The first batch of Car Culture for 2019 is here. Gulf has arrived, and it is available now at Wheel Collectors at this link:
Hot Wheels Car Culture Gulf at Wheel Collectors
I will talk more about this set when I feature it shortly, but it is an excellent mix of models. Muscle, Euro, JDM, and Supercar, all in Gulf Livery. I cannot wait to dig into these.
The only one of any interest is the McLaren as it is a take on the real LeMans version.They could have really nailed it by using the car numbers that were on the real car.
Looks like it’s time to start hitting Walmart aggressively. The Golf seems a silly casting choice for this theme. I’m guessing the McLaren and Mustang will be the ones to disappear first.
Of course I say that, and then check out the Wheel Collectors listing and the Golf is the only one that isn’t on there…? I would’ve predicted that to be the peg-warmer.
I hope there will be a Laurel version with normal wheels. Those tiny ones are not great.
Some really cool castings (Fiat, Laurel, 500, Mach 1), but the Gulf livery seems random. Why would a Golf or Laurel have Gulf? Just because its the thing this year (as everyone seems to be doing Gulf)? Seems like a waste of a premium release. As for the McLaren the back wheels look too big. The Kyosho 1/64 ones look better.
First major bump in the road for the Car Culture series in my opinion. These look more like a 2017 release.
Gulf colors on the Aston Martin GT3 and Porsche GT3 like the real cars of the past and now
The McLaren is the only one that’ll come home with me. The rest are too random choices for Gulf. I do want the Mustang and Laurel but I’m not sure they look that good in this livery. And the orange wheels on the Laurel are hideous.
I was excited to see a Gulf theme in the Car Culture line, that was until I saw the choice of cars. The only one I would consider is the McLaren and even then it should have been the light blue.
While I’m usually all for cars with Gulf liveries on them, the choices for this set are rather strange. While the Mustang and the especially the F1 GTR make some sense (even if the F1 is more of a homage, rather than a replica), why the Golf GTi? The 500D? The Laurel 2000 SGX? They’re great castings, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t exactly scream Gulf. Why not bring back the Porsche 917 Kurzheck (short tail), throw in a Ford MKI GT40, or a McLaren-Chevrolet M8A? Maybe retool the Aston-Martin GT3 and make that into a Gulf-liveried car? This is the first time since I’ve started collecting Car Culture where I won’t actively search for every car in a set. I’ll just pick up the McLaren and maybe the Mustang and call it a day.
TL;DR Missed opportunity with this set. Not a big fan.