A Tale of Two: Hot Wheels '71 Nissan Skyline & '69 Pontiac GTO...

Black with gold/copper wheels is such a sharp look.  Yes black cars don't bring out the details in our favorite vehicles, mini or real, but who honestly gives a shit when they look so sexy and sleek in black?

Once you have your sexy black car, what to do with the wheels?  You can go all black, making your car growlingly menacing, or you can go chrome, making it shine.  Or maybe gunmetal gray, putting you right in the middle.  And there is copper or gold.  That is where minis might separate from the real thing.  It may not work on the road every time, but it certainly does in a display case.

So when Hot Wheels released the Nissan Skyline H/T 2000GT-X in black with copper rims, we were on board.  And when we got it in hand, we were instantly reminded of another black on copper beauty, the 2005 Hot Wheels '69 Pontiac GTO Judge with Faster Than Ever wheels.  So we thought we would put them together.

These are actually easy to compare, outside of the color of the body and wheels.  The real cars come from the same era, albeit on different continents.  They are both signature cars in their respective countries, and it only takes one word to reference each car.  "Hakosuka" for the Skyline and "Judge" for the GTO.

As far as the minis go, both were designed by epic Mattel designers.  The GTO by Phil Riehlman and the GT-X by Jun Imai.  And they both look really good.

So here is our ode to muscle and j-tin, in the form of sleek sexy black.

Since we have probably discussed the Hakosuka to death here on Lamley, how about a few thoughts on the GTO:

The casting debuted in 2005, first in black, then orange, then as a Kmart exclusive in red.  The black normally sported 5-spoke wheels, but was part of the huge FTE line in 2005/2006.  Hot Wheels actually released all-FTE cases instead of making a sub-line in the basic range, like they did later.  The FTE GTO was one of the hardest models to find, as many cases didn't even carry it.

Nonetheless, the FTE completely upstaged the 5-spoke version, and in our opinion is one of the best-looking Hot Wheels models ever made.  Period.

And damn, it looks good next to the Hako...

Model of the Day: Hot Wheels 2013 Porsche Carrera GT in green (along with some of its compatriots)...

I hope you all had a splendid holiday, no matter how you celebrated it.

The voting for the Hot Wheels Model of the Year has ended, and we are tallying the votes and putting together a post showcasing the Reader's and Lamley Choices.  Look for that (hopefully) tomorrow.

For now, let's revel in that green and red that you can't avoid in December.  It is time to take down the festive decor, but we will keep it going one more day with Hot Wheels' two 2013 colors of the Porsche Carrera GT.

The Carrera GT made its debut in 2006 in both regular and Faster Than Ever versions, and Porsche has obviously been a stickler on how it looks.  It has always been one color with no side designs, and always with front and rear tampos.  They also are clearly strict on what colors are used, as yellow has been used three times, along with light and dark shades of grey and red.

The bright green represents a bit of a turn off the path, and it looks great, especially paired with earlier versions.  It seems Hot Wheels is building a huge catalog of sports cars, and seeing one of the older castings pop up is always a treat...


Hot Wheels Porsche Carrera GT (2013 basic in green):

2007 5-pack:

2010 Speed Machines:

2006 FE in silver:

2006 FE in yellow:

The 2013 versions in holiday colors:

Model of the Day: Hot Wheels Faster Than Ever Datsun 240Z...

It is probably important to show that the DLM movement is still alive and well at the Lamley Group.  I opened this rarity a couple of years ago in order to display with the other 240Z's, and boy it sure looks better photographed out of the package.

The original FTE's from 2005 and 2006 seem to retain a nice pillowy soft spot with Hot Wheels collectors, and there are a few that take the cake.  Of course there is the FTE Flamed Dodge Charger, but the Datsun is a little more of a mystery.  The Charger is easy to explain - a few of the flamed bodies got mixed in with the normal blue bodies and the king of all variations was born.  The Datsun?  It showed up on short cards, and those short cards decided to reside in Canada and a few Walmart checkout lanes.  A proper FTE model, but never fully released in normal batches.  I am sure there are a few people who know more about this model, and maybe they will chime in.

Nonetheless this model is a wee bit difficult to come by.  I was happy to snag one awhile ago, and in this case equally happy to open it.  It just looks cool with its copper wheels, and was the best version of this casting until Mattel threw the Super Treasure Hunt our way...

Hot Wheels Datsun 240Z (2006 New Models Faster Than Ever variation):