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| Find the HW Honda Odyssey at Wheel Collectors… |
Who would have thunk?
Hot Wheels is on a roll. Actually on several rolls. JDM of course, and that sweet Car Culture series, even that Sto & Go at Target. Oh, and BMW’s. And a lot of other stuff too. But how about those vans?
Vans have always been cool. Well, I take that back. Van should have always been cool. Minivans really REALLY tried to make vans uncool, until some creative folks even figured out how to make those cool.
Let’s start with how uncool minivans can be. Van used to be shaggadelic, full of awesome accessories and amazing murals painted on the side. They did everything. You could live in them. Down by the river. But then they got mini. And not like Austin Mini Vans, because those were supercool. They got boring. They created a new term, “soccer mom”. Families ditched the wagons (also always cool) and got the minivans. Grocery getters are cool, soccer haulers are not.
After a bit of time some carmakers figured they could focus a little more on looks and still add all the function of the minivan, which is undeniably great. Some minivans got a little cooler. Some standouts emerged.
There are some nice minivans out there, but Honda definitely makes the coolest. It definitely isn’t a head-turner in some cases, but it is by far the best looking. The newest Odysseys have a great silhouette, and an even better front end and grill, and we are seeing similar looks from other carmakers. It is that style that has finally caught folk’s attention, and now we see some eye-popping vehicles like those from @vankulture and @bisimoto.
And those cool cars begat this, the brand new Hot Wheels Honda Odyssey:
It isn’t the first Hot Wheels minivan. That title goes to the Dodge Caravan – I think. But on the surface this is a surprising choice. Dig a little deeper and it most definitely is not. First off, this is another Jun Imai design, and if you follow him on his IG feed he owns one of these. Jun owning a certain car greatly ups its chances of being replicated as a Hot Wheels car, as we have learned over the last few years. And that is a good thing, considering the Datsun Wagon and Kaido Z are among collector’s faves the last few years.
Besides that, these vans definitely have a scene all to themselves. Jun highlights that with the look of this one. He explained a lot of that to Japanese Nostalgic Car readers, including its fantastic homage to the Honda City Turbo, so we will not rehash it all here.
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| Photo credit: Japanese Nostalgic Car, Honda |
But isn’t that awesome!?! Sure, the Matchbox collector in me would love to see one more stock looking, but if you are going with a Hot Wheels-esque deco theme, why not this tribute?
Of course, if you like stock, Jun provided a glimpse of that with this one-off he did for Bisimoto:
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Maybe we a similar looking stock deco soon. We have time.
Anyway, how about those vans? And from Hot Wheels nonetheless.
My favorite Super TH last year was a van:
And my favorite Hot Wheels model last year was also a van:
And this Odyssey stacks up nicely with both of them. I have all but crowned the BMW 3.0 CLS as my champ this year, but this Odyssey is a ton closer than I thought it would:
Honda is been getting some great play as well at Hot Wheels, whether Honda or Acura, and mostly from Ryu Asada. But it is Ryu’s creation from his time at Matchbox that comes more to mind when looking at the Odyssey. Odyssey – Ridgeline, Ridgeline – Odyssey.
So Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. I’m a van…er…fan.
(Find the HW Honda Odyssey at Wheel Collectors…)
Very, very nice minivan! Although I prefer a normal variant, this race version is ver funny.
Oh Chris Farley, how you are oh so missed.
Odyssey is a seven seaters MPV not a VAN. Why ppl called it van ???
can you say peg warmer……
Actually Hot Wheels' first minivan was the Ford Aerostar (I think)
Because it IS a van. The first generation Odyssey was an MPV. Honda opted to make the Gen 2 Odyssey into a van to boost sales.
Does it have a metal base? Just wondered why you pictured the underside.
You finally posted a pic of the undercarriage and or this I thank you!
I could be wrong but I think it could be because I've ask him to picture the base on several occasions and I he listen to his reader when they comment. Which is really cool!
Chevrolet Lumina 1990 base
Chevrolet Lumina 1990 base
you'd say that because you don't understand the appeal of japanese cars
I'm sorry, but to me vans (most of the time) are just not cool. But I must say, this one impressed me a lot more than I thought it would. I thought this was gonna look goofy like most racing vans do, but they proved me wrong. It almost makes me want to actually cop one, and I aint too proud to admit it. Well done.
I will say it's OK. It isn't great, and it isn't horrible. The windows make it look like a bloodbath has occured in the interior.
With the exception of the old Super Van and the Ford Transit Supervan, I hate HW vans. This would have been a better choice for Matchbox to do.
Why do you say you hate HW vans?
It is such a great one from Jun. The only thing that bothers me is the unbalanced tempo on the both sides of it.
No Baja Breaker love?
Mentioned above, the Ford Aerostar technically beats it.