Cars meant for spirited driving are considered as toys for the big boys. Tiny, miniature cars are toys for young boys, this might surprise you but they’re also toys for the young at heart or the not so young at other body parts. Take this with a grain of salt, some toy cars are worth way more than real, brand new cars right off the dealership parking lot. Rare, collectible toys have been known to reach unimaginable prices in auctions and other modes of trading. Some of these toys are worth millions of dollars and can get a tad bit crazy for other people’s liking. The amount of detail that artists have worked into these little pieces of metal (and other materials) is simply astonishing and breathtaking.

Toy cars offer a different perspective in understanding automobiles. A lot of these miniature models might not be true to scale but quite a few are actually exact replicas of the real thing. You can count on the creativeness of mankind to be surprising as some of the entries listed here are no less than insane. The little cars we considered are not all Hot Wheels and Matchboxes, contrary to what some people might have previously thought. A few of these examples can actually be enjoyed instead of just gathering dust in a safe somewhere which is pretty awesome if you had the guts to risk breaking them. Read on and we’re sure a thing or two will certainly surprise you.

22  Matchbox 1967 Magirus Deutz Crane (No.30)

Via Pinterest

A few extremely lucky people had the chance to buy a Magirus Deutz Crane in a random garage sale and paid a nonchalant 10 bucks for it back in the 80s. Fast forward a couple decades and the value of those toy cars have skyrocketed through the roof. Pristine examples can even reach more than $15,000 with the original box. As far as we’re concerned, getting a thousand percent return on a toy car is excellent, but this is just a dream come true.

21 Beatnik Hot Pink Bandit Hot Wheels

Via Hotwheels wikia-Fandom

Getting little girls into toy cars was quite a difficult task for the Hot Wheels designers, too difficult apparently. They offered the Beatnik Bandit in hot pink so as to attract the opposite sex but it didn’t go quite as planned since the attempt was frankly a failure.

The hot pink Bandit was phased out shortly after its release.

Miniature cars made out of fiberglass were unheard of before Hot Wheels made them, a see-through plexiglass bubble sits at the top of the toy as well.

20 Ferrari 250 GTO

Via Pinshape

The real Ferrari 250 GTO costs a gigantic fortune and only big hitters such as Ralph Lauren and Jay Leno have the audacity to purchase these absolute gems. However, the 1:8 scale is nothing to scoff at and its beauty and the craftsmanship behind the whole scale model is phenomenal at worst, perfect at best. Amalgam made the mini Ferrari and they also make other miniature notable cars. Too bad the driving experience on the toy car can’t be as astounding as the real thing.

19 Dinky Pre-War No.22D Delivery Van “W.E. Boyce”

Via Planet Digest

Toys manufactured before the Second World War are still shooting up in value for their rarity and the sheer historic metaphor they carry.

Dinky toys started out their lives way back in 1934 to delve into the toy car industry as they saw many other toy companies sharing such prosperity.

The type 22D is the most expensive die-cast vehicle sold today; coincidentally, they toy car costs about 22 thousand Euros. There must be at least one more Dinky Delivery Van out there in a barn somewhere.

18 Tomica Z432 Datsun Platinum

Via Diecast-Zone

You can credit Japan for being creative; especially in their recreation methods (tip our hats to Manga). Platinum is used for a huge number of reasons but to make a toy? Of all things made out of platinum, this is probably among the coolest. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Tomica made an all-platinum model of a Z432 “Fairlady”. The car is legendary on its own due to its history in high-performance vehicles which is exactly why they chose the Fairlady as the candidate.

17 Volkswagen Beach Bomb

Via Redline Trading Company

It may not look like much but this Hot Wheels prototype is worth about 125,000 Euros in the market.

The beach bomb is larger than most of the Hot Wheels models which makes this expensive toy incredibly rare.

People might throw around the word “rare” a lot these days; still, the surfboards hanging out the back of the van is again, a rare feature. Prototypes are astonishingly collectible as they offer an exclusive peek inside what could have been rolling out of the factory floor.

16 40th Anniversary Hot Wheels

Via Pinterest

The whole thing is made out of diamonds and other precious materials, of course, it’s expensive. Hot Wheels commemorated their 40th year anniversary with a 140,000 Euro model. A celebrity jeweler apparently designed the car about a decade ago and it contains 1,388 blue diamonds, 988 black diamonds, 319 white diamonds, and 8 rubies all held on together by an 18-carat white gold body. It’s among the most expensive toys ever made and Hot Wheels is proud of its creation.

15 Lamborghini Aventador

Via mrcollection.com

Being flamboyant as ever, Lamborghini is known far and wide for building crazy cars worthy of attention from even the most avid car collector.

They made a 1:8 scale of their V12 Aventador and the scale model is made out of carbon fiber, it’s an exact replica both inside and out.

Even the little buttons and switches in the interior are all accurate to the real thing. Maybe spending 6 million Euros on a toy car might not be the best financial move to follow through, just saying.

14 Lamborghini Aventador Gold

Via Arabian Business

You can buy 10 real, full-sized, functioning Lamborghini Aventadors and it still wouldn’t cost as much as a gold 1:8 scale Aventador. This is very much similar to the previous entry on this list but gold is the ultimate statement on a costly toy car like this, this finishes the personality of the scale model pretty well. You can even see the mesh on the body panels, incredibly accurate detail for anybody’s standards. It would have been cool though if the toy car could run from a remote control.

