Candid Conversation: HW Special Features
Special features are pretty rare on Hot Wheels nowadays; they’re now mainly reserved for anything in the Experimotors series, and that’s a shame. But a few years ago... that was a completely different story. Today, I’m going to go through as many special features there are on Hot Wheels cars as possible. I may have missed some.
Opening hoods
This was a bit of a no-brainer. The Hare Splitter acting as the header image kind of gave it away. Opening hoods have been with the Hot Wheels lineup since 1968.
Examples '67 Camaro (1982 — Present, removed in 2017) ‘69 Dodge Charger (2004 — Present, removed in 2010) Classic Cobra (1982 — Present, removed in 2020) ‘80s Corvette (1983 — 2016, removed in 1996) Countless others
Hidden headlamps
Something not a lot of people know is that there was a Hot Wheels car with hidden headlamps. I have handled one of these before, courtesy of a friend.
Examples Peeping Bomb (1970 — 1973, Redline)
Sliding doors
And now we get some ridiculous features such as side-sliding doors. Two Hot Wheels cars have had this feature, and both were activated through pulling something on the rear.
Examples Side Kick (1972, 1998 — 2012) Slide Kick (2019 — Present)
Opening rear hatches
These have also been a staple of the Hot Wheels lineup. The first car with one of these rear opening hatches came out in 1969 I believe; the Chaparral 2G.
Examples Chaparral 2G (1969 only) Porsche 917 (1971 — 2011) Ferrari 512M (2006 — 2013) Ferrari F40 (1988 — 2014, removed in 2014)
Opening doors
This feature was fairly standard from the mid-’80s until the early ‘90s; it is now very uncommon for castings to have opening doors.
Examples Nissan Custom “Z” (1990 — 1997) Nissan 300ZX (1984 — 1996) Blazer 4×4 (1984 — 1996) Split Decision (2006
Opening tonneau covers
I’m pretty sure only one casting has this feature.
Examples Dodge Ram 1500 (2007 — Present, removed in 2017)
Flip-out wheelie bars
These are often made of either hard plastic or a flexible plastic. Most of these have been removed.
Examples Nitro Doorslammer (2007 — 2011, removed in 2012) ‘49 Drag Merc (2010 — 2015) ‘41 Willys (2000 — 2014) Torpedoes Willys Coupe (2006 only)
Tip-up bodies
Found mainly on funny cars. Some may flip open in other directions, like Lakester.
Examples ‘97 Firebird Funny Car (1997 — 2014) Probe Funny Car (1990 — 2004) ‘04 Mustang Funny Car (2004 — 2011, retooled into ‘10 Mustang Funny Car) ‘71 Mustang Funny Car (2004 — Present, removed in 2019)
Detachable bodies
These are usually attached through tabs through the front and back. These castings don’t appear too often, and most castings with this feature have since had their bodies nailed down.
Examples Mini Cooper (2000 — Present, removed in 2015) Hyperliner (2002 — 2013, removed in 2014) Volkswagen New Beetle Cup (2002 — 2016, removed in 2009) Scion xB (2006 — 2016, feature still on Color Shifters car)
Suspension
What may be surprising to some is that suspension for Hot Wheels cars has been around for a long time. Since 1968, in fact.
Examples Most Redlines from 1968 — 1977 ‘70 Dodge Charger (2017 — Present) Dune-A-Saur (2018 — Present) Hyper Rocker (2019 — Present)
Adjustable suspension
This one though... only came recently.
Examples 1969 Chevy C10 (2019 — Present)
Opening trunks
Another highly uncommon feature. Opening rear doors will also be included in this section.
Examples ‘55 Chevy Panel (2006 — Present, removed in 2016) Armored Truck (1996 — Present, removed in 2013) Ambulance (1989 — 2003)
Functioning tow hooks
Another thing to increase playability for kids, too. These usually work pretty well. There are two types I can think of: the “rivet” type (hooks onto the rivet) and the “fender” type (hooks onto the bottom of the fender).
