What ever happened to the Hot Wheels ’50s Chevy Truck?

It was the talk of the 2006 #Ultra Hots line. In the same year, it appeared as a #SDCC Exclusive and as a #Convention Vehicle. The Hot Wheels #’50s Chevy Truck was destined to ascend into Hot Wheels stardom.

Hot Wheels ’50s Chevy Truck from the 20th Annual Collector’s Convention in 2006 (side view).

The #’50s Chevy Truck had all the makings of a Hot Wheels hit. Cool, custom #Truck — designed by Larry Wood — with a rear-tilting truck bed that revealed a rear engine and painted drive shaft. The metal/metal tool was only to be used at premium, and the #Moving Part made it hard not to open.

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This particular release came out at the end of 2006 as part of the 20th Annual Collectors Convention in Garden Grove, California. It was given to convention ticket holders as they walked into the #Finale that Saturday night. I was not at the convention that evening, but I can only imagine the ooohs and aaahs as collectors were wow’d by this sharp-looking custom truck.

Hot Wheels ’50s Chevy Truck from the 20th Annual Collector’s Convention in 2006 (finale/ticket car).

The enamel yellow laid on top of metalflake silver paint has a pretty unique contrast to it as the “flame guy” — Hot Wheels Graphic Designer, Mike McClone — flamed the heck out of this thing. For the most part, the yellow paint mask was done exceptionally well, with the exception of the portion just below the hood, on the sides.

Hot Wheels ’50s Chevy Truck from the 20th Annual Collector’s Convention in 2006 (top view).

As far as the #’50s Chevy Truck casting — well, it was seemingly popular for a short period of time. After being one of the first-grabbed #Ultra Hots off the pegs in 2006, the SDCC and Convention (shown here) releases had collectors clamoring for more. The casting’s sophomore year in 2007 netted a couple more Ultra Hots releases, along with another convention release, and an HWC release in spectraflame root beer brown. The ed.pink releases in the 2010 Slick Rides were among the most popular releases of the casting before the casting was unofficially retired in 2012 after a handful of #Pop Culture releases.

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I reached out to Mattel to see if the casting had any chance of coming back as — chances are — any casting not released over the last 6 years is more than likely retired … just as a rule of thumb. I was told that the casting was to have been released post-2012, but the tooling was no longer usable. Worn tools further wear out after years of sitting idle. This kind of thing happens all the time, unfortunately, in this case, the decision was made to not have the #’50s Chevy Truck come back. There are only several releases of this #Discontinued Casting, and if you’ve never picked one up before and opened it, now would be a great time. The moving bed is fun to position, and there have been some pretty cool releases of it: particularly this 2006 #Convention Vehicle.