In hindsight, it seems almost ironic that not even a full month ago, I wrote a post about HW “Treasure Hunt” and “Super Treasure Hunt” cars, and my reactions to them, and stated that I don’t have the time or inclination to go chasing after all these rare cars. That’s still true: nothing I said in this post is invalid or has changed. But what’s also true-and this is not a contradiction-is that I will buy what I really want, and some of the latest STH releases that have been coming out of Mattel are nothing short of stellar!
After over 50 years, HW has clearly truly brought back their original innovation that helped make the brand: real SpectraFlame paint!
These hypnotically gorgeous glass-like finishes are the #1 thing collectors love about the original Hot Wheels, and from 1973 when Mattel cheapened the brand and went to plain enamel paint, things have never been the same. Over the years they’ve introduced innovations that had tried to make up for dropping that original method of polishing the car body to a mirror-like finish and coating it with translucent colored paint to allow the shine to come not from the paint itself but from the lustre of the gleaming metal body underneath. First came tampo printing with “Flying Colors” in the mid-’70s, then heavy metal flake paint in the early ‘80s.
Around 15 or so years ago they came out with the first of the “Cool Classics” line, which feature gorgeous semi-satin finishes with very fine metal-flake. This line has been brought back many times and can still be found today, and the finishes on those cars are excellent; I own many of them and I love them, as I’m sure you do as well. But even with this great new paint, which they called “SpectraFrost”- a cool name I was down with – it still wasn’t really the same! Well, with at least some of the most recent STH models, it appears that for the first time since 1972*, REAL SpectraFlame is back! And lemmetellya, that’s gonna make some of these cars just irresistible, no matter what the price of admission! My last post was about the Aston DB4, and following right on, we have another: the STH release of the Volvo P1800 gasser, this one done in a stunning turquoise blue with hot pink accents!
I won’t say what I paid for this car because it’s embarrassing, especially since whoever I bought it from probably got it for under $2. But, if I don’t have time to run around chasing Hot Wheels, I gotta pay the price for what I want, and when I saw this…I didn’t even hesitate, and I haven’t the slightest regret!
Irrespective of the color and this special edition, this casting is extremely cool; I’ve now got at least half-a-dozen of these in various colors and I love them all! One of the things I find interesting is that about 15-20 years ago, Matchbox released a really nice model of the Volvo P1800 presented as a totally stock sports car. To look at the 2 castings side by side, it’s my opinion that the Matchbox is the nicer one, as its correctly proportioned and looks just like the real car.
But see, that’s actually the very thing that makes this so cool: I’m glad that Mattel didn’t just “repurpose” that Matchbox casting to make this gasser version, but instead created an entirely new casting for their hot rod interpretation! That not only keeps the makes distinct, it also keeps the tradition of Matchbox making realistic models of real cars, while Hot Wheels still plays on the wild side, as they always have! There have been some mis-fires, and I can certainly karp about some things I’m not happy about, but overall, I really have to give credit to Mattel for maintaining the integrity of the Matchbox brand since they acquired it, and the comparison between these 2 different castings of the same car are a prime example of that! We’ll be taking a deeper dive into this topic in a future post, dear readers!
But for now: back to the track! We all know that in spite of its great Italianate looks, the P1800 was no high-performer, but its safe to say this wild modified AWB dragger has a little more power than the original’s anemic 109 ci 4-banger! Maybe its fanciful, but it looks so cool you have to wonder if anyone has ever done this to a real P1800, and if they haven’t, then maybe they soon will!
Well, I’ve pulled two previous “mainline” copies of this car – the green one, which was the 1st I bought when it came out, and more recently the blue version, which itself was extremely cool with its satin finish and grayed out wheel centers-and this beauty has now taken a promiment place in the paddock.
Is it co-incidental that the archaic phrase “Lickety Split!” Adorns both tonight’s addition, and the addition of the gold Aston Martin also now in the paddock? Also that both cars bear the number 43? Not sure what’s up with that as far as the maker’s intentions go, but at a glance it sure seems like a racing team name to me, and 2 different types of cars from that team racing in different classes! On a track that started as a rural drag strip and grew into a renown road course where all types of racing are held and all types of cars compete, that seems like a story with wings to me! That, after all, is the legacy of DRAG CITY! Its how it got its name!
* = I am aware that the extremely limited “Red Line Club” cars have been doing the true SpectraFlame paint style for many years; I am referring in this post to more obtainable models; while the Super Treasure Hunts may still be rare and difficult to obtain, they are nothing compared to trying to score an original RLC!!!
You definitely do your research on these cars and this is so interesting about the paint schemes and amazing they are reproducing these original styles. This Volvo is such a cool piece and certainly agree about buying what you want!