Cool Classics and Other Luxurious Rides

During the past spring break, which was the first week of March, I had a short, very informational internship with an architecture firm.  After work every day, I'd stop by the store just to look at which cool Hot wheels cars they had for sale.  I ended up letting go of some cash in exchange for some exceptionally interesting cars.

First is this '56 Ford C-500 Cabover by M2 Machines.  It's made pretty accurately to 1:64 scale and can carry cars in its trailer as advertised.  Every part of this '56 is correctly proportioned, making it the most accurate '56 Ford truck I have despite being of a small scale.  The rubber tires are even treaded, completely round, and of the right width.

On a related note, I got a Dale Earnhardt hauler that is also pretty accurately scaled.  The ribs on the inside of the trailer make it difficult to simply slide cars inside but it can hold three.  The tires on this truck are also perfect.  The front end is less meticulously detailed than that of the '56 but is reminiscent of the Peterbilt 379, one of my favorite semi tractors since 5th grade.

Hot wheels has been releasing a series of Cool Classics which have the new "Spectrafrost" paint.  In the first few years starting from 1968, all Hot wheels cars were released with a special chrome/transparent color/clear coat finish called "Spectraflame."  The paint has been revived periodically for collectors' editions such as the Classics series in 2005.  The new Spectrafrost paint is like a satin version of Spectraflame.  The price of Cool Classics is a few times that of the regular Hot wheels.

The gray '32 Ford and the antifreeze green '52 Hudson were not part of the spring break group but I thought I'd throw them in the crowd.  The other cars are the purple '57 Chrysler 300 which first inspired me to get Cool Classics, a red '69 Barracuda drag car, and a pink '64 Impala.

The decals on these cars are also more precisely applied.  The wheels are imitations of Halibrand mags popular in the '70s and the holes are cut all the way through.

I just love the way light responds to this paint.

This 1:64 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500 by Greenlight set me back quite a few bucks.  What I got in return wasn't disappointing, though.  The engine is molded out of its own piece of plastic, as are all four lights.  The wheels and tires are perfectly made and the decals are flawless.  I usually don't like buying these more expensive cars since they can't be freely played with, but they're still nice to have.

I was more hesitant on buying these three.  They're listed as "1:64 scale" but are actually quite a bit bigger.  Probably closer to 1:52 or something, I'm not sure.  The '70 Mustang Boss 429 was made by Jada and the wheels are hopelessly non-rounded.  The Crown Vic police car has opening doors and a half-opening trunk.  One of the rubber tires originally wasn't completely round but a quick trim inside with an X-acto knife did the trick and it now runs perfectly.  Tow Mater, probably my favorite one of the three, rolls horribly so I have to round out the plastic wheels sometime.