13 Matchbox Quarry Truck

Via Vectis Auctions

By the time that small 2-inch matchbox cars were gaining insane amounts of popularity all around, the talks and ideas about larger scales were put to rest as the company didn’t think it would take off as well as the matchboxes that were selling like pancakes.

This Quarry Truck was only a souvenir in one of the offices of a Matchbox executive and was kept there for quite a long time.

This is the only model that can be directly attributed to legendary Matchbox designer, Ken Wetton.

12 Junior Hummer Off-roader

Via Youtube

Hummers have a certain road presence unmatched by any other car, they demand attention from anyone in close proximity and shouts “Get out of the way, I’m a Hummer!”. Fortunately, your 5-year-olds can get a taste of the real thing with the Junior Hummer. It runs on gasoline and has a fairly capable suspension that can weather out the difficult terrain. Forget your battery powered little cars, just get this imposing little mini Off-roader instead; granting you can spare about $30,000 for a child’s toy.

11 1968 “Cheetah” Base Python

Via Pinterest

The Cheetah Base Python gets its namesake from a patent pending base in Hong Kong. Only a few of these were ever made because of a potential copyright infringement with GM Executive Bill Thomas’ “Cobra Killer.”

They were only made in red and some examples have been sold online for a lot more than $10,000.

This is by no means the most expensive toy car ever sold but $10,000 is a cool price for a toy no bigger than a modern car key remote.

10 1974  Rodger Dodger

Via Hotwheels wikia-Fandom

Larry Wood is a beloved Hot Wheels designer who has created a lot, and we mean A LOT of models for the company. Some of his designs have escalated in value so much that a couple is worth a small fortune from past sales. There are only 7 Blue Rodger Dodgers in the world and it seems they were only sold in the UK market, quite unfortunate for our friends here at home. Someone traded with Rodger Dodgers and ended up selling them to collectors based in the United States.

9 1970 “Mad Maverick” Base Mighty Maverick

Via The Nautiloid Network

Once again, a rare Hot Wheels has appreciated thousands of dollars. Epic stories about these little things also add to their value such as how it was made or who designed the toy or even how the company’s executives ended up deciding to produce that certain model.

The Ford Maverick was released in 1969 and a year after, Hot Wheels made a replica of the beloved muscle car.

Only five of these were ever made and it’s definitely safe to say that if you were able to come across one, consider yourself very fortunate.

8 1970 Ed Shaver Custom AMX

Via AZcentral

The Ed Shaver Custom AMX was actually released a year prior to the Mad Maverick. Its interior is white and most Custom AMX models came with silver bearing redline wheels; however, later models were equipped with chrome capped wheels which suit the mini automobile quite well.

Some models went for about $4,000 according to previous sales and some predict that they will continue to rise in value indefinitely. So long as collectors deem the Custom AMX a collectible, these things will be valuable even in the unforeseeable future.

7 1995 Collector Number 271 Funny Car

Via HotWheels wikia-Fandom

This is the rarest and most valuable Hot Wheels car made in the 90’s, it was released in 1995 and there are only 12 units in the whole wide world.

If by chance, you do have a 271 Funny Car and want to sell it for quite a pretty penny, you’d have to have the original packaging or else its value goes down the drain.

Be wary of any 271 Funny Car though since many have been replicating the original packaging, the nerve of some people is absolutely disgusting.

6 Hot Wheels Ecto-1A

Via Youtube

Ghostbusters will forever go down as one of the best sci-fi horror movies to ever be released in Hollywood, that’s a fact. The film is still watched across the globe when somebody wants to get nostalgic. This is why the Ecto-1A is growing in value, many people have a sentimental connection to the film and it transcends into the toy car. It’s a modified hearse in real life, what can you expect? Let’s just not talk about the flopped remake of the Ghostbusters, such a shame.

5 Custom Camaro

Via Pinterest

This white enamel custom Camaro was the first Hot Wheels model to be sold to the public. What a fitting car to start off such an amazing and long history with miniature replicas of automobiles.

One can argue that the model isn’t customized but look closely and you will see the exhaust pipes sticking out from under the door and behind the front wheels.

Now, you might think about why the first-ever Hot Wheels was colored plain white. It’s because imperfections were more easily found if the body panels were white or black.

4 Red Baron

Via Hotwheels wikia- Fandom

Yes, that is indeed a German World War I helmet. Unapprehended by most, the Red Baron is actually designed and named after Manfred von Richthofen and the body looks like a fighter plane from his era. The Iron Cross motif on its radiator just sings early 1900s at first sight and immediately strikes you with a sort of like an antagonist vibe. Quite literally, the Red Baron is a First World War German plane made into a miniature hot rod. It’d be awesome though if Hot Wheels produced a similarly themed American toy car.

3 Purple Olds 442

Via Pinterest

Any classic American muscle looking Hot Wheels is a hit among ardent collectors and the Purple Olds 442 is one such example. It’s the rarest casting from 1968 to 1977 (Redline era), people still buy even poor, dilapidated examples from more than a couple thousand bucks.

Larry Wood strikes again with yet another amazing looking toy car.

He does have a knack for designing great hits. One can actually open the hood of the car and see a detailed engine bay with an intricately made motor inside.