While at the Hot Wheels Convention last month, attendees, as is always the case, got a preview of what is to come. There was a lot of premium models previewed, some of which I have been showing here, but a few basic models as well.
Of all the mainline models previewed, none stood out as much as this Gulf-bearing beauty, the Porsche 917 LH. And that was easily made evident as photos of the Hot Wheels preview board at the Convention were posted. The most prevalent comment? “Wait, is that a Porsche 917?”
Why yes. Yes it is.
And it’s fantastic.
Gulf is Gulf. The color combo and racing livery works on just about anything. Hot Wheels knows this. Put it on a lukewarm model and it instantly becomes a must have. But there are several levels higher you can go. And the top level? Being the deco on a vintage racing Porsche for its debut.
What has gone slightly unnoticed among collectors talking about the “JDM Era” of Hot Wheels is the massive love affair Hot Wheels has with Porsche right now. New Porsche models are dropping all the time. This 917 LH is the second 917, which follows racing Porsches like the 978 and 962. And we have the 934. And 964. Oh and this one coming too:
Not to mention the Then & Now Duo that debuts in Batch B:
And that is just a small sliver of what is coming. JDM brings the opinions, Porsche is its own wave. Maybe it’s Magnus. Maybe it’s the fact that Porsches are awesome. Whatever it is, I love it, and yes, with all due respect to the Redline collectors and others, Hot Wheels is well entrenched in its best era yet. And all credit goes to these car nerds at the Design Center who are pushing and pushing.
It is that kind of passion that produces a model like this. Golden Age indeed.
I’m with you! The recent Porsches are welcome additions to my collection.
Man, what an awesome casting. Good luck getting one, though. Unless you’ve got the Wally’s stock boy or Malaysia on speed dial, of course.
Now That is beautiful. I will absolutely be looking for it
Looks awesome. Best way the model could hav debuted.
Large rear wheels, two piece front end…. I’m a bit underwhelmed. Not the kind of execution I was expecting after how they nailed the 962. Still, great model though.
P.S – when will we see a full showcase of the Then & Now Porsches???
I’m generally not a fan of large rear wheels, but they’re not out of place on mid-engined sports prototypes. One of my 962s is getting converted to big rears, with the goal being to have a 962C (FIA Group C) and an IMSA GTP 962.
That said, it’d be better if the ‘big’ HW wheels were only 11mm instead of 12.
It’s a really nice addition to the collection, I’m not a Gulf livery collector, but it goes very well with the casting.
And talking about the casting, it’s good to have a model like this, not only starting, but in the mainline.
I hope it’s not the only time we see it as a basic model, or like others from premium series, that came to mainline in bad themes.
I am not a total Porsche fan. But I collect them as if I were. Hot Wheels does Porsche right. The new Cabriolet and the 356 Outlaw to the Panamera. Every model in between. These could make me a hard core fan of the actual car maker….
THIS I AM DOWN WITH. but seeing the GULF livery on every car in the greenline line up and the bre livery on everything is just super lame to me. It is like when you drive down the street and some tard has the dodge fender stripes on hi mustang.
The Gulf livery does more than “go very well with” this casting, it’s a 100% authentic livery for the real thing:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qeUE91iczwg/UWHi0QI_drI/AAAAAAAAAn0/om5F0VZX-1g/s1600/FLYPorsche917_1to1.jpg
This continues the recent onslaught of new Porsche castings, and I’m most certainly excited for it. I’d be perfectly content if Hot Wheels (and Matchbox) kept right on going till they tear clear through the entire Porsche back-catalog. With all these superb older Porsches showing up, I think it’s high time Hot Wheels took a whack at one of these:
https://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop/201507/1964-porsche-904-carrera-_800x0w.jpg
It’s the THIRD 917. Don’t forget the retool of the original 917 casting, used in Hot Ones in 2011/2012.
Metal/metal with a flip open engine cover. However we haven’t seen it since…
It is the 4th if you count the 100% HW version that debuted in the Porsche set.
Sure hope they don’t ditch Mattel for May Cheong at some point.
*knock on wood*
Never before has $0.99 bought so much awesomeness of anything, ever.
This is a fine representation of one of the most badass cars to ever spin a tire on a track in any motorsport. The only change I would make is the area below the headlights should’ve been cast into the body. Minor stuff, I know. Otherwise, this is definitely heading for my collection.
I’ve always been a redline collector, but comparing the new and the old is like comparing 2 entirely different types of music. But a great new era, indeed!
Ferrari who??? Lol…
I love it! Keep the Porsches coming! The iconic Gulf livery is the perfect look for this model. I sure would like to see more classic racing livery inspired deco on these models than some of the home grown stuff Hot Wheels comes up with.