Car Lamley Group: Cool is Cool is Cool: 2009 Hot Wheels Classics Set exclusive Texas Drive 'Em...

When we started the Cool is Cool is Cool with Hot Wheels classic pickups in red, there were two prevalent responses we got from readers:

What will be the next Cool is Cool is Cool model? We like this series. (Thanks readers.)

and

How can you do a series on Hot Wheels classic pickups and not include _________________!!

We were quickly reminded of the pickups we didn't include, so now we are trying to make that up. There were three mentioned the most: The '62 Custom Chevy, the '69 Custom Chevy, and the Texas Drive 'Em.

Well, never fear, dear readers, we have you covered. We recently featured our favorite version of the '62 Chevy, and this is coming:

So you can look forward to that, but today let's focus on the Texas Drive 'Em.

The TDE has been a collector fave since its release in the Hot Wheels Classics line in 2009. It seems that every time it is released it is an event among collectors. The RLC version from 2012 commands serious dollars

, and it does not stay on the pegs when HW releases it to retail.

Because of that, the Lamley collection was devoid of the TDE, but that needed to change. So we went looking the one TDE that we thought would be best in the Lamley collection. The RLC was tempting, as were some of the carded Classics chase models, but we decided to keep with our red pickup theme, and the Walmart Classics set exclusive sitting simply in spectraflame red was the clear choice.

Thankfully,ebay seller hotwheelsfred2011

had one, and we were able to buy the Red TDE plus a few other hard-to-find models. (His shop is definitely worth checking out

.) It arrived a few days later, and now the Lamley CiCiC pickup collection has a very worthy addition.

Why this is called a "Texas Drive 'Em" and not a "70-something Ford Truck" is beyond me. Hot Wheels is clearly not trying to hide the fact that this is a Ford truck, considering the word "FORD" is on the hood and the tailgate.

That must be a Ford thing, as Hot Wheels' version of the Ford Raptor, which also contains the word "FORD" on the front grill, is actually called the Sandblaster. Whatever it is called, it is actually a fantastic model, and a perfect classic pickup casting. We could do without the bikes in the back, but no real reason to complain.