This post is based on the premium/car culture sneaks shown in a recent Lamley video, so if you haven’t watched that yet, go check it out. Let’s jump right in with my favorite model shown, the Cayman GT4!
Given Porsche’s huge following among car and diecast enthusiasts, I’ve always been perplexed by the lack of Cayman GT4 diecast models. This new 718 Cayman GT4 from Hot Wheels seeks to finally remedy that oversight, and it looks great. The proportions look bang-on, with a stock deco and simple white-and-black color scheme. We even get a good amount of front-end detailing, including daytime running lights and the air intake beneath the hood. The lights appear to be part of the window piece, so perhaps we could see this casting in basic form at some point in the future? It seems odd to use the window section for the headlights in a dedicated premium casting, given that premium castings nearly always get headlight detailing anyway.
While black wheels aren’t my favorite, I think these five spokes look good and compliment the other black accents well. The roofline on this model looks perfect, which is an improvement over the Matchbox Cayman model.
Around back, we get tail lights, a GT4 badge, and of course that trademark Porsche GT wing. The wing looks as slim as can be expected from one of the Mattel brands, and it sits at about the right height. I wish there was a little more definition around the diffuser and exhaust tips, but this still looks to be an excellent model.
Next up, we have the long awaited return of Speed Machines! While the line had famously poor sales at the time, it has become a major collectors item in recent years as Hot Wheels premium models have soared in popularity. It’s no surprise that the Hot Wheels team chose to bring the line back, though this time it’s just a Car Culture theme rather than a standalone line. These models do retain the traditional Speed Machines wheels though! Shown here are the Porsche 911 GT3, the Ford GT LM, and the Pagani Zonda R. Rumor has it the other two models will be a Lamborghini Veneno and McLaren 720S.
The Zonda R is perhaps the best looking of the new Speed Machines, with the visually “busy” appearance of a car made for aerodynamics first and looks second. I love the deco here, and the wheels match the color of the body really well. The lights look good as do the canards and that crazy aero at both the front and back of the car.
The Ford GT LM is a good looking model in its own right, and one that takes me right back to my childhood when this casting first came out. The GT LM is from the era when basic cars still had plastic wings, which we haven’t seen on this model in around a decade. It’s great to see it make a return for this premium outing. The full race deco looks good, though I think they could have gone with a more adventurous color choice. I believe this is also the first time we’ve seen tail lights on this casting!
The Porsche 911 GT3 casting is only a few months old, seeing mainline releases in both blue and black. So naturally, the first premium release is blue and black. Questionable color choice aside (seriously, where’s our Python Green or Lava Orange), this deco looks pretty nice. It looks race inspired without being so busy as to distract from the clean lines of the GT3. The bronze wheels work really well here too. Plus, it finally gets DRLs!
Next up is a car I’m simultaneously excited for and disappointed by – the Lexus RCF GT3 car. This reminds me of the Cadillac ATS-V R in all the wrong ways. Both are cars that feel underrepresented in the world of diecast that I would have loved to see recreated in a stock form. Luckily, Matchbox is going to help with the lack of Lexus’s (Lexi?) with their release of the LFA next year, but hopefully the Hot Wheels customizers can work their magic on this casting like they did with the ATS-V and create custom stock-ish versions.
There’s absolutely no disappointment with the Mazda NB Mazdaspeed Miata though – this casting is all win. While this is obviously an early production sample with no hints about the final deco, it’s clear that this casting has an excellent stance and nicely detailed interior. I can’t wait to find out more about this one.
Though it’s old news at this point, we got another look at the upcoming Nissan Sentra SE-R. While not a car I care much about, I think this model is very well done, and any car that debuts a new set of Real Riders is inherently cool!
We also got our best look yet at the Alpine A110 and BMW M3 (E46) from the upcoming AutoStrasse Car Culture set. The Alpine is a model that has felt rather unloved in the Hot Wheels line, so I’m glad to see it getting a premium outing, and I’m thrilled to be getting what looks to be the cleanest deco yet for the E46.
IWC and Hot Wheels have been collaborating on a number of diecast Mercedes models recently, and it appears that partnership is still in full swing with the forthcoming release of the Team Transport Mercedes AMG GT3. While I’m usually not the biggest fan of racing decos, I actually quite like this one. More interestingly, this may be the coolest truck I’ve seen yet in the Team Transport line. The Aero Lift has always been my favorite, and this truck is similar in appearance but features a spare set of tires which is a lovely bit of detailing.
Speaking of trucks, the Hot Wheels team showed off prototypes of three new trucks for the Team Transport series, all of which look pretty awesome. I’ll take a closer look at them in a future post.
There’s a few more castings that I didn’t get to highlight here, so I recommend checking out the full video on the Lamley Youtube channel if you have time. Plus, you can bet I will cover some of the models in a lot more detail once I finally get these models in hand, so stay tuned!
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