Sometimes Hot Wheels surprises with a new model.
There are those newer cars that are not surprising when shrink to Hot Wheels mini-size. New Ferrari? Check. New Corvette? Of course. Scion FR-S? It was only a matter of time. Pagani Huayra? A bit surprising, but still an obvious choice. Lotus Evora GT4? We did not see that one coming.
The Evora got a lot of attention when it was first released. Lotus's first 2x2, and built to be a little racer and daily driver. Not to mention a great looking car. Mattel was actually involved in the release of the Evora, with Matchbox releasing a mini version at the same time the real thing was unveiled in London.
Since then Matchbox has released several versions of the Lotus, and every one of them sits in the Lamley offices. It is a great car, and a great casting. So when it was unveiled that Hot Wheels is releasing the GT4 racing version of the Evora, we were pretty excited. There is always a place for British cars in the Lamley collection, and we are happy when Mattel obliges.
We finally have it in hand, photographed it, and we are posting it here. After all the excitement, if we are honest the model comes in a bit of a mixed bag.
There are so many things done right. The first version sports the stock GT4 color and design. British Racing Green is a color option that all diecast versions of British cars should sport early on. The model gets side and top tampo prints. And the rear spoiler is a treat. Done so well, and happily done in metal. From the top, this model is fantastic.
Now we can live with the large rear wheels, even though same-sized wheels would have probably been better, but what happened up front? The front grill area suffers from a bad case of up-slant. We have looked at quite a few photos of the real GT4 and can't find any with such a front. The standard Evora has a slight upward angle, but still nothing like this one. Unfortunately, a nice low-to-the-ground front grill would have completed a fantastic model, but instead it throws the overall looks off, and makes this mini version look like the real racer's rejected cousin. And it is really too bad, because everything else works very well.
Now we take pride here at Lamley at keeping things positive. There are plenty of models out there that we aren't big fans of, but we just don't show them. And I think our readers would be a little surprised to see a full profile of a shark on wheels. But the Evora GT4 is right down our alley, and is an obvious Lamley-type model. So we don't want to sound too negative about the front. But like the off-kilter rear of last year's Porsche Boxster, we felt we had to say something. But for the sake of being positive, the front won't keep us from collecting this one. But maybe, just maybe, a slight modification is in order...
What are your thoughts?
(Find the Lotus Evora, Toyota 2000GT, Toyota Supra, and the rest of HW Batch J for sale
...)Hot Wheels Lotus Evora GT4 (2013 New Models):
Of course the obvious comparison pics with the Matchbox version:
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