‘Texas Toot’, the nickname of an ultra-custom 1992 Autozam Scrum micro truck built by Craig Meaux of Beaumont, Texas in the USA was picked as the winner of this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour recently. The vehicle will be immortalized as a 1:64 Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle for sale worldwide, as well as inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.
Customized in Meaux’s garage and built entirely for fun, ‘Texas Toot’ started life as a stock Japanese import in 2020, before becoming this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour champion. This custom Kei truck features a fabricated 5-foot hydraulic lift, Chevrolet 454 big-block, TH400 transmission, 12-inch drop reverse rotation FTI transfer case, 250 shot nitrous kit, train horns and massive custom welded 30×15 wheels.
Malaysia has been fortunate to be among the countries chosen to host the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. This is the world’s largest travelling car event which searches for a custom vehicle worthy of being immortalised as a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle.
In the past two years, one Malaysian entry has been picked for the Global Semi Finals and this year, the entry is most appropriate to represent the country: a customised 2015 Proton Suprima S. The car was built by William Chong, a trailer truck technician from Negeri Sembilan, who was among the 204 entries (a 25% increase over last year).
A 1986 Daihatsu Mira walkthrough van was picked as the Malaysian representative model to compete against models from other countries at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Semi-Finals. The Mira, prepared for the event by Abdul Wahab Bahari, was among 163 entries that entered for the 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia that was held last month at the RWB museum in Johor Bahru.
After being picked as the winner of the country event, Abdul Wahab’s entry went on to be judged in the semi-finals where it emerged as one of the top 5 finalists. This group will compete in the Global Virtual Finale that will be streamed on www.facebook.com/hotwheels on November 14 at 1 am Malaysian time.
From 1 of 163 to 1 of 5
In the Semi-Finals, Abdul Wahab’s Mira competed against 9 other countries. The other competing models were a 1973 Mazda 616 Capella, 1974 Ford Escort, Wenckstern 2018, Aint No Saint Volvo P1800 1969, 1990 Volkswagen Sedan, Yellow Black Lethal Chevrolet Opel Commodore, 4100 1977, 1947 Ford Coupe and 1969 Nissan Cedric 130.
The top 5 finalists who will move from the Semi-Finals to the Global Virtual Finale are from Malaysia, the UK, Mexico, Germany and New Zealand. They will join other finalists from North America.
The 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour was the third time (second time in Malaysia) the event, held in collaboration with Art of Speed Malaysia, was held in Malaysia. It is one leg of a global search for a custom vehicle worthy of becoming a Hot Wheels die-cast car. This car will then be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends and turned into 1:64 die-cast cars to be sold around the world.
More entries this year
The judging panel, made up of Hot Wheels global designers as well as local guest judges, shortlisted the Top 12 entries out of the 163 submitted for the Malaysian finals. This year, the Malaysian leg saw more than double the entries that were submitted in 2020. Each submission was judged on Authenticity, Creativity, and Garage Spirit (how well the design exemplifies the attitude of ‘built not bought’.
Models entered by the Top 12 Malaysian finalists were from global brands as well as Malaysia’s own Proton. They included an Audi TT Mk 2; 1969 VW Beetle Vandetta; 1968 Toyota Corolla KE10; 1980 Mazda RX7 1st Gen Savanna; 2008 Ferrari 430; 1997 Proton Wira 1.5 GL; 2014 Porsche Boxster 981; 2012 Honda Accord) and of course, Abdul Wahab’s 1986 Mira from Daihatsu.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour returns to Malaysia for the second time. Held in collaboration with Art of Speed Malaysia, the event is one leg of a global search for a custom vehicle worthy of becoming a Hot Wheels die-cast car. The winner of the Malaysian finals will represent the country on a global stage, going up against the winners from the other legs of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The overall winner will see their design inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends and turned into a 1:64 die-cast car to be sold – and played with by kids of all ages – around the world.
