For a long time, McLarens didn’t get any attention from Hot Wheels. Prior to Hot Wheels losing the Ferrari license a decade ago, the only McLaren casting in the lineup was the F1 GTR from the Speed Machines line. Then, starting with the P1 in 2015, the Hot Wheels McLaren lineup exploded to fill the vacuum left in the exotic lineup by Ferrari’s exit. Since then, we’ve seen everything from a fairly standard 720S to crazy hypercars like the Senna and Elva, legends like the F1, and modified machines like the new LB-Works 720S. While McLaren has also grown significantly as a company during the last 10 years, I believe their massive presence in the current Hot Wheels lineup is made possible partly by the lack of Ferrari castings.
Prior to McLaren’s proliferation across the Hot Wheels lineup, Ferrari was the exotic car maker of choice for Hot Wheels. Sure, Lamborghini had a presence too, and there’s plenty of great Lamborghini castings from that period, but Lamborghinis were nowhere near as prolific as Hot Wheels. Ferrari had everything from entry level models like the California and FF to crazy hypercars like the Enzo and LaFerrari, to legends like the FXX and 599XX. Sound familiar?
With Ferrari’s return to Hot Wheels in 2025 and no less than nine castings already announced, it’s going to be interesting to see how McLaren’s place in the Hot Wheels lineup changes in the coming years. In my perfect world, I’d like to see the proportion of exotics simply expand to accommodate the new Ferraris, but that feels unlikely to me. I suspect we will see fewer new McLaren castings going forward, as Ferrari takes back more of that space they ceded to McLaren a decade ago.
That’s a shame, because we’ve seen some truly excellent McLaren castings over the last few years, and this new W1 continues that tradition. Granted, it’s hard to truly judge this casting’s accuracy given that we’ve seen so little of the real W1 so far, but I think Ron Wong did an admirable job creating a $1 replica of such a complicated car design.
Ron spoke of the difficulties in designing this casting in an Instagram post, as well as some of the limitations in terms of deco design. While I certainly would have liked to see headlights on this model, I understand the difficulties in getting a mainline casting to market, especially in the current geopolitical climate. I hope Ron is successful in bringing this casting to premium someday, because the premium versions of other McLaren castings like the Senna are by far the best!
Credit must also be given to Hot Wheels for getting this car to market so quickly. You won’t see a real W1 on the road yet, but you can pick up the diecast version at your local Wal-Mart!
This casting is an impressive showcase of how advanced Hot Wheels casting design has become. Granted, as is often the case with hypercars, you won’t see any side mirrors here, but I’m impressed by the color break in the vent/scoop in the hood, as well as the amount of casting detail throughout the rest of the hood to clearly show off how air is managed on the front of the W1. The detailing on the spoiler is really well done too. While the orange lip and supports on the wing may not technically be correct (they’re both black on the real car), I think the contrasting colors help emphasize the movement that the wing is capable of, as an all black version would risk looking more like a simple lip spoiler.
That said, I’m less impressed by the orange at the back of the car, as it changes the look of the rear of the car significantly. Hopefully, we see a premium version with full printed detailing back here, but for now I appreciate the truly massive rear diffuser on the back of this car.
The way this casting manages color is an impressive design feat. As a mainline model, there wasn’t going to be enough room in the budget for substantial printed detailing, but the two-tone finish of the W1 is one of the most distinctive parts of its design. The solution, similar to the Rimac Nevera casting, is to use the base to form a color break, though that color break is significantly more complicated on this W1. Note the orange quarter-panel piece that swoops down behind the door, bisecting two pieces of the black base. Getting the fitment correct between those two pieces cannot have been an easy task.
Speaking of fitment, the wheel fitment has improved significantly on recent Hot Wheels models, and this new W1 is no exception! The wheels sit perfectly flush with the wheel arches, just as they should in a hypercar of this caliber.
Papaya orange is easily the default color for any McLaren, and we’ve seen several versions of it from Hot Wheels over the years. The version on this W1 is easily my favorite, with a lighter shade and plenty of pearl to make the casting sparkle. Even the finish on the paint is better than we typically see from Hot Wheels!
I really like this W1, and I hope the Hot Wheels team can find space in the exotic lineup for a few recolors in the coming years. I don’t know what the future holds for new McLaren castings, but that original P1 casting is still in use, so maybe we’ll see another 10 years of W1 releases. I just hope this isn’t the last we see of new McLarens in the Hot Wheels lineup for a few years.
diecastleno.com 
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