Model: Hot Wheels 2016 Subaru WRX STI
Release: 2021 Boulevard Mix A
eBay link: Hot Wheels Boulevard Subaru
Why I’m featuring it: You probably know by now that the combination of Subaru and rally means a model stands a good chance of joining my collection. I recently showed an unusual Norev Impreza; today’s Lamley Daily is something a little more mainstream.
The Hot Wheels 2016 Subaru WRX STI debuted in the 2020 Fast Tuners set in an all-white scheme that really showed off the casting’s detail. Now it’s back in Subaru’s familiar blue and yellow rally colours as part of the Walmart-only Boulevard line, billed as a 2019 model, although I don’t think there are any casting changes.
Subaru hasn’t had a factory WRC team in more than a decade but has continued to support national rally series, including in the USA. This latest deco comes from the all-conquering Subaru Motorsports USA cars, which are run by the Vermont SportsCar team. Here’s a shot of Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino winning the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri last month.
Look closely at the Hot Wheels and you’ll notice the Vermont SportsCar script and license plate.
And here are the first and second releases together: 2/2 so far, in my view!
Before we go, time for a quick shot of the latest STI alongside some other blue, rally-ish Hot Wheels Subarus, including a wheelswapped 22B.
Thanks for reading!
(find Hot Wheels Subaru Impreza on eBay)
(follow me on Instagram @diecast215)
Thanks, Graham! It’s a great casting and you did an excellent job writing about it. Always look forward to you sharing your knowledge about racing, rally, sports cars, and the small diecast that represent them in our collections.
Thanks!
Damn! I knew this was based on a real livery but I didn’t know it’s an actual licensed livery on a specific car! Well, you learn something new every day huh.
As a Subaru fan, I’m so happy to see the WRXs getting attention from HW. This is a great casting with now two great releases. The white one would’ve been the winner for me if it had these new wheels. So the blue one takes it.
Also, I don’t know what suddenly happened to the Blobeye STi rally car. After the Car Meet 5 pack in 2018, it just vanished. I’d like to see it come back as that is my favourite STi gen and I like the casting. Or even better, with all the resurrections going on, they could even make a brand new stock casting in premium. Would make a great companion to the rest of the premium Subarus.
As for this latest model, I’m hoping it’ll get a plain black w/ gold wheels version soon one day.
Anyway, thanks for the article! Always enjoy reading your stuff!
In all honesty, it doesn’t matter what this model looks like, it could look like a steaming pile of you know what and it still would be impossible to find on the pegs. Until Mattel opens the Boulevard line up to all retailers or Walmart (who am I kidding) begins to take their exclusive line seriously and support it with product in stores, Boulevard is going to remain an insignificant footnote.
Sorry you can’t find one. They appear regularly here in Calgary but are snapped up quickly. A friend managed to grab this one for me.
The real rally car version was built just up the road from me at Vermont Sports Car, which is John Buffem’s shop, His son was driving world rally championships last I knew. I was going to work there as a mechanical design and fabrication engineer back in my 20’s when he first started the shop, but was talked out of it. Big mistake!! lol, Oh well, hind sight being what it is… lolol. Very cool to see a Vermont plate and some homage paid to a racing legend that is mostly unknown to most of the world. Maybe do a version of the world’s first AWD Audi they raced (and built) that won a bucket load of races until the rest of the rally car builders finally caught up. It was two front wheel drive systems joined to make a 4wd Audi. Incredible speed and power, but would wipe out like crazy if they lost control. Viscous drive system solved a lot of issues with that. We have quite a bit of racing heritage up here in the middle of nowhere 🙂