Ever since they raced on to the scene in 1968, Hot Wheels have been leading the pack in the diecast car market. The brand has expanded over the years, encompassing hundreds of models and even thinking bigger than the classic 1:64 scale. Folks new to collecting 1:64 diecast cars, or looking to sell an inherited collection, are going to encounter the term “redline” when researching Hot Wheels. What does that mean? Let Back to the Past tell you!
If you're looking for Redlines, we've got a few coming to auction this weekend!
Hot Wheels Make Diecast Cars Hip
To understand Hot Wheels’ early success, you have to understand what they brought to 1:64 scale cars. From 1953 to 1968, the leading name in 1:64 scale diecast cars was Matchbox. They specialized in detailed, realistic models based on cars you might actually find on the road. In order to compete with them, Hot Wheels would have to do something different.
And that something was to cash in on the burgeoning custom car, AKA hot rod, scene! The “Sweet 16” original models immortalized genuine custom cars like the Beatnik Bandit and the Dodge Deora, letting car-crazy kids own the one-of-a-kind vehicles they'd previously only seen in magazines. And part of this hot rod verisimilitude was the wheels - real life performance cars favored a brand of tire with a red circle on the side. And so early Hot Wheels cars had a tiny red line painted on their wheels to mimic that!
Redline Becomes Iconic
It is indeed as simple as that: Redlines are early Hot Wheels models with a literal red line on their tires! This line was a feature of the design from its inception in 1968 up through 1977. By then, the real life red line tires were out of fashion and Hot Wheels jumped at the chance to save a little time and money on production. They'd already moved away from real custom cars to produce more fantastical hot rods like the Evil Weevil (pictured above) anyway. As the collector market for Hot Wheels grew, those early models became increasingly sought after, picking up the nickname “redlines” in the process. The term is so well known within the Hot Wheels community that the brand itself used it for their direct-to-consumer adult collector brand “The Red Line Club”.
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