STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Have you always wanted to design a Hot Wheels toy car? Now’s your chance.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour is coming to the New York area this Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon. The event, located at 400 Park Plaza Drive in Secaucus, N.J., is roughly 40 minutes from Staten Island.
The annual free program, sponsored by Mattel, will travel to 18 cities across the nation this year with participants rolling their custom builds into Walmart parking lots for all those to see.
The coolest part? The tour will not only bring out some unique, legendary, fully customized vehicles, but will also be highlighting the work of those who want to have their automobile forever in the form of metal and plastic.
Hot Wheels is looking for vehicles that capture the imagination of childhood and outlandish designs. Basically, Hot Wheels is searching for a life-size version of a car that would fit perfectly into the brand’s garage.
The main parameter for the contest is that your vehicle needs to be uniquely customized, bringing out creative car lovers across the country.
As for rules regarding the vehicle itself, the official contest rules state that besides materials that are in the public domain, each vehicle customization must be a single work of original material created by the entrant, or material for which the entrant has the rights. This means no infringing on intellectual party rights -- or your vehicle will be disqualified.
Hot Wheels is also bringing some special judges along for the trip. Eligible vehicles will be evaluated and reviewed by a talented team consisting of Hot Wheels designers and automotive influencers. The judging criteria? Authenticity, creativity and garage spirit, with each category weighing 33.33 percent.
One winner will be chosen from each of the 18 cities on the tour and will continue on to the final part of the competition: the SEMA 2019 auto show in Las Vegas, where judges will look at all the winners from the tour dates side-by-side before determining who will cross the finish line.
The winner’s custom car will be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends, a unique collection of vehicles that embody the brand’s challenger spirit and creative design. Your car will become a legend in Hot Wheels history -- and will be produced as a die-cast car as part of the brand’s line.
Interested in trying to immortalize your custom car? You can register your vehicle here. If registration for the event is full, Mattel still wants you to participate. All cars are welcome, custom or not, and can park in the lot in order to be shown off but will only have a chance of winning if they are registered.
And you don’t have to drive up in a custom car to participate in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. Visitors can walk through the event, viewing a life size fleet of Hot Wheels cars, participating in photo opportunities, playing in a Hot Wheels kids zone and more.
Last year’s inaugural tour saw over 65,000 attendees and more than 3,600 car entries. Last year’s winner was Luis Rodriguez, whose car is now forever immortalized as a 1:64 die-cast throughout the world. His car joins more than 25,000 unique Hot Wheels vehicles that were made over the last 50 years.