First Look: Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona, Fast & Furious Edition (plus comparisons with the Superbird and Charger)…

Happy Fast & Furious Day!

I am sure there are a few of you who have or are headed to see the latest exploits of Dom and the gang. I will admit to doing the same.  It has become a tradition for a good friend of mine and I to find time on the FF release day to see the movie and thoroughly envelop ourselves in the terrible dialogue, bad acting, and over-the-top stunts.  And we love every second of it.

It is funny that many people I know equate my excitement about FF6 to the fact that I love cars, but to be honest it couldn’t be further from the truth.  The movie is pure guilty pleasure, and the cars are the bonus.  While I am not much into modified Chargers and tuners, I can sure enjoy them.  And while most of the cars featured in the movies don’t drive the same path I might, there are always some fabulous exceptions.  For example, how great was it in the 5th movie that the filmmakers used a hakosuka as O’Connor’s daily driver while slumming it in the favellas of Rio?  Only a handful of American moviegoers would know what car that actually was, while everyone else would think it was just another Brazilian car.  And no, I never saw any ’71 Skylines when I lived in Brazil.

I have yet to see FF6, but that changes later today.  So we will see what vehicular beauties we have in store.  There are a few we know about, mainly Dom’s Charger Daytona, which replaces his ’70 Charger, which I think was destroyed in the 5th movie.  Or 4th.  I cannot remember.

Which leads us to the Hot Wheels version.  It appears the Daytona will be the only model Hot Wheels produces for the new movie, which compliments the 8-car set depicting cars from earlier FF movies.  Since we know FF7 is already in the works, let’s hope we see another FF set from Hot Wheels with other models (including the hakosuka) from previous movies, including 6.

But for now we enjoy the Daytona.  I think it is the consensus among collectors that this will be a cool model to have, but there have been some questions.  So we will try to answer them here, mainly with the photos:

1.  Is it just the Superbird casting, slightly modified?

No.  While they are essentially the same size, there are clear indications that the Daytona is NOT a modified Superbird.  The wing, pillars, rear wheels, and base all indicate this isn’t the case.

2.  Is it just the ’69 Charger casting, slightly modified?

We don’t think so.  There are some definite similarities, mainly in size and detailing, but when put side-by-side, some differences emerge.

So whether the starting point was the ’69 Charger, the Daytona is clearly a brand new casting built from scratch.  And to be honest, isn’t the real Daytona just a Charger, slightly modified?  What is wrong with Hot Wheels doing the same thing?

3.  Why not use the old Daytona tool?

The old Daytona was retired.  What happens to the mold when it retires is beyond me.  Once the decision was made to discontinue the casting, it was gone.  HW would not have anticipated getting the FF license, and in turn seeing a Daytona in number 6.  So they built another, and did a completely new take on it.  Plus it falls more in line with the Chargers that have been done recently, the ’69 and ’70.

4.  Will this be part of the exclusive 8-car FF set?  

No.  This will be a basic model only.  Maybe if they do a set next year, we will see another version.  But there isn’t really a need.  This one is detailed well for the most part.

Our take?  We like it.  I have the four colors of the FE Superbird in the collection, and the Daytona will join them.  Whether or not I collect future versions of this casting remains to be seen, but this clean FF version will suffice if I don’t…

Your take?

(Find the ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona and the rest of HW Batch M at Wheel Collectors…)

Hot Wheels ’69 Dodge Charger Daytona (2013 New Models, Fast & Furious):

With the Superbird

And with the Charger

And for good measure…