With the new site platform, I feel I can now do features like this again. I feel best when Lamley is a mix of news and features, but on the old site posts like this could bury news that not everyone had yet seen.
Now, because so much content stays on the front page, I can feature some of those random faves that I have always had on my to do list. Some of the long-forgottens.
The Hot Wheels 1964 Chevy Impala is one of those. We haven’t seen the casting much the last few years, and it is definitely a relic from another era at Hot Wheels. If we are in the JDM/Euro era now, and that followed the Muscle era, then I would consider the time before that the Classic/Low Rider era. Hot Wheels was doing a ton of 50’s/60’s era boats, and they were slamming them. Better, they were lowering them.
I have no idea when one element of the car culture veers into another, but Hot Wheels might be the great indicator. I am sure there will be a time when the Low Riders take over our IG accounts more than Skylines, but for now we can enjoy the Hot Wheels replicas from 10-15 years ago.
And one of my favorites is this ultra-clean ’64 Impala from the 2006 Dropstars series. Maybe we call the mid-’00’s the Dub era, and Dropstars wheels were a big deal. Hot Wheels dedicated a basic series to Dropstars, the most famous of which is the R32 Skyline. But there were other models, none better than the Impala.
It was released in two colors, but my favorite was the understated two-tone grey and black version, which sits on lace wheels. Grey on the sides, black on the hood, roof, and truck, and a Dropstars logo. And that’s it. Clean….and low.
As I look at my Hot Wheels collection, I always hope to find representations of all kinds of car culture. I find myself moving away from focusing on being a completist to more focused on variety. It makes me smile seeing this Impala sitting next to a Porsche 964 and a Mazda RX-7. Cool cars are just cool cars.
(Find the 2006 Hot Wheels Dropstars on eBay)
Love it! Imagine a lowriders car culture set with the Gipsy Rose?
Such a beautiful model. No large rear wheels… no crazy flames or stripes… just plain simple and perfect.
Awesome 1964 Chevy impala you reviewed congrats thumbs up. I have this one in my hotwheels collection thumbs up.
It is very nice when they keep it simple…I don’t have this one, but I have a couple other decos of this casting…I know it probably wasn’t one of the more popular releases, but the hot pink release from Cool Classics is one of the ones I have. It’s probably the polar opposite of this one in terms of deco, but I like the audacity of it. Wish I had more examples.
Nice, but I prefer the black/orange recolor version. This was the best-looking variation of this casting until the blue and red of the 2010 version appeared with realistic trim and rear lighting detailing.
The lace wheels still look more like BBS rims to me