It’s been a great couple of years for diecast Porsches. After what felt like decades of Matchbox and Hot Wheels reusing the same old 911 GT3 castings, we’ve finally seen a whirlwind of new Porsches released. Hot Wheels released the 992 GT3 and Taycan, and Matchbox released a new Cayenne, 918, 911 Carrera 4, and will soon be releasing a diecast Macan. However, the Cayman and Boxster have been noticeably absent from the current range of Porsche castings, and that’s a shame because they’re quite underappreciated. Hot Wheels’ new Cayman GT4 is working to correct that absence.
I’m not sure how Hot Wheels keeps finding new cars in the Fast & Furious franchise, but I’m glad it’s leading to the development of castings like the Jeep Trackhawk and this new Cayman GT4. While white may not be the most interesting or flashy color for a car like the Cayman GT4, this model looks clean and simple without any extraneous graphics.
Of course, this isn’t the first Cayman model we’ve seen. Hot Wheels had a 987 generation Cayman casting that always looked a bit too small and squished to me. Seen here in Speed Machines form, you can see that it looks positively tiny next to the new GT4.
Matchbox took a swing at the 981 generation Cayman, and the story behind it is quite interesting. This casting came out in a bit of a dark era for Matchbox, when few performance cars were being released, and those that were often had hideous decos. The Matchbox Cayman was a ray of hope for collectors at the time, indicating Matchbox could still make world class models for $1. Some people thought it was too tall, but to me it has always looked fantastic.
Let’s be honest though, we really wanted the higher performing GT4 model, and we finally have one, in premium no less! The first thing I noticed about this model is just how clean the deco is – all of the front and rear details with nothing extraneous.
There’s an impressive amount of casting detail in the front end, especially in that hexagonal mesh on the air intakes. Interestingly, Hot Wheels has used the window piece to form the headlights, something that is somewhat of a rarity on modern models but that is also found on the new 911 GT3. Perhaps this casting was made with the thought that it could move to the basic line at some point?
Compared to the Matchbox Cayman, the new GT4 sits lower. The headlights, fenders, and wing mirrors have all moved down, but the roofline is almost identical. The Hot Wheels also gained a front license plate bracket, though there’s no plate on it.
The similarities continue down the side of the model, where these two are almost dimensionally identical. The GT4 has a bit more definition around the door handle, but a bit less around the air intake behind the door. Even the wheels are a similar design, though the front axle on the Hot Wheels seems a little too small, which causes the front wheels to sit a little too far inside the fenders for my taste. Still, this is not Aventador, and the wheel fitment can be easily solved with a bit of strategic posing.
At the back of the GT4, that big wing makes the car’s sporting intentions known. Unlike many of Hot Wheels’ metal spoilers, this one avoids feeling too chunky or tall. It’s correctly proportioned and unlike the plastic spoilers on the Pandem BRZ, it shouldn’t be prone to bending or warping over time. I like the small ducktail spoiler as well. Oddly, there’s another plate bracket with no license plate back here, though we do get detailing for the center brake light, which is a bit of a rarity. I really wish there was more casting detail in that rear diffuser though. The exhaust tips seem to get lost in a sea of black, which is unfortunate given the unique center mounted position of the exhaust tips.
Despite those minor criticisms, I’m very glad this model exists as it fills a rather glaring hole in the Hot Wheels/Matchbox model lineup, and I hope we see it come out in some more daring colors. After all, Porsche has a paint to sample program, so the sky’s the limit for interesting paint choices on this model! Perhaps we could also see a Boxster Spyder soon? I can dream, can’t I?
Diecast Leno 
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