The real Deora, the one-off custom truck Harry Bentley Bradley designed and Detroit’s Alexander Brothers built, which became one of the first 16 Hot Wheels. Photo Bennojammin3 (Ben De Studios), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. We show the full-size car, not Mattel’s toy: the toy’s design and Mattel’s photography are not ours to use.
Hot Wheels
What it took directly
- documentedHot Wheels answered Matchbox, the popular English die-cast brand"In the 1960s, Elliot Handler, a cofounder of Mattel, Inc., envisioned a die-cast car to surpass the popular English Matchbox brand." The Strong National Museum of Play, National Toy Hall of Fame entry (Hot Wheels inducted 2011)
- documentedHot Wheels took from Barbie's success with girls (Mattel wanted the same for boys)"In the late 1960s, Mattel was looking for a toy that would appeal to boys as Barbie had to girls." Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times obituary of Elliot Handler, carried by The Washington Post (July 2011)
- documentedThe Hot Wheels Deora (one of the first 16 cars) took from the real Deora, a one-off custom truck"Not long after it debuted, the Deora became one of the first 16 “Hot Wheels” model cars offered to youngsters all over the country." RM Auctions lot description for the Deora (2009 sale; research credited to Motor Trend)
- documentedThe name “Hot Wheels” took from Elliot Handler's reaction to a fast prototype"According to brand lore, "Wow, those are some hot wheels!" was Handler's exclamation when one first sped across a desk and flew off the edge." CarBuzz (Ian Wright, 2023), reporting it explicitly as brand lore
What it learned to do
- documentedHot Wheels learned from Harry Bentley Bradley, an auto designer from Chevrolet"Handler insisted that the toy cars look authentic, so the project enlisted Harry Bradley, a top auto designer from Chevrolet, to lead the toy design team." The Strong National Museum of Play, National Toy Hall of Fame entry
- statedHarry Bentley Bradley's design for the Deora learned from General Motors' design studio, and its rule against cutlines"We were always told at GM to play down cutlines." Harry Bentley Bradley, to Motor Trend (quoted in RM Auctions' 2009 lot description)
- documentedHot Wheels learned from Jack Ryan, a former aerospace engineer"He enlisted former aerospace engineer Jack Ryan and car designer Harry Bentley Bradley." CarBuzz (Ian Wright, 2023), from a visit to the Hot Wheels Design Center
- documentedElliot Handler learned from industrial design classes at the Art Center School, Los Angeles"He studied industrial design at the old Art Center School in Los Angeles" Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times obituary, carried by The Washington Post (July 2011)
The tradition it sits in
- documentedHot Wheels comes from California's custom-car shops, not Detroit's showrooms"What Handler really wanted was not the cars of Detroit, but the radical versions altered by custom-car shops—like vehicles he often saw on California’s highways." The Strong National Museum of Play, National Toy Hall of Fame entry
- documentedThe Deora comes from Detroit's custom-car show circuit"At the 1967 Detroit Autorama, the Deora completely swept the show, winning nine trophies plus the coveted Don Ridler award for the best new custom car." RM Auctions lot description for the Deora (2009 sale)
- inferredHot Wheels' Spectraflame paint comes from the candy-colour finishes of custom cars"Mattel’s designers enhanced the cars’ appeal with the candy colors of Spectraflame, a painting process that revealed the shiny metal beneath the colors." inferred — The Strong describes Spectraflame's “candy colors” right after Handler's custom-car brief, but does not itself say the paint was modelled on custom-car finishes
- inferredHot Wheels' design studio comes from the full-size car industry, which it has hired designers from since the start"The team includes former automotive designers who have worked for Toyota and General Motors, he said." inferred — NPR reports (from Ted Wu, Mattel's vice president of design for Hot Wheels) who the team is today; the line back to the first designer's Chevrolet years is ours
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedHot Wheels comes from Mattel, founded in a Los Angeles garage workshop in 1945"In 1945, Mr. Handler and his wife, Ruth, founded Mattel out of a garage workshop in Los Angeles with their friend Harold “Matt” Matson." Andrea Chang, Los Angeles Times obituary of Elliot Handler, carried by The Washington Post (July 2011)
Start here