Hot Wheels Legends Tour 2024: Global Winner Announced
Mattel, Inc (NASDAQ: MAT), a premier global toy and family entertainment company, proudly revealed the winner of the 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour, the largest travelling car show globally, at the virtual Global Grand Finale on November 16. The home-built race car, La Liebre, clinched the top spot at the Chilean tour stop and captured the global title, securing its place in the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends. The Hot Wheels design team is set to transform this full-sized vehicle into a 1:64 scale die-cast model for collectors and enthusiasts worldwide.
In 2013, Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini established Cars and Coffee Chile, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to enhancing Chile's car community and culture. The La Liebre project started to promote their organisation and engage with local automotive fans. After acquiring a Falcon, they installed a custom-built Chevrolet 350 motor, which produces 600 horsepower, paired with a Saenz 910 five-speed transmission featuring straight-cut gears. Baufer Garage significantly modified the original chassis, which now includes a tubular frame and roll cage. Weighing just over 900kg, La Liebre features a custom fibreglass body designed to optimise aerodynamics, blending classic style with modern performance.
The team behind La Liebre at Cars and Coffee Chile includes Giuseppe Casagrande, Maurizio Moschini, Pablo Olmos, Omar Aguilar, Nicolás Orellana, and Jose Ignacio Barra. Ted Wu, the senior vice president and global head of design, vehicles, and building sets at Mattel, commented, “This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour showcased numerous remarkable builds, yet La Liebre stood out not only for its build quality but also for its significant role in fostering Chile's car community."
The 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour journeyed through 13 countries, featuring 11 regional stops across the United States and new tour destinations, including Colombia and the United Arab Emirates. The tour evaluated over 5,000 entries and attracted millions of attendees worldwide. The UK finalist, a modified Mini named ‘Mentley’, reached the Global Grand Finale, marking the fourth consecutive year for a UK entrant to achieve this feat.
Launched in 2018 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hot Wheels, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, sponsored by Mobil 1, has evolved from a series of local events at U.S. Walmarts into the world’s largest travelling car show, attracting car builders and fans alike through both virtual and live events. Past champions include the inaugural winner 2JetZ™ in 2018, THE NASH™ in 2019, the 1970 Pontiac® Firebird™ in 2020, the 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser in 2021, the custom 1992 Autozam Scrum micro truck dubbed "Texas Toot" in 2022, and last year’s unique 1990 Mazda MX-5 roadster, the "Chimera.”
