Gee, I Like Those Hot Wheels! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mattel

The Mattel company was founded in the 1940s by Ruth and Elliot Handler. After the introduction of Barbie and Hot Wheels, Mattel became the largest toy company in the world. In fact, Larry Wood says that the Hot Wheels division of Mattel alone could be considered the fifth largest toy company in the world today.

Answer: 1960s

The story is that Elliot and Ruth Handler were visiting one of their children, either Ken or Barbie, and noticed one of the grandkids playing with a die-cast car. Elliot thought, "I have a grandchild of mine playing with a toy that I don't even compete with!"

Answer: tampos

1969 was the first year that a tampo was issued on a car - the Police Cruiser. Other cars came with paper stickers or water-transfer decals, but the "Police and badge" tampos were painted on each door. Most tampos are tri-colored and may consist of flowers, stripes, ribbons, and automotive logos.

Answer: General Motors

Larry Wood says he became hooked on Hot Wheels the first time he saw a friend's kids playing with orange track and the Evil Weevil Hot Wheels car. When he received an offer to design the cars, he thought he would try it for a few years until he found a "real" job. He just celebrated his fortieth anniversary with Mattel.

Answer: 16

Collectors call this group the "Sweet Sixteen." Six of the cars were based on real show and race cars. The other ten were based on customized versions of regular production automobiles. In order to be as accurate as possible, Mattel looks at design blueprints of the real car, as well as the actual car.

Answer: "Spectraflame"

The "Spectraflame" paint made the cars really stand out, because most of the early manufacturers, such as Matchbox, used drab colors. Used between 1968-1972, the term was used by Mattel to describe the bright colors painted on the Hot Wheels. Using a zinc-plated metal for the bodies, the cars were polished and the transparent paint was applied. Light then reflected off the metal and made the car very shiny.

A few of the car colors used enamel; they were either dak green, blue, orange, red, silver-gray or white.

Answer: Pink

How many self-respecting little boys do you know who would choose a pink car over a blue car? For many of the castings it is the hardest color to find, and can bring the highest price on the secondary market. For example, a blue classic '36 Ford Coupe in mint condition is estimated to be worth $140; a pink one in the same condition is $950.

Answer: Fire Engine

The original Heavyweight set, released in 1970, included the Cement Mixer, Ambulance, Dump Truck, Moving Van, Fire Engine, and Tow Truck. These cars were advertised as "hard working and fast moving."

Answer: Hong Kong

If you look at the base of the Hot Wheels car, the country of origin, along with the name, model number, logo, and copyright are there. The Hong Kong version is easily distinguishable to collectors. For example, the Hong Kong Custom Corvette has a small engine and a black steering wheel insert. The U.S. version has a larger engine and the steering wheel is molded into the interior.

Answer: Beatnik Bandit

One of two cars issued in 1968 with a bubble window roof (the other was the Silhouette), Beatnik Bandit was so popular that it was kept in the line until 1971.