Hot Wheels really feels like they’re firing on all cylinders right now. Compared to Matchbox’s disappointment of a line preview, the Hot Wheels line preview was a breath of fresh air. As always, some of the Hot Wheels team’s announcements had already been spoiled by previous leaks, but there were still prototypes that took me by surprise! Overall, the vibes of the presentation this year felt very positive, with plenty of audience applause and more excitement than I’m used to seeing during these events. It’s a nice change of pace after a couple fairly lackluster years from Hot Wheels, especially in the premium lines.
Though we already knew it was coming, the most significant announcement was the creation of a new Racing Culture line to sit alongside the Car Culture premium series. This is a massive improvement, as last year’s Car Culture lineup felt overwhelmed by race cars and crazy decos, with several sets like Vintage Racing and Thrill Climbers becoming notable pegwarmers. In fact, the only 2026 Car Culture set to truly excite me is the upcoming Deutschland Design set, which is a pretty poor hit rate for somebody as diecast obsessed as me. With the bifurcation of the line, Car Culture should now be able to focus more on the realistic enthusiast cars that actually make up most of car culture. The first three mixes of 2027 look incredibly promising – but more on that in a minute.
Before we get too far into the specific models, please note that this isn’t a comprehensive roundup of all the models shown during the convention. For that, head over to the Lamley Group youtube channel to watch the full presentation stream. Instead, this is an opportunity for me to geek out about some of the models that I find most exciting, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!
Let’s begin with the mainline – typically one of the weaker parts of the Hot Wheels lineup. The last few years have brought relatively few exciting new mainline castings, but 2027 is off to a promising start. It was probably inevitable that we would see the Ferrari 296 make its way to one of the Hot Wheels lines, though I was surprised by the choice to make it a convertible. Given that the 296 is probably the coolest car Ferrari currently makes, I’m glad to see it, and the casting looks promising despite having the typical Ferrari deco compromises. There will be no taillights here folks, we simply must have the Ferrari shields on the fenders!
While the Ferrari felt predictable, the Radford Type 62-2 Roadster certainly did not! It seems Hot Wheels saw Matchbox’s new Glickenhaus models and decided to up the ante! I’m a sucker for anything with Lotus involvement, so of course I’m intrigued by this model. I’m not sure about the debut deco, but the casting certainly looks cool. Plus, those wheels don’t look familiar, so it’s possible we’re getting a new mainline wheel on this Radford!
A new Foxbody Mustang is long overdue, and it looks like we’re finally getting one. This casting looks to still have a staggered wheel setup, but the proportions look far more realistic than the porky Foxbody that’s used in the premium lines. Plus, it appears to have clear plastic headlights, allowing for more printed detailing elsewhere on the model. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this casting!
The new 2026 Morgan Super Sport feels like yet another shot across the bow at Matchbox. It’s the kind of model that we never would have seen from the Hot Wheels of a decade ago, so it’s cool to see another obscure British car get representation from the blue brand. I don’t love this debut version though…the paint color is fine (though I personally prefer orange on my Morgans) but I just don’t like these wheels. I understand why they were chosen, since they probably look the most similar to the Morgan’s 1:1 scale wheels of any of the available mainline wheels, but I think they make the model look a bit cheap.
It was already leaked about a half dozen times, but in case anyone doubted it, we now have official confirmation of a Ferrari 12Cilindri super treasure hunt. It’s cool looking, though I expect it to be exceptionally difficult to get your hands on.
There were also a couple intriguing models not shown during the slideshow, including what appears to be either a Shelby or Hennessey Ford F-150! As of the time of writing on the day after the show, I have yet to see any particularly good pictures of this model. Still, from what I can see, it looks far more realistically proportioned than we typically see from Hot Wheels pickup trucks. It’s tough to see whether the grille is part of the black base section or just printed black, but either way it looks to have full front detailing. The racing stripes look cool too! I can’t wait to learn more about this model.
I’ve been lamenting the death of the clean-deco FK8 Civic Type R for years now, and it looks like someone at Hot Wheels finally listened! This new version wears a dark red shade of paint that’s reminiscent of the old ID version, though presumably this one will have less ugly wheels. I suspect this model will be part of the Then & Now series since its paint color looks identical to the upcoming EK9 Civic Type R.
