55 Years of Hot Wheels Corvettes Part 2: the Nostalgic '80s

The first Hot Wheels Corvette came to be in 1968, and there would be two more different castings coming up by the end of the first HW era. So you could say things were off to a relatively slow start. But Mattel has released 93 variations of those castings so far, and some of them are quite expensive to buy today.

But we've only started scratching the surface of 1/64 scale Corvettes, as we head on to the second era of our little project. Five different castings were released during that period, and it comes as no surprise that Larry Wood designed them all.

The Split Window '63 was introduced in 1980 and was a replica of the 1963 Corvette. Mattel has used multiple names for this casting, including the Corvette Split Window, the '63 Stingray, and the '63 Vette, to name just a few.

This model first popped up as part of the HiRakers series, which had one distinct feature to show off: the rear axles could be raised or lowered at will. The first iteration of this casting was used until 1985, with eight different versions released in that period.

The first retool was issued in 1987, and 25 versions of this one would come out until 1994. And it wasn't going to stop there. The second retool came into play in 1995, with the most recent version hitting stores in 2019. This change-up seems to have been the most successful one, with 75 versions in just over two decades.

If you want to have one of the rarer versions, we recommend the 1995 Treasure Hunts version in Metalflake Blue. One of these will set you back between $140 to $250, depending on how well it has been preserved.

The 'Vette Van was next in line and the name is self-explanatory. This strange design didn't last long, with only seven versions being released between 1980 to 1983. They all sported the same Black Wall/Basic Wheel design, and Marvel fans will probably be excited to see the 1981 and 1982 Iron Man versions of this casting. We've found several items on eBay that are still carded, and going for less than $50. And that's not half bad for a 40+-year-old collectible diecast.

The next item on our list is considerably more popular than the Corvette-Van hybrid, with two retools being applied since its initial release in 1983. That adds up to a total of 40 different versions of the '80s Corvette.

One seller on eBay is asking for $1,495 for one of the early models, that's still carded and looking nice. There's always the option of getting one that has been smashed up and then restoring it yourself, but it might not render the same result at the end of the day.

James Bond fans will most certainly appreciate the 2015 appearance in the Hot Wheels Entertainment series, and this model isn't all that expensive either at $20 to $50. It's interesting to note that the '80s Corvette was also showcased in the 2022 Stars and Stripes series and that it will be returning to the mainline one for 2023.

In 1987, Mattel came up with a Monster Truck-inspired casting of the Corvette, aptly named Monster Vette. This is the second least popular Corvette model introduced in the '80s. The first generation was available in stores until 1993, and Mattel tried to revive it later on in 2010. But after all these years, they've only created nine different versions of it. The most expensive ones we came across will cost around $50 give or take, while it was priced at $1 back in the day.

The last Corvette model car to be introduced by Hot Wheels in the '80s is the Custom Corvette Convertible. This drew inspiration from the C4 ZR-1 Convertible, and it's probably the best design on today's list. This casting survived for a total of 11 years, and 42 different versions of it were released in that period.

In 1990, Hot Wheels came up with the Billionth Car Collection, which was meant to celebrate a historic moment for the company. A Gold Chrome Corvette Convertible was part of that collection, and there was even a giveaway for a 1963 Corvette going on for anyone who would purchase these items. If you fancy getting a strange and rare item, we'd recommend you look into the Hot Wheels Leo models that were produced in India. We've found one on eBay for $192, but there are probably a few more out there that are looking for a new home.

At the end of the day, it seems that this second era of Hot Wheels produced a total of five castings with over 200 variations in between. That means we are now up to almost 300 different kinds of Corvettes, with 33 more years to go.