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From The Detroit News:

October 27, 2012 at 1:00 am
GM toying with Camaro

Mattel partnership yields 1st life-size Hot Wheels model

• By Melissa Burden
• The Detroit News

The special edition Hot Wheels Camaro, above, available in coupe and convertible models as a $6,995 option, with its smaller cousin. (General Motors)


Hot Wheels fans: You'll soon be able to rev a real engine, take that "toy" car for a spin and buy a Hot Wheels for real.
General Motors Co. and California-based Mattel Inc.'s Hot Wheels brand have teamed up to create the Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Special Edition. It marks the first time the iconic toy brand has worked with a manufacturer to design and produce a production car.
"It's the first time a fan can go out and buy a real Hot Wheels car that they can go out and drive around," said Felix Holst, vice president of design for Hot Wheels.
Chevy early next year will roll out the limited-edition Hot Wheels Camaro — complete with an exclusive kinetic blue metallic exterior accented by the red Hot Wheels flame logo on the front quarter panels and embroidered on the front leather seats — as a $6,995 option.
The special edition Camaro with red-lined wheels and special graphics is available in a coupe or convertible, in the 2LT (V-6 engine) and 2SS (V-8 engine) trims. The Hot Wheels logo also will be adorned on the front grille, rear deck and on the sill plates in the doors.
The Camaro was one of the first 16 toy cars produced by Hot Wheels in 1968. Hot Wheels has sold millions of the Camaro toy car since then, far more than the about 5 million Camaros Chevrolet has since sold since the muscle car was introduced as a 1967 model.
The new life-size Hot Wheels are likely to bring smiles to multiple generations of fans, who have played with and collected the mini cars since their inception. "Who wouldn't want to grow up and drive a Hot Wheels car," said John Fitzpatrick, marketing manager for Chevrolet Performance cars, who expects the vehicle to attract both Hot Wheels and Camaro enthusiasts.
The special Hot Wheels Camaro, with the exterior look of the Camaro ZL1, is slated for production from January to June 2013. Chevy dealers will begin taking orders Nov. 1 and it will be available to buyers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the Middle East.
"We're very excited about this," said Jim Campbell, GM's U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports.
The toy-turned-real-life car will make its debut next week at the trade-only 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.
"I saw the car last week and it is beautiful," Holst added. "It is fantastic. It really oozes Hot Wheels without being too over the top. It's got a custom flare to it. … It's a real muscle car."
It was just before SEMA in 2010, when brainstorming for building a full-size Hot Wheels car began. The two companies have worked together for more than 40 years and Holst said Hot Wheels designers showed concept ideas to Chevy designers during that event. They collaborated to design a full-size concept Hot Wheels Camaro that was shown at last year's SEMA Show to rave reviews.
But the concept's metallic green finish wasn't production viable. Ultimately, designers chose medium blue, similar to a spectraflame blue used on Hot Wheels toy cars in the 1960s and to an aqua blue exterior paint Chevy receives many requests to bring back into production, Fitzpatrick said.
"We wanted something to stand out that people would notice that would really show off the lines of the Camaro and tie back into the original Hot Wheels car," Fitzpatrick said.
Hot Wheels, which makes 6 million die-cast cars every week, is planning to produce a replica toy car of the production Hot Wheels Camaro. A few hundred will be given out at SEMA and a commemorative Hot Wheels Camaro will be available in a special pack at dealers.
Consumers can also find one on store shelves early next year, Holst said.
mburden@detnews.com
(313) 222-2319

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2AVxOF9ee