I’m amazed that it took this long, but it looks like the C8 Corvette ZR1 is finally getting some diecast representation! Hot Wheels Corvettes have a history of looking a bit exaggerated, and this one looks no different. The spoiler is huge!
The Mitsubishi Starion is finally getting a clean deco, with a super treasure hunt counterpart no less! The Starion hasn’t called out to me until now, but I think this one has a place in my collection.
When I have that many models to be excited about just in the mainline, you know it’s shaping up to be a good year! In my last two convention posts, I had skipped the mainline entirely due to a lack of interesting models, so it’s wonderful to be excited for $1 cars again. I’ll still be skipping the silver series though, as there wasn’t much interesting to report there. Premium, on the other hand, was very interesting.
Up first was the new Racing Culture line, which won’t be for me, but I’m glad it will help get some of the racecars out of the Car Culture line.
The first Car Culture mix of 2027 is already bearing the fruits of that change. Its theme is Mountain Drifters, with the new Evo III being the model I personally find most exciting. There always seems to be collector appetite for modified Nissan Skylines though, and I’m sure plenty of collectors will be thrilled by the opportunity to get the Toyota Stout Drift Truck outside of a diorama boxed set.
Mix 2 is where things get more exciting. This one’s theme is Exotic Envy, and for the first time ever, I think they’ve actually managed to create a lineup of enviable exotics! The new Pagani Zonda C12 is without a doubt the highlight of this set. A Zonda is long overdue in the Hot Wheels line (the mainline Zonda R doesn’t count since it’s not road legal), and while the Cinque or Tricolore are my personal favorite Zonda flavors, I can’t be mad about the C12 either. It looks very cool, with a full front and rear deco and excellent proportions. It’s impossible not to love that iconic split spoiler design that makes this Zonda instantly recognizable as a C12, and I even like the silver-on-silver color choice!
The Exotic Envy mix also brings the third iteration of the Ferrari F40 in just a year, though this will probably become the new definitive version for most collectors. If that wasn’t enough, it’s also accompanied by a black chase, so you’d better start having that tough conversation with your wallet now…
The rest of the mix is made up of a yellow recolor of the Bugatti EB110, a white recolor of the Porsche 911 GT1, and the confusing inclusion of a 1993 Dodge Viper. I don’t hate the Viper, but I feel like Hot Wheels is stretching the definition of “exotic” somewhat here. It does get a new set of 3 spoke Real Riders though, which we can likely expect to see on many JDM castings going forward.
Mix 3’s theme is Canyon Warriors, and I think this is easily the most exciting mix of the three. It features exclusively modern enthusiast cars with clean decos, including some decos I’ve been hoping to see for ages! The 2016 BMW M2 is a model I’ve loved since it debuted in the mainline back in 2018, but its clean decos have been frustratingly few and far between. It’s seen only one premium appearance, where it was ruined by an inexplicable black bar at the back of the car. This new orange version looks ready to fix all those previous sins! Orange is a great color for the M2, and the gray 10 spoke wheels are a perfect fit. Add in front and rear detailing, and I have nothing to complain about…except perhaps the lack of a license plate.
I’ve also been asking for a more widely available clean deco of the Toyota GR Corolla since it came out a couple years ago. Until now, the only clean version was the black chase, which came at an unfortunate price premium, so it’s great to see this gray version coming at a price point where it will be accessible to more collectors. Unlike that original GR Corolla, this new one has the forged carbon fiber roof option, which looks very cool! Plus, it even has a license plate!
As if the Hot Wheels team was reading my mind (or perhaps just my blog), we also finally get a clean blue paint job on the FL5 Civic Type R. Granted, this is still the Spoon-modified casting that we’ve seen before, but I’m still happy to see one that looks less like a racecar and more like a road car.
This lime green Porsche 911 GT3 RS comes just in time to try to talk crazy people like me out of spending far too much money to get the metallic pink convention car this year. It looks awesome, with the same excellent graphics treatment as the debut version last year, less the extraneous PORSCHE logo on the doors and the rear license plate. It’s a must-have, and it’s also accompanied by a black chase version. That begs the question: which will be more expensive, the black chase or the pink convention car?
