Remember these cars?
Not the RLC cars. Many of you remember them, and appear to be in a serious pursuit of many previous releases. Not the Neo-Classics, or the Neo wheels in general. They show up enough.
No, we wonder if you remember cars from the 50’s. For you young tikes, you might be surprised that they actually had cars back then. And yeah, while we have soft spots for the cars of the 70’s and (gulp) the 80’s, JDM, Trans Am, and Muscle alike, it is nice to be reminded of the vehicular beauty of the 50’s.
We can all wax nostalgic, and discuss our favorite cars. The boxiness of the Hakosuka, the long hood of the 240Z, the stance of the 429. Those cars were loved back in the day, and have become works of art in present. But the cars from the 50’s, with their elaborate grills, unrelenting obsession with chrome, and those wings (oh, those wings), were works of art the second they left the assembly line.
And we need to be reminded of that occasionally. And in the last few years, Hot Wheels has given us two fantastic examples, from opposite sides of the spectrum – the ’55 Chevy Gasser, and the elegant ’58 Plymouth Belvedere. The Gasser will have its moment as an RLC car soon, but the Belvedere gets its moment now, and it is a beauty.
Sure the package is nice, but this is a model that needs to be opened. Let it play in the light, with that fantastic chromy color. Taking pics was a joy. This model is a gem, through and through.
(It is sold out on HWC, so eBay is the answer if you want one. Good luck.)
Hot Wheels ’58 Plymouth Belvedere (2015 RLC Neo-Classics):
That loose side shot is perfect, shows the subtle rake the car was given with the larger rear wheels. This was one of my most anticipated releases in HWC this year.
What is really cool is that when RLC members were first shown glimpses of the artwork, talk started about the stance the car would have. Some members wondered if a larger wheel than what would be on the front would fit the rear, and HWC Van looked into it, and told us it would work. This was also brought up for the Dodge 330, and that will also be done up slightly different than what I think was initially planned (wide rear wheels).
The perks of being RLC. Or at least the former perks… It seems Mattel basically forced Van to not converse with us anymore, which is a real shame.