Model of the Day: Hot Wheels Vintage Racing John Morton's BRE Datsun 510...

Hmmmm, I wonder why we are featuring this today...

If you don't know, you are probably not sitting right next to your computer waiting for the RLC sale for this week to start.  Actually, if you are waiting for the sale to start, you are surely not reading this post at the moment.

Nonetheless, today is a good day to celebrate the BRE Datsun.  Hot Wheels is throwing JDM enthusiasts another bone with the return John Morton's racer, this time as an RLC exclusive.  We have documented our excitement about this model, and our friends at Japanese Nostalgic Car have given the model a bit of a backstory as well.  We hope to get one or two, and you can bet your bottom dollar we will be on the computer when the sale starts.

We will let you know if we succeed on the Lamley Facebook page (and hopefully the rest of you will let us know how you did as well), but in the meantime, let's showcase the RLC BRE's predecessor, the Vintage Racing version from 2011.

Who knows what model would win the title of best JDM Hot Wheels model of the last few years, but we can easily argue that the 510 is one of the most important.  We are spoiled these days with 620's and Skylines and Celicas and 2000GT's and RX-7's and on and on, but with apologies to the little-used AE86 (at the time), the 510 was the first.  At least the first of this recent run.  What a surprise it was.  A Datsun?  And a Datsun that doesn't utilize the letter "Z"?

And with that the floodgates were opened.  I may consider the Kenmeri my favorite Hot Wheels JDM, and that 510 Wagon might have caused a smile and a half, but the 510 sedan started it all.  And the BRE, with its racing legacy and iconic racing deco and colors, is the pinnacle.

Too bad it is so hard to get.  It was widely ignored when it was released, but that can be said about the whole Vintage Racing line.  I think collectors, including yours truly, didn't realize what we had in the Vintage Racing line until it was gone.  There is a huge list of models I wish I would have snagged.  Thankfully, I was ready when the BRE hit the pegs, and bought a couple.  But left quite a few.  Drat.

Now, if you want one, you have to pay.  It is worth it, especially for such a perfect model, but it is hard to do when you consider it could have been used for $5 just a few years ago.  Oh well.

It is a fantastic model, and to us one of the best Hot Wheels of the last five years.  Now we get a companion piece, and how great will it be to have a fleet of BRE's.  Good luck to everyone...


Hot Wheels John Morton's BRE Datsun 510 (2011 Vintage Racing):