Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II

The crème de la crème. The main reason I bought this set in the first place is because this is the first appearance of the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II. A mouthful, yes, but it is all to differentiate it from its brethren.

The EVO II was given a big performance boost by AMG in terms of engine performance. It also benefited from a radical body kit which at that time was rather uncharacteristic of a Mercedes. It had a rear window spoiler in addition to an adjustable rear wing, which, people at the time described as huge. All of these are nicely reproduced by Hot Wheels in the casting of the 190E.

The Hot Wheels casting had to come in black. There is just no other color for this car than black, to be honest. It makes all of the smaller details pop such as the headlights, taillights, and front grill. You will also notice the casting itself has put the compulsory wings at the rear, the bulges on the fenders, and the front lip spoiler as well. Dual tailpipes make for a nice rear-end too. Look closer and you will notice it only has one windscreen wiper in the middle, very DTM. It also has no front passenger seat and the rear seems to have been molded to have no rear seats as well. While the RRA wheels may not be up to spec, the chrome trim on them makes them look proper. It is a very well designed package and we have Mark Jones to thank for this black beauty.

This is definitely a keeper and it will hold a special place in my collection of Hot Wheels cars. Because it became such a hit, the casting has come out in other series releases as well including Team Transport. The Falken livery on that car is fantastic looking, but this black beauty is still the one to have if you are going to have only one of this in your collection.

Renault 5 Turbo

The Renault 5 Turbo was a car designed by Renault for rallying, in particular, to compete with the Lancia Stratos. While based on the standard Renault 5, the R5 Turbo was heavily modified to have a rear-mid-mounted engine design and rear-wheel drive. The R5 Turbo had been successful in its mission with wins in several rally championships including the famous Monte Carlo.

The Hot Wheels casting debuted in 2013 with the Hot Wheels Boulevard series and was only followed up with the Modern Classics version from 2017. Since this is from the Car Culture series, it comes with a metal base and makes it quite hefty and nice to hold in the hand. The bodywork itself is the widebody version of the rally car. It is well molded with a detailed front-end, vents can be seen on the hood and the rear air-ducts that would feed air to the engine in the real car. The inside is also adorned with a roll-cage for a full-on rally-spec design. Too bad the engine is actually hidden in a compartment just like the real car, hence you can’t see it. It was no surprise but I was really glad that the car came in rally livery. It comes complete with the number 16, white and red colorway over a metallic blue base, and some sponsorship decals to boot. The effect is carried on nicely to its white-colored RR8SP wheels.

To be honest, the Renault 5 Turbo is not a pretty car. But its unconventional design that led to a successful motorsport career has made it a car worthy of having a place in the car culture community. The more I look at it, the more I like it. So it stays in the collection.

’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.

Modern Classics: Hot Wheels Car Culture

The Hot Wheels Car Culture Modern Classics is a set that I wasn’t really that much interested in compared to some of the others. The only real draw for me about this set was the introduction of a brand new casting. The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II. Yes, that is a mouthful. But it is a car that has had a good run in the motorsport scene. The original race going version of the car had a Cosworth-built engine with 239 kW of power and 324 PS of torque. The EVO II homologated version ran at 173 kW of power and 235 PS of torque instead. But it had a commanding presence with generous performance for the time and having a limited run made it a very desirable car indeed.

Other cars in this series include the Renault 5 Turbo. A car that has been designed for rallying by the French. The car was modified to have a mid-mounted 1.4L turbocharged engine that produced 118 kW and 160 PS. Admittedly, putting a mid-mounted, turbocharged engine, on a short-wheelbase rear-wheel drive car was a bit crazy. But Renault was crazy like that. And the car went on to win the Monte Carlo Rally on its first outing with the WRC.

The Porsche 964 wasn’t built for a specific type of race unlike the 190E and Renault 5. Instead, the 964 continued the 911 moniker in Carrera form. It came with an air-cooled, naturally-aspirated, horizontally opposed engine making 184 kW of power and 250 PS of torque. As the casting on this series does not have a rear wing, we are assuming that this is the non-turbo version of the Carrera.

Next is the 1985 Honda CR-X. The first generation Honda CR-X was not intended for racing. However, a high-performance version of the car di come out in the form of the Si which came with a 1.6L motor pumping out 101 kW of power and 137 PS of torque. However, with a curb weight of less than a ton, the car performed quite well. While the casting on this series is based on the first generation CR-X with modifications, it was done so in a good way. Personally, I have been introduced to the second generation CR-X when I started learning about cars.

Finally, we have the 1992 BMW M3. BMW’s M-series cars are their high-performance versions of their normal road cars. This one is based from the BMW E30. With the final versions running 158 kW and 215 PS power and torque respectively, these cars were practically ready for motorsports. As such, the car has been seen racing in the several Touring Car championships and even raced as a rally car on selected rounds of the WRC.

The set, is such a mixed bag that even the name is sometimes hard to explain. Modern Classics can be interpreted in different ways but different people. And the definition of modern changes depending on who you talk to because someone born in the 70s will have a different outlook that someone born in the 80s. Even in automobile-speak, enthusiasts will still have different takes on what a modern classic actually is. I did get the set and I will be putting down some notes on these cars. But its worth may be a bit of a hit-or-miss.