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55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s

I've managed to convince myself to buy a maximum of 10 Hot Wheels per month to redirect more money toward the RX-7. Even so, every couple of days, I will get one or two cars to add to my collection. And as I was finding a spot for the Mustang Funny Car Treasure Hunt, I came across a Corvette. And I realized I only have three of these in total. The next thing I know, there was a question I needed answered.
55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s 29 photos
Photo: Hot Wheels/Mattel
55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1: the '60s and 70s
And the question was: how many different Hot Wheels Corvettes are there? I could have guessed that there are about 20 or 30 different castings, each with dozens of variations. And that would have taken the total number of HW Corvettes up to about 500 variations or so.

But once I started digging, I realized I had completely underestimated Mattel's prowess in coming up with new products every year. There are about 60 different castings for the Corvette, but I haven't finished the calculation on how many different color variations there are just yet.

Initially, I thought I would write a story about all the HW Corvettes in one go, but I realized that one could probably write an entire book on the topic instead. So, given that Hot Wheels is celebrating its 55th anniversary next year, I decided to split the story into five different parts.

That's one part for every 11 years of diecast history. Naturally, the company started rather slow, at least compared to what it's up to these days. The Custom Corvette was introduced in 1968 as part of the Sweet Sixteen series.

55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1\: the '60s and 70s
Photo: eBay/User gsrman13
And for the first 11 years, this was one of three Corvette castings to be sold as part of a Hot Wheels collection. The man who designed it was Harry Bradley, who had previously worked for General Motors.

Reportedly, he snuck into GM's offices to get his hands on the blueprints for the 1968 Corvette. And that explains how the diecast version of the car could be ready at about the same time as the real one was making its way into dealerships across the United States.

For 1968, there were 15 versions of the Custom Corvette for the USA and 10 for Hong Kong, offering a plethora of colors for kids and collectors alike to choose from. There are some differences between the two, one being that the hood is smaller on the US Corvette.

While the rear end on it is part of the base, it's part of the body on the Hong Kong version. But you can find an extensive Online Redline Guide that showcases all the particularities of each given model. If you do manage to come across one of these cars, don't be shocked if you'll have to pay up to $2,000 per unit for the carded version.

55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1\: the '60s and 70s
Photo: eBay/User gsrman13
Mattel decided to retool the casting in 2005, with Mark Jones at the helm of the project. So you'll find five more variations there, all of which have Redline wheels. The most recent version was made available to collectors earlier this year, as an RLC-exclusive item.

If you want one with a low number on the back, you might have to spend as much as $300 for it. So you already need a small fortune for this Custom Corvette casting alone, and we're barely scratching the surface here.

The Corvette Stingray came out in 1976 as part of the Flying Colors Series. Mr. Hot Wheels himself, the legendary Larry Wood, designed this casting which is modeled after a 1975 Corvette. Mattel has been pumping out different colors and liveries of it up until 2016, adding up to 56 versions in total.

You could start an entire collection just by hunting for this casting alone. We like the 1995 Real Riders Metallic Green Green version, and you can buy that for just $40 or so. But one of the first edition cars will cost 10 times as much, I've they're in good shape and still carded.

55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 1\: the '60s and 70s
Photo: eBay/User rhuprect
The last HW 'Vette to be released during the first 11 years of activity for the US Giant was called Vetty Funny. Bob Rosas and Larry Wood worked together on designing this Chevy-based dragster, which would show up every few years until 1995. There are only seven variations of this casting in existence, and they all used the same Black Wall/Basic Wheel design.

This is the part where we tell you to sit down before reading on. While this may sound silly to non-collectors, people will often time pay more for items that have certain factory errors. And it seems that someone has gone as far as to list an Error Car on eBay for $12,000.

It might sound like a Holy Grail or like pure lunacy, depending on which part of the fence you're looking from. All we know is that if you're keen to start an exclusive Hot Wheels Corvette collection, you might end up spending more money than you would by buying a brand-new C8. But more on that in Part 2.

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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
Dragos Chitulescu profile photo

The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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