Mad Mike on how to have your car turned into a Hot Wheels

As you get to driving age, then to tinkering age, it becomes a bit of a fever dream to have your creations immortalised in miniature metal form.

The process behind your wildest four-wheel creations being mass-produced into a blister pack has always been a bit of a mystery, but the crux is that you had to seriously stick out in your field for Mattel to invite you and your ride into the shopping trolley of any self-respecting car enthusiast.

That was before the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, think car meet but on a global scale – visiting major cities around the world. However, it’s more than a car meet, it’s a chance for Mattel’s carefully picked out judges to cast an eye over your car and decide if it could be the next Hot Wheels 1:64 die-cast.

Starting with an online application you can fill out here, select cars will be chosen to go on display in Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday 30 August 2026, where the winner will be judged amongst other winners from around the globe, with one lucky owner taking home the prize of having their car immortalised as a 1:64 Hot Wheels die-cast for the world to purchase.

One of the judges is none other than Mad Mike Whiddett, one of the founding fathers of bringing the motorsport of drifting into the mainstream outside of Japan.

The talented Kiwi has grown acclaim past his driving ability, which scored him a championship win for Formula Drift Japan, but his ability to transform some overlooked cars into absolute monsters.

His choice of engine is unmistakably New Zealander with the rotary engine, but he goes beyond throwing ground-up re-engineered buzzy engines into RX-7s and MX-5s to genuinely creating ground-up cars like his 787D, featuring a five-rotor engine that not even Mazda engineers were game enough to build.

I had a chance to chat with him about what it actually takes to have your car turned into a Hot Wheels, given the fact that he’s had the opportunity multiple times now.

Mad Mike:
"If you've got a custom car that you and your family or friends have been piecing together in the garage, don't let that hold you back from entering the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. Entries close May 31st, and who knows, your car may just be immortalised as a 1:64 Hot Wheels and sold all around the world.

"But, for me, it's probably a little different than most of the other Hot Wheels that are created, because they've got an amazing team of designers.

"I remember going to a Hot Wheels factory in Los Angeles and walking into their office there, and my son Lincoln, at the time, he was only six years old, he actually noticed Mad Bull, which is my original RX-7, was up on the inspiration board.

"This is before we had immortalised anything of mine. My buddy and I were having some lunch down at a cafe in LA. He brought along one of his mates, who was one of the head people on the designing side at Hot Wheels.

"Linc was just kind of being amongst it at this cafe restaurant, talking about all these Bad to the Blades and Bone Crusher (original classic Hot Wheels designs), and his knowledge just rubbed off on June, who was a staff member from Hot Wheels, and it just kind of escalated from there.

“So, we secretly took Linc up there, and that was where the connection started. It just went from Linc being a bit of a crash-test dummy for Hot Wheels and getting sent boxes of toys, to giving pure and honest feedback, then immortalising some of our fleet, which has now turned into an amazing collaboration."

MM: “It's not a money thing for me, it's like just seeing the personalities of the cars. I feel we've got a huge fleet of vehicles now from show cars, our street cars, drift cars, road racing cars and they've all got their own unique personality and style. But I look back at probably my favourite car I have is Mad Bull, and that car was $5000 and it's sitting right now in the Mad Lab next to Mad Mac, which was a four-million-dollar platform.

“If I could only keep one of those two cars, I'd have the $5000 RX-7 because I feel it's got the character, the personality, the stories, and it can inspire kids. You know, if that was a Hot Wheels car, then it doesn’t matter if they're young or old, people are fully customising Hot Wheels as well.

“Doesn't matter what budget you're on, what you're building, it's unique, and it's a cool opportunity.”

“I think for me this is the coolest part; it's always been a dream from being a kid playing with Hot Wheels. I remember having the Crash Ups when I was little, which were the ones that you would smash, and the doors would flip off. I grew up with mum; we didn't have a lot of money, but I remember that was one of my highlights.

“So, to be able to have my dream become reality and have our cars immortalised into a Hot Wheels. I think now, having these Hot Wheels Legends Tours, that we've done multiple now, these go all around the world for us. It kind of enables other people's dreams to become reality, and it doesn't matter if it's a full crazy custom shop that's building, some of these cars that have won have been just having that garage spirit.

“When I look at a car, it's got its own personality, it's got its own style and character, and sometimes that's going to sell as a Hot Wheels car more than the value of the platform they started with.”

There are a few prerequisites, such as the car must be road-registered, but this year they’re doubling down hard on “garage spirit”, so those looking at solo builds or DIY jobs are urged to apply.

Entries close on 31 May 2026, so you’ll need to get in quick.

Zane brings with him experience in the print and online field, writing for titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine and BikeReview in the two-wheel space, both during and following his journalism studies at the University of Wollongong. He also brings real hands-on experience with an extensive self-built modified car collection, a lifetime of racing in various forms of motorsport, and a current weekend hobby of drifting. His current role at Drive sees him apply his knowledge to testing and reviewing the latest cars, with the odd historical feature thrown in there to keep you informed and prepared for your next purchase.

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