In the world of Hot Wheels, we get some good castings and some bad castings. Every once in a while, we see the design team update a casting to fix an issue with it or to modernize it to meet modern expectations (such as the first-gen Dodge Viper or Matchbox’s Jeep Gladiator). It’s not too unusual for a casting to get a second chance, but this is the only modern casting I’ve ever seen get a third chance!
The original Veyron casting came out way back in 2003 (this red version is a 2010 release). That 2003 release date is notable because it predates the 2005 release of the actual Veyron, which is a major part of why the casting looks a bit odd – it was based on the original Veyron concept car, rather than the production car we’re all used to seeing. Compared to the production car, the Veyron concept had a more aggressively sloped grille, which is why this Hot Wheels casting has such a weird looking front end.
This casting’s concept car inspiration cannot take all the blame for its weirdness, though. Hot Wheels castings have come a long way since 2003, with current castings focusing much more on accuracy and good fitment between each of the pieces. Notice the poor fitment between the body, grille, and base on this original Veyron. It also suffers from poor wheel fitment and a relative lack of printed detailing, all common elements to older Hot Wheels models.
It does feature a color break to accentuate the center stack in the interior, a feature you would never see on a current Hot Wheels casting!
This original Veyron is remembered as a bit of a pegwarmer when it first came out, though I don’t think the casting quality is to blame. At the time, the Hot Wheels line was dominated by muscle cars and exotics were a rarity, with most exotics being Ferraris. This was before the JDM wave, before Hot Wheels McLarens, and before anyone at Hot Wheels had even heard of Pagani. Most Hot Wheels collectors went crazy over a new Mustang or Camaro release, so there was just less collector appetite for hypercars like the Veyron.
By the late 2010’s, the landscape had changed. The Ferrari license was gone, McLarens were beginning to proliferate across the Hot Wheels lineup, and the Lamborghini 5 pack was the hot item to have. Exotic cars had become a staple of Hot Wheels collectors, and a generation of kids who grew up worshiping the Bugatti Veyron as the ultimate poster car began seeking out the original Veyron casting, causing second-hand values to surge. The casting had been dead since 2010, but the team at Hot Wheels took note of the hype, and decided it was time to give the Veyron another chance.
In 2021, this revised version of the Veyron casting was released in the Quarter Mile Finals set, featuring a color scheme reminiscent of the Veyron Super Sport. Unlike the original, this updated casting was meant to better reflect the production car that we all remember. The front end was taller and less raked, the fitment around the casting pieces was improved, more graphics were added, and the wheel fitment was fixed.
Updates were made elsewhere too, with the back of the casting being flattened and widened, with a reworked lower valence and corner markers added to the wheel arches. The upper air intakes also became more pronounced, now sticking up past the roof line to better reflect their positioning on the production car.
Like many other collectors, I was thrilled to see the Bugatti Veyron finally get a modernized, more accurate casting, but Hot Wheels thought they could do better. This version saw only two releases (the second of which was reportedly accidental!) before it was completely reworked once again.
This latest Veyron casting finally feels like a modern Hot Wheels model, absolutely blowing the previous versions out of the water. The front end is clearly a complete rethink, ditching the troublesome 3-piece grille in favor of a more modern 2-piece solution with the base forming the mesh. Not only did this eliminate the fitment issues, but it allowed for printed detailing around the grille, which many 1:1 Veyrons had. The whole front end is now taller and more vertical – better representing the mass of this beast. This being a silver-series model, the detailing is a step above anything we’ve seen on a Veyron before. I particularly like the little red Bugatti logo on the grille, as it just makes the model feel so much more realistic.
The windshield has been substantially reworked, with a much less rounded shape and with windshield wipers making an appearance! The casting has also gained side mirrors, which are always a welcome sight.
The door jambs have been completely changed, with the front of the door no longer opening into the wheel arch. A side skirt has been added to the base to make the casting appear lower, and the air channel beneath the door is now visible. Most importantly, the entire slope of the bodyline from the roof to the rear decklid has been changed, reducing the shelf-like appearance of the rear deck on the earlier casting.
A casting line has been added to the rear deck to denote the massive electronically-deployable rear wing, and the exposed engine has finally been redone to better represent the motor of the production car.
The biggest difference at the rear is obviously the printed detailing on the new model, but there are casting updates here too. The rear diffuser has been changed to resemble the diffuser on a Grand Sport, and black mesh is now visible beneath the brake lights. Regular readers will know that I go crazy for detailed exhaust tips, so I love how the silver printing makes the exhaust on this new Veyron stand out!
It may have taken three castings and two decades, but it finally feels like Hot Wheels has done the Bugatti Veyron justice. I hope we continue to see this casting for years to come, as I think there’s plenty of collector appetite for a rainbow of Bugatti Veyron special editions. Perhaps we could even see a Grand Sport Vitesse version someday?
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