The Hot Wheels Legends Tour is one of the world’s biggest traveling car shows that attracts new talents in automobile engineering and design. The tour also awards the best with die-cast immortalization. The Hot Wheels Legends Tour started in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brand. This tour includes several stopovers in different states of the USA, and for this year, the show will be live-streamed to other countries. At each stop, the show judges carefully examine custom-built cars by local builders and mark them based on three factors, such as authenticity, originality, and garage spirit.

Being one of the biggest galas for automobiles enthusiasts, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour is something a true fanatic might not want to miss, here’s why.

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Hot Wheels Legends Tour: The Way

Hot Wheels Legends Tour
Via Google/ CNET

In terms of authenticity, the show seeks those cars with marvelous designing features and outstanding performance qualities. Originality is the second most important factor; Hot Wheels has been making model cars for more than 50 years, so the entry car should be of unique features that stand out from the rest. And finally, only the custom-built cars are allowed to make an entry that matches Hot Wheels’ spirit of building. Selected cars from each state then compete in a final round, and one most exclusive design is crowned with the ‘Hot Wheels Legends Award.’ This award includes a 1:64-scale die-cast toy replica of the winning car that will be circulated worldwide for selling.

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The 2018 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

Custom 2 Jetz
Via Google/ Carscoops

The show was a hit in its debut edition in 2018. It attracted almost 3,600 cars and 65,000 fans from all over the country. That year the show was held at Walmart car parking of 15 locations around the USA. The motto of that tour and every tour after that is to find out the most influential and legendary automobile design. A feat that was achieved by Hot Wheels itself when they launched ‘Sweet 16’ die-cast cars in 1968.

Fifteen winners from states were selected for the finals. Most of the vehicles are classic era modified cars, with some custom-built fresh ideas. The finalists of the 2018 tour were the 1949 Ford F-5 Rat Rod, 1938 Dodge Superior Bus, 1954 Ford 2-Ton Tow Truck, 1963 Rambler American Wagon, Custom 2 Jetz, Custom 'Surf N Rod', 1987 Porsche 944, 1994 Chevrolet Geo Tracker 'Never Enough,' 1973 Datsun 240Z, 1947 Chevy Crosley Sedan 'The Blue Goose,' 1989 Datsun 1200, Medieval One, 1966 Chevy Pickup, 1936 Ford Pickup 'Cab Over Evolve', and the 1938 Graham.

The winner of the 2018 Hot Wheels Legends Tour was the ‘Custom 2 Jetz’. The 2 Jetz was entirely hand-built by Luis Rodriguez. The car was powered by a Toyota Supra fully race-built 2JZ-GTE motor with Custom Subaru Sti 6 speed converted into a transaxle Transmission. The airplane-like body design featured custom 4130 chrome moly tubular frame chassis, and custom molded 6061 aluminum skin on a quilted frame.

The 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

1957 Nash Metropolitan-’Nashole’
Via Google/ Carscoops

The Hot Wheels Legends Tour drew over 90,000 people and 5,000 unique vehicles from across the United States, Mexico, and Germany in 2019. At the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Mattel announced the winner of the second annual Hot Wheels Legends Tour.

The Nash Metropolitan custom vehicle, created by best friends Greg Salzillo and Dave Ford, was released as a 1:64 scale die-cast toy as part of the Hot Wheels mainstream collection. The Nash built by Salzillo and Ford was chosen among almost 5,000 custom vehicles that competed in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, which toured 20 cities throughout Europe and North America that year.

The Nash was a small block Chevy 305 with a 40-horsepower engine that first came off the production line in 1957. Salzillo and Dave customized this automobile with a 300-horsepower engine and headers sticking out of the fenders. The automobile has original bias-ply tires and old-school stock steel wheels mounted outside the car body. The custom-built car was named 1957 Nash Metropolitan - ’Nashole.’

The 2020 Virtual Hot Wheels Legends Tour

1970 Pontiac Trans AM
Via Google/ Motorious

The 2020 tour went off the streets because of the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was not canceled. Instead, the whole tour was moved to an online format, with each contender recording a video displaying their car and the judges selecting a finalist via a Facebook broadcast. The pandemic also decreased the number of finalists from 18 to 13. Fans picked one of the finalists through an Instagram vote.

The winner of 2020 Hot Wheels Legends Tours was the 1970 Pontiac Trans Am. The Pontiac Firebird was a pony car produced by Pontiac from 1967 and 2002. The automobile was meant to compete against the Ford Mustang and was linked to the Chevrolet Camaro. Riley Stair, Brendon Vetuskey, and Manson Cheung refurbished that car with a 1000 HP engine.

The 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour is going on now, and this year the tour is a combination of physical and virtual events. The tour is on the move on streets in states of the USA, whereas fans and designers of countries like New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and more, will join this event through Livestream. The Ryu Asada Prize is a new award for this year, given for ‘excellence in design and storytelling’ at each stop on the Legends Tour; it was developed in memory of Asada, who died in March 2021. The trophy has a Mighty K on it, which was the final design he saw finished.