Cool is Cool is Cool: Hot Wheels Vintage Racing Parnelli Jones & George Follmer '70 Mustang Boss 302's...

Can it get any cooler than the Trans Am Racing season of 1970?

If you are not qualified to answer that, google the names Parnelli Jones, George Follmer, Marc Donohue, Sam Posey, and Dan Gurney.  Or "1970 Trans Am".  Then prepare to go deep into the google-sphere.  Photos, stories, videos, it is a bit addictive.  And the cars.  Oh the cars.  Trans Am fans know what I mean.

I am not the racing nut that some are, but the Trans Am series is so intertwined with the pony car era that it is impossible to not become familiar with it if are even a casual fan of these cars.  Not to mention the sub-2.0 liters category, with its Porsches and Alfas and Audis and eventually Datsuns, the Trans Am series of the early '70s is a goldmine of gearhead porn.

After your little google voyage, we then dare you to try and avoid hitting ebay and gobbling up the Trans Am models from the Vintage Racing series in 2011.  It is near impossible to not want them, it just might be the aftermarket pricing that will keep you from jumping all in.

There are a lot of great models in the Vintage Racing series, and of course we have spent more than enough time on the BRE Datsun.  But in all honesty, for me the gems are the Trans Am cars from 1969 and 1970.  And over the next few months we will try and get through all of them.

So it is probably appropriate to start with the two cars that won the series for Ford in 1970: Parnelli Jones' #15 and George Follmer's #16 1970 Mustang Boss 302's.  There is not one without the other, so it makes perfect sense that Hot Wheels did both, even though they look so much alike.

And both are amazing models.  The '70 Boss 302 casting made its debut in this series, and to us there is no doubt this is the best Mustang casting Hot Wheels has ever done.  It may also be one of the most realistic models Hot Wheels has ever done as well.  The details are so spot on, the stance screams Trans Am, and while it seems trivial, look how perfectly the wheels fit in the wheel wells.  Considering other castings have been botched, this is at least evidence that they can do it right when needed.

As much as I am sad that this type of series hasn't continued, we can at least be happy that the 2011 Vintage Racing Series was completed, and we have some amazing models.  It was the Racing Series of 2012 that didn't make it, cutting short the Japanese Racing batch.  Now excuse me while I go cry...

(Find the 2011 Hot Wheels Vintage Racing on ebay...)


Hot Wheels Parnelli Jones '70 Mustang Boss 302 & George Follmer '70 Mustang Boss 302 (2011 Vintage Racing):

Coming next:

Cool is Cool is Cool: Hot Wheels Slick Rides '83 Silverado & Custom '62 Chevy Pickups...

Maybe the word "Cool" in this post can refer to the need for us to cool down on the pickup truck posts.

Nope.

We love classic pickups, and if we have some to show, we probably will.

So today you get a couple of treats from the 2010 Slick Rides line.  It seems the Slick Rides kind of came and went quickly, and are a bit forgotten.  The series was a continuation of the Delivery series, but kind of got lost among the Garage line.  Many times on the pegs it was hard to tell one from the other.  So as a set the models kind of blue together, but individually there are some models that really shine.

Of course there are the mega-popular castings like the Convoy Custom, Chevy Panel, and Dairy Delivery.  There were also the fantastic new tools that debuted, namely the Dodge A100 Panel Van and VW Variant.

And there were a ton of pickups.  And for good reason.  The theme of the Slick Rides were to put real auto part makers on nostalgic or vintage models and decos.  Pickups are prime candidates for that.  And many turned out wonderfully.

Like the Silverado and '62 Chevy.

(Oh, and good thing Mattel made the card art on these so drab.  It didn't make it difficult to rip these open.)

The Edelbrock Silverado and Holley 62 are definite standouts in the line, as the colors work well and deco is nicely simple.  And, thankfully the wheels work really well.  Those wheels on the Silverado look so good on many classic castings (like the '55 Gasser Super TH this year), and I wish they would use them more.

So enjoy the pics, keep putting up with our pickup infatuation, and go find a Slick Rides to add to the collection...

Hot Wheels '83 Chevy Silverado & Custom '62 Chevy (2010 Slick Rides):

The Forgotten Datsun: Tomica Limited Vintage Snake Motors Datsun Fairlady 2000 Roadster...

A few months ago I was having a pleasant chat with one of Hot Wheels' main designers.  The subject naturally went to JDM models, and we shared the mutual opinion that the selection of JDM in various lines has been a great thing.

So I asked about possible future JDM castings.  He said he didn't know if there would be any new castings in the next few years, as many of the iconic and internationally recognizable Japanese cars had been done - Celica, 2000GT, Hakosuka and Kenmeri Skylines, AE86, 240Z, 510, etc.  The list is long.

I appreciate that the Subaru 360 or pig's butt Laurel might a little difficult to pass off to an international crowd, but there are also some great potential Hot Wheels JDM models yet to be done.  The Mazda Cosmo quickly comes to mind.  Unique silhouette ($1 diecast dudes love the value of a good silhouette), recognizable marque, and quickly joining the Toyota 2000GT as the most collectable of Japanese cars.

The other that would make perfect sense was actually sitting a few feet away from that designer and me while having the conversation.  It was at JCCS, and the car is the Datsun Roadster:

Those are only a few of the Roadsters that I was drooling over that day last September.  Hopefully the designer was too, because this car would make a perfect Hot Wheels.  Hard top, soft top, it doesn't matter.  I have rightfully gone gaga for the Datsuns numbered 510, 620, and 240, but the Roadster may be the best looking of them all.  That shape!  That stance!  That grill!  Oh, that grill....yummy...

And don't forget there is a heritage to this car, and not just in Japan.  BRE had a few, and John Morton drove them, and we all know how BRE can turn certain Hot Wheels collectors into mush.

That is why the Datsun Roadster by Tomica Limited Vintage is a no-brainer addition to the Lamley collection.  There are a few in the collection, but none has the flare as the special Snake Motors special edition.  We love the deco and the wheels, and yes, that tasty grill is there too.

Snake Motors is a company in Japan, but as far as I know the actual car never existed.  Looks to be a promotional model.  Whatever it is, it is a beauty.

So keep collecting your Hot Wheels JDM, and clamor with us for a Roadster.  In the meantime, pick up a few TLV Datsuns (including the HTF 510 Wagon, which is on ebay right now, and you won't be disappointed...


Tomica Limited Vintage Datsun Fairlady 2000: