This is a Hot Wheels Redline Ferrari 312p released exclusively in 1970. I found it at a local antique store for a mere $10. Given the good condition of the wheels and minimal oxidation on the body, it seemed like a good candidate for restoration.

I started by taking the car apart and stripping the paint. Fairly simple stuff. Upon inspecting the body I found very minimal oxidation with almost no pits or dings.

Next step was to bring out some shine in the metal by giving it a quick scrub with a fine steel wool.

Next step was polishing...

And then painting. I used a urethane based copper color from redlineshop.com.

Last step was to paint the rear black and taillights red, then put the car back together using some tiny screws.

Here it is next to a near mint original that I have. Hope you like it!
(This is my first time writing anything substantial on here. Please forgive any mistakes)

Hot Wheels Volvo 850 T-5R
(Repost from DT)

Since I'm new here (from drivetribe, obviously) I figured I should do an introduction. I am a collector of 1/64 scale diecast with a collection of about 2,500 cars. Mostly vintage hot wheels and matchbox. I daily drive a 1991 300zx. I look forward to figuring out this new (to me)site and meeting some new people!
Btw: where should I post my diecast photos here?

Hot Wheels Dodge Power Wagon
(Repost from DT)

Key Motors is an auto salvage yard in Molalla, Oregon. Their stock consists almost completely of pre-1990s cars.

Rather surprisingly, considering their rarity, Key Motors has it's fair share of Ford Edsels. Including this one with bullet holes in the windows.

A row of old trucks.

One of my favorites in the yard. An old Chevy El Camino gasser called "High Bucks".

A GMC Sprint sits with what appears to be fairly minimal rust. I'd never heard of these before seeing this one.

Some cars sit in the woods next to the yard like this Ford Rambler Wagon.

I would have gotten more pictures, but unfortunately I went in the winter when about a third of the yard is flooded. This includes the Camaros, Firebirds, and some of the pre-1960s cars. I've made it a point to go back here sometime in the next year, so I'll try to get some photos then.

Released in 1968, Hot Wheels cars quickly became one of the most popular toys ever produced. The demand for Hot Wheels was so large that many seemingly test castings leaked into the production runs in limited quantities. This lead to a multitude of interesting design and production variations. Here, I'll cover some of these rare variations that I have in my collection.

1. Open Hood Scoop (OHS) Custom Mustang
   Arguably one of the most well known of these variations is the OHS Custom Mustang. These were very early run Hong Kong made castings released only in red and gold. The interior colors available for red Custom Mustangs were red or white, while gold Mustangs only ever came with brown interior. The tail panels should be painted in the body color rather than being painted black. One more thing to note is that the engine bay was painted silver on OHS Mustangs but this also carried over to some earlier run closed hood scoop ones. An OHS Mustang will cost around $900 mint but only around $250 in played condition.
   
2. Painted Tooth Custom Cougar
   One of the slightly more common variations on this list is the painted tooth Cougar. This is an early run variation made in either the US or Hong Kong where the "tooth" in the grill is painted to match the body color. For US made Cougars, available colors were blue, lime and antifreeze with Hong Kong castings only coming in blue or orange. The values on these are pretty spread out but expect to pay at least $80 for one in played condition.
   
3. Doorline Custom Firebird
   This variation is believed to be a late run test for the 1970 casting Light My Firebird. To the best of my knowledge this has not been proven however. The doorline variation is exclusive to US castings and comes in 7 different colors. The most common color is aqua (pictured above) and most rare, red. Prices vary but a played condition doorline firebird will set you back at least $100 if not more for a rare color.
   
4. Doorline Custom T-Bird
   The doorline Custom T-Bird is a late run variation that is supposedly a test for the 1970 casting TNT Bird. Again, I'm not sure if this is completely true or not. This variation is only found on US T-Birds with black roofs. The doorlines add a $350 premium to the value according to my price guide. For a played condition one, prices run at about $250.
   
5. Hybrid Custom Barracuda
   The Hybrid Barracuda is another very well recognized variation. Hybrid is a term meaning that the car uses both US and Hong Kong parts. A hybrid Barracuda will always have a US body and interior. The wheels, hood and windows can be made in the US or Hong Kong and be configured on the car in any pattern. The hybrid Barracuda came in 7 different colors with the most common being antifreeze (or purple?) And most rare being green. If you are buying one expect prices to be $100 in played condition all the way up to $2,000 for a near mint green.
   
6. No Sunroof (NSR) Custom Volkswagen
   The NSR Volkswagen is an incredibly early run car produced in very limited numbers. This variation was only sold in Japan or the UK although some claim to have found them in Germany as well. This car differs from the normal Volkswagens with not only the missing sunroof but also the absence of side windows and the addition of a roll bar over the one and only interior seat. NSR Volkswagens were only produced in Hong Kong. They came in 7 different colors with the most common being blue and the most rare being...who knows. My book says the most rare is copper but I tend to disagree on that since I've seen just as many coppers as blues. Anyways, expect to pay upwards of $500 for a blue one in played condition. Any other color will likely be over $1,000. Something to note is that the Custom Volkswagen did get rereleased with no sunroof in 1974 however the 1974 body will not fit on a 1968 chassis, so fakes here would be near impossible.
   
7. Blue Enamel Ford J-Car
   Perhaps my favorite variation on this list is the blue enamel Ford J-Car. The way they got the blue enamel was to paint spectraflame blue over white enamel which is kind of lazy, but also genius at the same time. This variation was produced exclusively in the US and given away as a promotion at the Indianapolis 500. These are extraordinary hard to come across and if you do, expect a price tag of $200+ for one in non-broken played condition.

