Breaking Records in a Hot Wheels Car

Being a car enthusiast from when I was only a few years old, it makes sense that I'm a fan of all things Hot wheels.  Hot wheels not only produces toys, but they have created numerous real-life, driveable versions of their cars for display and publicity and stuff like that.  Within the last few years, they've gone so far as to break records with their running, driving cars.  I don't think this post needs any further introduction.

Video from Hot Wheels

Tanner Foust, a professional race car driver and host of Top Gear America, was the driver of this truck. Hot wheels invented a storyline involving four drivers of different colors that specialized in different types of racing and the Yellow driver was Foust.  His face is blotted out in the video because it wasn't yet revealed who the Yellow driver was.  This record, performed at the 2011 Indy 500, broke the previous record for longest distance jumped in a four-wheeled vehicle.


Video from Hot Wheels

My favorite one was the Double Loop Dare, done at the 2012 X-Games in Los Angeles.  I followed it closely and watched it live online.  Yellow and Green drivers, Tanner Foust and Greg Tracy, completed the tallest vertical loop ever (made out of wood) in specially-built Hot wheels cars.  The g-forces were so great that the green car's suspension broke when it first hit the incline and pieces can be seen flying off when it lands.  

Video from Hot Wheels

Here's one that I didn't hear much of.  The Green team, which I think had a different driver this time, broke the record for the longest corkscrew jump.  Mind you, all these records are real.  Hot wheels has obviously been closely associated with the auto industry since day one in 1968, but I love how it was able to fuse the imagination of a child with real automotive engineering skills to do toy-car-like stunts in real vehicles and impress both kids and adults.