Canyon Warriors is rounded off by a white recolor of the Mercedes C63 AMG Black Series. This is now this casting’s fourth paint job – an unusually high number for a premium casting – but I can’t complain since an AMG Mercedes always looks good in white.
As always, there were plenty of premium prototypes that weren’t shown during the presentation, so we don’t know exactly which mix or line they will end up in. This clean light blue recolor of the C4 Corvette caught my attention, as it’s a cool casting that’s been held back by lackluster decos until now.
The C4 is joined by a new premium C5 Corvette, which feels long overdue. The C5 Corvette has been a mainstay of racing and drifting events for years, alongside all the people who buy them just for cheap V8 thrills. It’s a natural fit for the car culture line, and I personally hope it debuts in bright yellow!
This new NA1 Honda NSX is sure to excite a lot of collectors. Hot Wheels has a good NA2 NSX Type-R casting, and there is technically a 1990 NSX casting in the mainline, but it dates back to a more cartoonish era of Hot Wheels design. An accurate early NSX is long overdue, and this one is certainly promising. I’m not sure about the all-plastic roof, but since it’s a premium casting there should be plenty of budget to print the roof detailing as needed.
Team Transport wasn’t overly interesting, though I was intrigued by this 1971 Plymouth Satellite towing the new 1970 Dodge Challenger casting. This feels straight out of the 70’s in a very charming way, so I might just have to pick one up.
We also got a look at a prototype Team Transport that I’ve been struggling to identify. From what I can tell, this appears to be a late model GMC Sierra Dually towing a fifth wheel trailer, which is very cool. On the trailer is what appears to be some sort of Pontiac GTO-inspired stock car, though I certainly could be wrong. I’m definitely looking forward to more information about this one.
The Boulevard section of the preview was all models we’ve seen previously, but there were some new 2 packs shown. The highlight for me was this Audi wagon pack that features a gray recolor of the RS6 Avant (which should pair well with the flat gray previous-gen RS6 from the Fast Wagons set) and a new blue B5 RS4 Avant. As a fan of fast Audis, this is a very exciting set…I just wish Target would do a better job of stocking these exclusives, as they have effectively become online exclusives lately.
Modern muscle cars seem to finally be getting more attention from Hot Wheels, including in this new diorama set. This is where the long awaited Camaro ZL1 1LE casting will debut, alongside a yellow recolor of the Dodge Demon. Both look great and are reason enough to buy this whole set, but I’m very disappointed to see the Fast & Furious Shelby Mustang get reused as the third model in this set. By my count, this is now the third time this exact deco has been used and they still haven’t fixed the missing black section around the brake lights! We know they can, since the GT350 used in the Jay Leno’s Garage boxed set has the correct rear detailing!
Hot Wheels seems to have realized how much collectors want car hauler trucks, so they debuted a new enclosed transport trailer behind a licensed Scania 770 S cab. It looks very cool, though this deco is a bit too much of a wall of black for my tastes. I will probably wait for a future recolor, but it’s a very exciting model nonetheless!
The RLC section of the presentation didn’t have that much for me, but I was intrigued by this black Porsche 911 Turbo because of its crazy attention to detail. It has the correct Porsche wheels and asymmetrical wing mirrors along with a fully chrome exhaust. So cool!
Though it must be said, not as cool as this Ferrari F8 Spyder. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the most excited I’ve ever been about an RLC model. It’s so refreshing to see a new Ferrari casting debut in a color other than Resale Red, and this mirrored blue looks drop-dead gorgeous. The saddle brown interior fits the car perfectly and is far more detailed than we’d typically see from Hot Wheels. Even the windshield gets a mirrored blue frame. Since this is an RLC model, there are no deco compromises here – this F8 gets full rear detailing despite its fender shields! The yellow centercaps are a nice touch too. It’s not often that I say a Hot Wheels model is worth it no matter the price, but I will have to pick up this F8 even if it goes for RLC F40 prices.
Even with this absurd word count (2,700 for those keeping track), there were still so many models I didn’t cover. Go check out some of the great diecast creators who covered the presentation in more detail if you haven’t already. I find it so lovely to be left with a feeling of excitement for the future after one of these presentations, as so many of them have felt like a letdown over the past few years. It’s clear that Hot Wheels is headed in the right direction, so I can’t wait to see what they bring to the next show!
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