Model: Hot Wheels Oldsmobile Aurora
Line: Demolition Man
eBay Link: Hot Wheels Oldsmobile Aurora
Why I am featuring it: The year was 1994 and I was a 10-year-old car kid waiting for the school bus. My neighborhood gang all congregated at a central stop and one of the parents was a higher-up at a car dealership, meaning a constant carousel of new demos.
There, in the corner of the apartment building parking lot, was a car I’d never seen before. It had no discernible badging other than, to my elementary eyes, a stylized squiggle, which as I would soon learn was an A.
For Aurora.
The Oldsmobile Aurora was introduced in 1994 as a 1995 model, replacing the Toronado and ultimately the Ninety-Eight as well. The first generation was developed as a sports sedan, featuring a 4-cam 32V V8 paired exclusively to a 4-speed automatic transmission. The flowing exterior lacked any distinguishable grill between the headlights, with matching oval fog lamps flanking the lower fascia. An elegant mix of an MX-6 and a Model S, if you will.
As a Hot Wheels, the car you see here was introduced in 1993 as part of the Demolition Man series. While the [miniature] designer is unknown, its second coming in metallic green is what I remember from my childhood. It may seem trivial now, but I had a small stocking on our Christmas tree where Santa would leave a diecast car of his choosing. I distinctly remember receiving the green Aurora and still have that very car, very much loved to the brink of extinction, somewhere in a tote in my garage. I also have a carded one lost away in another tote.
This silver over tan is a more realistic color combination. That green didn’t match any of the factory offerings (if only), but was a great color to show off the detail of the casting. It was sold in a plastic “Cryo Cube” similar to those in the Park ’n Plate series, just with an image of the car in place of a license plate.
The taillights, arguably the most striking part of the car, are formed from the base, and as such don’t quite fill the void in the casting. Imagine this as an Auto World? Oh man, sign me up.
One really unusual thing is found on the base…the inclusion of rear differential for a FWD car. Maybe it was converted for the movie? I haven’t seen it so I can’t say be certain.
I could handily fill an entire pamphlet praising a car I’ve never driven based on looks alone. The first-generation Oldsmobile Aurora is one of the most recognizable cars from the mid-late 90s and I wouldn’t mind owning a 1:1 version. For now, I’ll happily settle for the smaller scale.
Then you see the racing version that won the Rolex 24. Yeah, I know. Amazing, isn’t it?
Good point. They were really ambitious with the car and it proved exceptionally competitive.
For what it’s worth, the IMSA Aurora GTS race cars were basically a Pratt and Miller IMSA Camaros with two plugs and a different rear window. One plug fits at the top of the rear window and another fits at the bottom. Those allow the use of a more steeply raked rear window to make it less obvious that it’s a Camaro or Firebird playing dress up.
Of course, the IMSA Camaros weren’t actually Camaros either, but that’s beside the point.
I have the police version of this car. I like the casting. It is one of those odd cars that is nice to see in die cast.
That’s another good one…and a comfortable cruiser they would have made!
Tales of Toy Cars featured the Aurora models from Hot Wheels back in 2019. https://www.facebook.com/332434969525/posts/10156747853844526/
The real cars are certainly affordable today.
Neat! I’ll have to check it out! And one day I’ll have one.
I always loved this car. I am a GM guy. The styling was great and features were excellent. Competitive vehicle but it wasn’t enough to save Oldsmobile. Too bad. But if anyone knows. What does the stamp on the bottom, “ Warner“ mean ? Does anyone know?
The car was initially released in the Demolition Man series and Warner did the distribution.