Diecast Cars

• Chevy Bel Air '57 - Hot Wheels of the week

  Today, as a Hot Wheels model, we have an American icon from the 1950s: the legendary 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. A car that boasts a recurring association with the TV show Happy Days and embodies the positive desire for freedom that permeated post-war America.

  

  

  This version celebrates and recalls, in livery and branding, the “’57 Edelbrock Chevy Bel Air”, created by students at Ohio Technical College (OTC) as part of an educational initiative (between October 2010 and May 2011), in collaboration with the Edelbrock Performance Academy. The aim was to transform a Hot Wheels model into a real, working version, giving students hands-on experience in vehicle restoration and customisation.

  

  

  This 2010 model (HW Performance) features the upper body in black painted metal and satin silver, with the Edelbrock logo screen-printed in red, white and black on the rear “tails”; the number 23 on the doors, surmounted by the inscription “VIC”; on the front side, the inscription “carburated”; on the bonnet, the double inscription “283 H.P.”, divided by a double central line; and the “Hot Wheels” brand as a signature, adjacent to the rear wheels.

  The lower body is chrome-plated silver plastic, which also makes up the car's two bumpers, radiator and lower lights. The wheels are five-spoke, screen-printed in metallic red. Finally, the interior of the passenger compartment is red plastic.

• Cool-One – Hot Wheels della settimana

  Questa settimana arriva il rombante Cool-One, versione fantasiosa del famoso furgone dei gelati Chevrolet Step-Van, veicolo protagonista in tantissimi film americani (IMCB).

  

  

  Questa versione fa parte dell’Insectirides 5-Pack del 2010 e presenta una scocca superiore in metallo bianco perlato. La scocca inferiore è in plastica grigio scuro, che si estende fino a formare il radiatore e i fanali (nella parte anteriore), i tubi di scarico (sui lati del veicolo), i due portelli inferiori e il paraurti (nella parte posteriore).

  

  

  Internamente sono incastonati tre elementi in plastica: le due aree del parabrezza in verde trasparente, la seduta e la parte anteriore dell’abitacolo in color tabacco, e i due convogliatori d’aria che fanno capolino dal tetto del veicolo.

  Ai lati del furgone è presente una complessa grafica serigrafata a quattro colori (giallo, verde, oro e nero), con la scritta “EXTERMINATOR” ad arco, affiancata dal disegno di una testa di calabrone che sovrasta due tibie incrociate, richiamando la bandiera dei pirati.

  Le ruote sono delle PR5 (Phil Riehlman a 5 razze), serigrafate in oro.

• Cool-One – Hot Wheels of the week

  This week sees the arrival of the roaring Cool-One, an imaginative version of the famous Chevrolet Step-Van, ice cream van, a vehicle featured in so many American films (IMCB).

  

  

  This version is part of the 2010 Insectirides 5-Pack and features a pearl-white metal upper body. The lower body is made of dark grey plastic, which extends to form the radiator and headlights (at the front), the exhaust pipes (on the sides of the vehicle), the two lower doors and the bumper (at the rear).

  

  

  Internally, three plastic elements are embedded: the two windscreen areas in transparent green, the seat and front part of the passenger compartment in tobacco colour, and the two real air ducts peeping out of the vehicle roof.

  On the sides of the van is an intricate four-colour screen-printed graphic (yellow, green, gold and black), with the words ‘EXTERMINATOR’ in an arc, flanked by the design of a hornet's head above two crossed shinbones, recalling the pirate flag.

  The wheels are PR5 (Phil Riehlman 5-spoke), screen-printed in gold.