If you’ve been collecting Hot Wheels for a while, you’ve probably noticed that Hot Wheels consistently struggles to accurately model the big, V12 Lambos. The smaller, V10 Lamborghinis have been consistent hits, with great models like the Sesto Elemento and Gallardo Superleggera being some of my favorite castings in my collection. Something about the proportions of the flagship V12 cars seems to be incredibly difficult to translate to 1/64 scale, because we’ve seen Hot Wheels struggle with it again and again.
Take the mainline Lamborghini Murcielago casting, which I find to be one of the worst Lamborghini castings in the whole lineup. It rides too high, it looks too flat (almost as though someone stepped on it), and the whole back end just looks a bit off. Even the hallowed Murcielago SV casting is pretty weak in terms of proportions, especially in the front end.
Newer big Lambo castings aren’t immune either: the new Countach casting gets piano casters for front wheels, which throws off the look of the whole casting. I like that model and the car it’s replicating, but Hot Wheels definitely took some artistic liberties with it. Likewise, the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 is a very cool casting with a very droopy front end that detracts from its realism.
Heck, even the mainline Aventador, which I consider the gold standard of successful big Lambo castings, had rear wheel fitment issues in its first few premium outings! You get the picture – the big Lamborghinis have been a struggle for Hot Wheels designers historically. If nothing else, you have to admire Hot Wheels’ ambition in trying again with the Revuelto.
There is one promising reason to believe this Revuelto will be different, though: it’s designed by fan-favorite designer Ron Wong, who has shown an incredible ability to translate difficult shapes into diecast form. The Revuelto is certainly a difficult shape, with all its crazy aero and flying buttresses. Even so, if he can make a good Koenigsegg casting, then a good big Lambo certainly seems in the cards!
The first thing that jumped out to me about this casting was its wheels. The 10 spoke Real Riders are common on exotic car castings, of course, but they’re the same size on both axles – a departure from the staggered wheel setups we’ve seen on most previous V12 Lamborghinis. The result is a more realistic side profile, though it does mean the rear wheel looks ever so slightly too small in its wheel arch. Given the limited wheel choices in the Hot Wheels lineup, I think it was the right call.
Surprisingly, despite its square wheel setup this new Revuelto manages to avoid the droopy nose syndrome that afflicts so many diecast Lamborghinis. It’s likely made possible by the real Revuelto’s surprisingly large front overhang, though this diecast version does still have to pinch the front fender a bit more than would be ideal. That seems to be the lone compromise in this casting’s design though, as all of the crazy creases and cuts in the Revuelto’s bodywork have been impressively replicated.
The massive air intake behind the door looks like it sticks out substantially, aided by a black print that gives it more visual separation from the door. The paint coverage on the lower part of that black print is a tad thin, which I thought was an error at first, but it’s identical on both sides so I suspect it may be an intentional visual trick to make that section look more like a grille that air can pass through.
No expense was spared on the rest of the side detailing either. The Revuelto has front and rear side markers, as well as a miniscule silver Revuelto badge on the side skirt. I’m not sure about the black on the side mirrors though, as the black should be more on the underside of the mirror than just the outside tip.
Oddly, this Revuelto casting has a fuel door on both sides of the casting, but none of the Revueltos I see online have a fuel door on the passenger side. MiniGT’s Revuelto is missing it too, so I suspect this might be an error.
I can’t get over how crazy the front end of the Revuelto looks. There’s so much depth around the headlights and the air intakes at the bottom of the grille, making it very unforgiving of errors in printing alignment. Luckily, Hot Wheels nailed it, with perfectly placed DRLs that wrap around onto the sides of the model! I also appreciate how the casting’s base creates a slight difference in color at the back of the intake that looks a bit like the radiator sitting back there. Dare I say the Hot Wheels even has better detailing in the headlights than MiniGT’s version?
The brake lights are just as well aligned as the headlights, though Hot Wheels did cheat a little bit by flattening the section around the lights to make it more forgiving. Normally, the LED strips would stick out more from their surrounding trim. I’m happy to report that the Revuelto’s hexagonal exhaust tips haven’t been flattened though – they look just as crazy here as they do on the real thing! As does the diffuser, which juts out farther than the exhaust and features giant vertical strakes. It’s a striking design, and I appreciate that Hot Wheels has included a license plate and the little Lamborghini logo at the top of the diffuser. Unfortunately, the rear rivet is a bit too visible from the back of this model – I wish Hot Wheels would have done a better job of hiding it.
From above, it’s easy to appreciate all this car’s crazy aero features. The top of the Revuelto is full of contoured bodywork meant to channel air, including the flying buttresses on the quarter panels! Obviously, there aren’t any actual flying buttresses on this Hot Wheels model as they would never be robust enough to meet Hot Wheels’ play standards, but the cutouts in the metal behind them are a surprisingly convincing visual trick! It’s also worth noting that this Revuelto model is straight-sided, rather than flaring out at the back in an arrowhead shape like many previous Hot Wheels big Lambos. It results in a far more realistic and visually balanced look!
One of the standout features on the Revuelto is its exposed engine, which Hot Wheels has modeled faithfully. Since it’s part of the plastic interior piece, they were able to include plenty of fine details in the valve covers and the carbon fiber engine bay surround. It still feels a bit plain though, especially since a premium model like this should have had sufficient budget to include some printed detailing on the engine, which would have upped the realism substantially.
Still, that’s a pretty minor criticism compared to what we’re used to with big Hot Wheels Lamborghinis. The usual suspects – too tall of a ride height, unrealistic proportions, and poor wheel fitment – are nowhere to be found here, which feels like a major victory. I don’t know if I would go so far as to call it perfect, but it’s darn good and definitely the best big Lambo we’ve seen in the premium line. So, it seems it may be time to declare the big Lambo curse over. Long live the big, V12 Lamborghini!
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