- Home-built race car will be turned into Hot Wheels toy
- La Liebre is a modified 1968 Ford Falcon
- Has won the annual Hot Wheels Legends Tour prize
- Will now become 1:64 scale model
This home-built race car is being turned into a Hot Wheels die-cast toy after winning a global competition.
Since 2018, global toy giant Mattel has run an annual comp to turn a real-life car into a child-sized plaything as part of its Hot Wheels Legends Tour.
This year saw more than 5,000 vehicles from 13 countries fighting it out to be transformed into a 1:64 scale model.
And for 2024 it’s the turn of a car called ‘La Liebre’ - a heavily customised 1968 Ford Falcon that’s powered by a 600 hp Chevrolet 350 engine.
It’s the brainchild of Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini, co-founders of the nonprofit ‘Cars and Coffee Chile’, located in Santiago, Chile.
Ted Wu, senior vice president and global head of design, vehicles and building sets at Mattel, said: “This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought out so many incredible builds, making it difficult to select just one, however, the mission behind the La Liebre built by Cars & Coffee Chile was emblematic of what the tour is all about. Not only is it an extremely impressive build, but it was created to help grow the car community in Chile and inspire others to participate. That’s what makes this vehicle, and the team behind it, deserving of the win and entry into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.”
The UK’s finalist, ‘Mentley’, a modified Mini (above), was selected for the Global Grand Finale, the fourth consecutive year a UK entrant has reached the final stage.
Winner La Liebre weighs just over 900 kg, thanks to the tube chassis and custom fibreglass body that was developed to maximise aerodynamics. It’s described as a ‘blend of classic style and modern performance, designed for pure speed’.
Last year’s champion was a one of a kind 1990 Mazda MX-5 roadster nicknamed ‘Chimera’.
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