While high-end F1 model-makers such as Amalgam and Pocher focus on replicating intricate details with hundreds of components, the challenge for Hot Wheels was to produce a realistic model with as few parts as possible to keep down costs.
In what the company presents as a strategy to appeal to younger fans and adult collectors, but which could also be seen as cheating, it has developed two sets of cars: one cheaper range with unique liveries but identical bodywork, costing £2.30 per car and a “premium” offering where sidepods, wings and the airbox have been individually designed to replicate the real thing, along with driver numbers and helmets at a price of £10.99 per car.
Premium cars are noticeably more detailed than the standard range (bottom right)
“We received full-car data from each of the teams,” Wu told Motor Sport, “So the designs are as authentic and realistic as possible.
“For our premium execution, we’ve sculpted each vehicle based on the team. These versions have a higher level of decoration to get all the fine livery details as well as rubber tyres.
“That said, there are challenges that come with trying to achieve that goal. We definitely had to get creative to maintain authenticity and detail while adhering to cost and manufacturing constraints.
“In order to streamline manufacturing, we try to reduce the number of parts it takes to create each vehicle. We’ve achieved a high level of detail in each vehicle while only using 7 parts (not including the wheels) in our premium line vehicle.
“Another area where we had to get creative were the part breaks – how the car is broken up into parts and which details would go on which parts for manufacturing. Great attention is given to exactly how we part out a car. For example, we were able to design the part breaks in such a way that allowed us to ensure the airbox, the tall air intake behind the driver’s head, was accurate to each vehicle.”
