Hot Wheels Announces 2020 Legends Tour Winner
Mattel has announced the winner of the 2020 Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The 1970 Pontiac Trans Am custom car, built by Riley Stair of Sacramento, will be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends and will join the Hot Wheels collection as a 1:64 scale diecast. The 1970 Pontiac Trans Am is the third fan’s car to become a Hot Wheels diecast and will hit store shelves worldwide in 2021. The announcement was made during the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Finale event by Ted Wu, Vice President of Global Design for Vehicles at Mattel.
The final stop was live-streamed from Jay Leno’s Garage and co-hosted by Jay Leno and motorsports ambassador Jarod DeAnda. Viewers tuned into Jay Leno’s Garage YouTube Page and Hot Wheels’ Facebook Page to see the winner determined by Hot Wheels designers and car-loving celebrity judges Jay Leno, Snoop Dogg, Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias and Brionna Lynch. Special guests including 007 driver Ben Collins, Paxton Booth and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart also participated in the event.
Riley Stair’s build was chosen from thousands of cars entered in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, which had 14 stops throughout Europe, LATAM, Asia and North America. While all finalists who competed at the global finale event embodied Hot Wheels high standards or performance and design, the winning custom build was selected for its true representation of the Hot Wheels garage spirit, the company said.
“By going virtual, the third year of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour demonstrated tremendous growth, engaging over 10 million fans from around the world,” said Ted Wu, Vice President, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel. “With more vehicle entries this year than ever before, we know we found a special build that embodies the Hot Wheels challenger spirit with the 1970 Pontiac Trans Am. You see the vehicle and instantly know it is meant to be a Hot Wheels with the unique frame, engine, and purpose-driven build.”
The 1970 Pontiac Trans Am is a one-of-a-kind race car engineered by Riley Stair on the side of his parents’ house. Revving up to 10,000 RPM, the vehicle’s motor is entirely custom-built, and the foundation for the engine is a 400-cubic inch LS V8.
“To have my car immortalized as a Hot Wheels die-cast for car lovers of all ages to enjoy means the world to me,” said Legends Tour Winner Riley Stair. “To think that my car in a 1:64 scale could make a lasting impression for a young kid who loves cars, as Hot Wheels have for so many of us, is a dream come true. I can’t wait to see my nephew Noah pushing my car around the living room.”
A team of judges, including Hot Wheels designers, celebrities and automotive influencers, chose the Legends Tour winner for its authenticity, originality and garage spirit. The Legends Tour winner’s life-size car and diecast version will also join the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends, a collection of one-of-a-kind cars immortalized as Hot Wheels die-casts that meet the brand’s high benchmarks of style and performance.
