its screen image from Tokyo Drift as the Mona Lisa, Han’s S15 Sylvia. I did my best to capture these spirits in photos and hopefully I did them proud. And if I didn’t, well, you’ll just have to get them for yourselves.

Hot Wheels Fast Rewind