Hot List 1967

Sorting through boxes of old catalogues while preparing a series of articles for the forthcoming Triang Zone, I found some of my old Hot Wheels paperwork and rediscovered that childhood thrill that I always got while seeing the extravagancies of automobile design produced by Mattel in the mid sixties. The small catalogue that came with the boxed sets had cool illustrations of the first line of cars, simple line and wash drawings that really didn't do justice to the actual cars, but still looked wonderful in their almost futuristic economy of line.

Later still I got a large format A4 catalogue of Hot Wheels Racing World which showed the extended ranges of cars and tracks including the limited release Heavyweights and electrically powered Sizzzlers.
The listing for the standard Redlines always made me drool with expectation of my next purchase, but sadly my collection never really expanded beyond one or two cars.

The short lived Heavyweights range remind me of the General Motors cargo hauler design 'Bison 1' from the Futurama II display at the New York Worlds Fair back in 1964. Which brings me back to the perennial question as to why long distance and heavy haulage trucks are always so un-aerodynamic and boxy when fuel economy and efficiency must be an important consideration in design ?