Examples Tow Jam (1998 — 2012) Repo Duty (2013 — Present) Heavy Hitcher (2019 — Present)
Pivoting/rotating parts
Especially common on fire trucks. May be found on certain construction vehicles
Examples Flame Stopper (1988 — 2010, pivoting and rotating hose) 5 Alarm (2009 — Present, pivoting ladder) Volkswagen Drag Truck (2004 — 2015, flip-up panel) CAT Wheel Loader (1980 — 2014, operating bucket, removed in 2010)
Other spinning parts
These can range from propellers to cement drums and other things.
Examples Dogfighter (1996 — 2007, propeller) Oshkosh Cement Mixer (1992 — 2002, spinning cement drum) Fathom This (1998 — 2007, turbines)
Spinning fans
As far as I know there are only three castings with this feature. This feature has generally not been very common.
Examples Whip Creamer (1971 only) Whip Creamer II (2003 — 2011) Mega Thrust (2006 — Present)
Opening canopies
There are a number with this feature, though this feature has generally been somewhat uncommon.
Examples Road Rocket (1996 — 2015, removed in 2015) Power Rocket (1995 — Present, removed in 2015) Preying Menace (2006 — 2015, removed in 2015) Sky Dome (2017 — Present)
Removable roofs
Fairly common around the ‘70s and ‘80s but slowly fell in popularity soon after.
Examples ‘31 Doozie (1977 — 2003) Mercedes-Benz 540K (1982 — 1999)
Twisting bodies
As far as I’m aware, there’s only one casting with this feature. Later toolings have this feature removed.
Examples XS-IVE (2001 — 2009, removed in 2010)
Functioning ramps
These ramps often slide around and can be pretty easy to lose since they are snapped on.
Examples Cabbin’ Fever (2000 — 2012) Back Slider (2010 — 2014) Fast-Bed Hauler (2014 — Present) The Embosser (2017 — Present)
Adjustable splitters
These only came about rather recently to combat some issues that came about around 2014 or ‘15 when it came to realistic castings being made with front splitters that curved upwards to allow them to clear loops. This was rectivied starting from 2016. The splitter could be set downwards for a more realistic look or upwards to clear loops.
Examples 2005 Ford Mustang (2016 — Present) El Viento (2017 — Present) Track Ripper (2018 — Present) Gruppo x24 (2019 — Present)
Tipping beds
Currently somewhat uncommon.
Examples Ford Stake Bed Truck (1983 — 2001) Ford Dump Truck (1983, 2010) Peterbilt Dump Truck (1983 — 2003) Dumpin’ A (1979 — 2012)
Folding wings
Now this is where things start to get ridiculous.
Examples Jet Threat 4.0 (2007 — 2016)
Functioning clip
Yes, Hot Wheels cars do have some use too.
Examples Fast Cash (2011 — Present) Clip Rod (2020 — Present)
Multi-tool
Some of these may function as multi-tools, but I have not tested out the wrench function. I will also need to find a Speed Driver so I can confirm stuff.
Examples Tooligan (2010 — Present) Speed Driver (2020 — Present)
Extending body
I’m pretty sure only one casting has this feature.
Examples Spector (2007 — 2018, removed in 2015)
Stamping
Again, it’s likely that only one casting has this feature.
Examples The Embosser (2017 — Present)
Rolamatic
These castings have something that moves as it rolls. The concept has been around for a long time but Hot Wheels only adopted it fairly recently.
Examples Crate Racer (2016 — Present, engine shakes) Shark Bite (2016 — Present, mouth moves) Gotta Go (2017 — Present, toilet cover moves) Rockin’ Santa Sled (2020 — Present, rider bobs up and down)
LEGO-compatible
More shameless product placement is good... right? (other brands of interlocking building blocks are available and should also be compatible)
Examples Fig Rig (2013 — Present) Let’s GO (2015 — Present) Bogzilla (2018 — Present) Pixel Shaker (2020 — Present)
Rolling upside down
Okay, this was probably unintentional on Hot Wheels’ part.
Examples Nitro Scorcher (2007 — 2014)
...bottle opener?
Okay, I’m done. Nothing will ever top this.
Examples Carbonator (2008 — Present)
- Grunty