Thanks for reading (this took way to long)

Hot Wheels RLC 1944 Willys MB in its natural habitat. No, not a display case, a mud puddle.

Yes, I purchased expired toothpaste. Specifically, the Aquafresh Hot Wheels promotional. These were released in 1993 with 5 different castings and 7 variations. The casting shown here is a more common Thunderstreak race car. Other castings included the Ferrari 348, Surf Patrol, Turbo Streak and Toyota MR2. The Ferrari 348 and Surf Patrol are the more rare castings, but can still be had at the $10-$15 mark as can the rest of them.
Unfortunately, mine was damaged in shipping with the box coming half crushed, but I can't really do much as it was packed really well and was 100% the fault of the post office. Then again, it's only a $10 car so no loss, no gain, and I'm still happy to have it in my collection.

First of all, I'm going to preface this article with that there should have been more here. Unfortunately I can't get the pictures from the internet saved properly so this only includes pictures of models which are in my collection (with the exception of the Hi-C promo cars). This is also by no means a complete history.

The Hi-C Promotional Cars
In 1968 Mattel partnered with the Coca-Cola Company to create their very first run of promotional models. The product chosen was Hi-C, a fruit punch type drink. For only $0.50 you could mail in to get one of four Hot Wheels models. Custom Mustang, Custom T- Bird, Silhouette, or Deora. Unfortunately none of the packages for these cars are known to exist anymore.

Shell Promotional Models
In 1973 Mattel was on the verge of bankruptcy and they were thinking about dropping the Hot Wheels line all together. Thankfully, they were convinced otherwise but, to keep production costs to a minimum they switched from the pricey spectraflame paints to dull enamel. In an attempt to garner some excitement, Mattel partnered with Shell to give out free Hot Wheels for customers at their gas stations. These cars came in small plastic baggies with cardboard headers. On the back side, there was a list of all of the available cars. Here are some of those including Short Order, Swingin' Wing, and Ferrari 512s. While the promotion wasn't exactly successful, Hot Wheels did manage to get back up the following year and introduced tampo printing to give their cars cool paint schemes.

Herfy's Promo
The Herfy's promotion was introduced in 1974 and carried into 1975. There were 5 models listed on the back of the package. Warpath, Volkswagen, Cheif's Special, P-911, and Gremlin Grinder. There were also two unlisted, extremely rare, models. "King Radio" Super Van, and "KGW Radio" Super Van. With the exception of the Super Vans, all of the cars were basic tampo designs pulled from the Flying Colors line with the simple addition of the Herfy's logo tampo printed onto the side of the vehicle. Above is a comparison between the Flying Colors P-911 (left) and Herfy's P-911 (right).

Various Other Promotional Models
These aren't in chronological order because I couldn't be bothered.

Spawn Promotional Dragster
The "Spawn Mobile" was a promotional venture by Mattel and Marvel Comics in 1993. It was originally packaged with a copy of a Spawn Comic book. Other than this I don't really know much more about it.

Gulf Oil Promo Set
This race car was part of a 4 car promotional set for Gulf Oil. The available models were a Thunderbird, Oil Tanker Truck, Blimp and the above race car. They were a mail-in promotion but I don't know much about them.

Van De Kamp's Deora
Hot Wheels and Van De Kamp's have made a few different promotional cars including a Mustang, VW Drag Bus, and the Deora pictured above. Each car was a limited edition, only 50,000 made of each and only available through the mail-in offer.

Recent Promotionals
So, what promo cars has Hot Wheels done recently? Just today, they released the Hot Wheels x Stanced collab that included two pairs of socks and a limited edition Super van. They've also done three collaborations with Period Correct. A Mercedes 190e Evo II, Ford RS200, and Lancia 037. The rarest promotional car ever made by Hot Wheels would have to go to the Hot Wheels x Super73 Ford Bronco R which also came with an electric mini-bike and was limited to only 24 pieces if I recall correctly. What about the most expensive? That record goes to the Hot Wheels x IWC box set. It came with an IWC watch and hand-built Hot Wheels Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. The set was limited to 50 pieces and was priced at $10,000 although serial #1 sold at auction for $96,000.

Thank you for reading. If you have any extra information or stories about any of these cars they are always welcome!

Auto World MK4 Toyota Supra

@tophercrowder I haven't noticed that particularly. Some colors just seem thicker than others. Yellow, for example, is just stupidly hard to get off and cover lots of the panel lines, but this is true for any yellow car from now all the way back to the 90s. White feels fairly thin along with the brighter red colors. I think what you're mostly seeing is a decline in casting quality, not so much thicker paint.

@Highlander idk, I might have you for worst photo of a 356.

Hot Wheels Hairy Hauler which was the first redline I ever purchased.

@Nauraushaun Beautiful! The yellow suits it so well.

@Jarrett she did very well! That lb silvia is a great model.

@Sam-Blockhan I saw a mercedes the other day with the license plate "meme". Also, amazing lancia.

DOTS

Nissan Silvia S14

Matching Mercedes (with personalized plates)

Abandoned C4 Corvette

Dodge Stealth R/T

No clue what has gone on here, but I had to see it so you do too.

new diecast

Matchbox SVX, Lesney Unimog, Remco RC Ford Ranger

Monster Jam Show-Off Showdown. These things are super rare now.

the ones I left behind

Hot Wheels Loop and Jump set from 2010. It was sealed, but I just dont collect this sort of thing. Left for the next person.

Greenlight "Green Machine" Chase! Found at target, but it was $25 and far too large for my collection. Left for the next person.

@Billy-Smith lotus carlton and ford sierra?! Wow!

@Billy-Smith GMC cyclone pls

@Taylor-Martin thank you!