163 entries this year
Like last year, the judging panel, made up of Hot Wheels global designers as well as local guest judges, will shortlist the Top 12 entries. This year, 163 entries have been submitted for the Malaysian finals – more than double the number submitted in 2020. The Top 12 Malaysian finalists offer a great mix of cars from across the globe – with representation from Japanese, German, Italian, and even Malaysian car brands. Each submission will be judged on Authenticity, how closely the car embodies the Hot Wheels spirit; Creativity, how well the design stands out from the rest; and Garage Spirit, how well the design exemplifies the attitude of ‘built not bought’.
1987 Toyota Cressida (Elden Schrock)
2012 Honda Accord (Kathires Thanabal)
The finalists are: Lee Ming Hui (Audi TT Mk 2), Sofyan Darmadi (1969 VW Beetle Vandetta), Norsayang bin Ngatiman (1968 Toyota Corolla KE10), Addison Victor Liew Kian Tek (1980 Mazda RX7/Savanna), Jeffrey Teoh (2008 Ferrari 430), Karrthikan Amerudalingam (1997 Proton Wira 1.5 GL), Abdul Wahab bin Bahari (1986 Daihatsu Mira Walkthrough Van), Elden Schrock (1987 Toyota Cressida), Mohd Iltizam bin Mohamad Sokri (1990 Toyota Estima), Tham Kheng Ming (2002 Toyota MRS Spyder), Norman Ng (2014 Porsche Boxster 981), and Kathires Thanabal (2012 Honda Accord).
The judging team
The Hot Wheels designers on the judging team are Brendon Vetuskey, the current lead designer for the Monster Trucks die-cast and the Red Line Club vehicles; Manson Cheung, a Hot Wheels 3D Modeler best known for his sculpting work; and Sam Kok, a Hot Wheels designer currently the key lead package designer for Mattel.
Guest judges from Malaysia
They will be joined by local guests who will also be involved in the judging process. There will be three guests – Christian Coujin, well known in the community for his collection of RWB cars and enthusiasm for all things custom or modified; Tengku Djan, the professional drift driver; and Azrina Jane Abdullah, a skilled drift and circuit racing driver.
The Malaysian finals will be livestreamed from the RWB Museum in Johor Bahru and scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2021 at 8 pm.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour, now in its third year, is a global search for the next fan-made custom car to be made into a Hot Wheels die-cast toy. In 2019, the event saw more than 110,000 participants and over 5,000 entries, with 18 finalists and of course, 1 winner. This year, in view of the ongoing pandemic, the Tour has gone virtual and one of the new stops will be in Malaysia in search of a winner. Malaysia is the first country in Asia to be selected as host.
Hosted & presented by Art of Speed
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia, hosted and presented by Art of Speed, will see one lucky custom-build immortalized as a die-cast car and shared with fans across the globe. The winning Malaysian car will be announced live on November 12, 2020 at the 1Utama Shopping Centre in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. It will, of course, also be streamed on the Hot Wheels Facebook livestream (www.facebook.com/HotWheels).
Open to all Malaysians
Fans, families and car enthusiasts can participate in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia by submitting their builds hereand by tuning into the live virtual stop where the top Malaysia’s entries will be shortlisted.
Entries are accepted from today until October 15, 2020 and fans can submit photos and videos of their custom builds for the chance to have their design included in the Legends Tour/Date virtual stop and livestream. For the rules and entry conditions, click here.
After the submission window closes, a panel of judges will select the top vehicles to be featured during the 9th Annual Art of Speed Malaysia 2020 on-ground event on November 12th at the 1Utama Shopping Centre and judging will be live. Similar to all Legends Tour stops, the judges will consider creativity, authenticity and garage spirit when selecting finalists and winners.
The finalist from the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Malaysia’s virtual stop will join all other Legends Tour finalists at the Virtual Global Finale in Los Angeles in November for a chance to have their car immortalized as an iconic Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle.
For more information about this event and AOS activities, visit www.artofspeedmy.com.
