Hot Wheels Crowns 2024 Global Legends Tour Winner
Chilean home-built race car will soon be reimagined as a die-cast available worldwide…
Mattel Inc. announced the 2024 winner of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, dubbed “the world’s largest traveling car show,” during the virtual Global Grand Finale held Nov. 16.
After taking home the top spot during the 2024 Chilean tour stop, a home-built race car, nicknamed “La Liebre,” secured the global victory and will be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.
The Hot Wheels design team will now transform the life-sized car into a die-cast model for collectors and fans to enjoy in 1:64 scale.
Hosted by motorsports ambassador Jarod DeAnda, this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour Global Grand Finale showcased 10 builds from around the world, the company revealed in a press release announcing the winner. Tasked with choosing the entry that best represents authenticity, creativity and garage spirit, the panel of judges joining the Hot Wheels Design Team featured:
- Jay Leno, TV host and car enthusiast
- Dalal Elsheikh, automotive experience designer
- Larry Chen, renowned automotive photographer
- Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, actor and comedian
- Toni Breidinger, NASCAR driver
- Juca Viapri, Mexican automotive influencer and car customizer
“This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought out so many incredible builds, making it difficult to select just one, however, the mission behind the ‘La Liebre’ built by Cars & Coffee Chile was emblematic of what the tour is all about,” said Ted Wu, senior vice president and global head of design, vehicles and building sets at Mattel. “Not only is it an extremely impressive build, but it was created to help grow the car community in Chile and inspire others to participate. That’s what makes this vehicle, and the team behind it, deserving of the win and entry into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.”
In 2013, Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini co-founded Cars and Coffee Chile as a nonprofit organization to grow the car community and culture in Chile. The “La Liebre” project began as a method of promoting their organization and engaging local automotive enthusiasts.
After acquiring the Falcon, a custom-built Chevrolet 350 engine producing 600 hp was installed and mated to a Saenz 910 5-speed transmission with straight-cut gears. The original chassis was heavily modified by Baufer Garage and currently consists of a tubular frame and roll cage.
“La Liebre” weighs less than 2,000 pounds, thanks to the tube chassis and custom fiberglass body that was developed to maximize aerodynamics.
The Cars and Coffee Chile team behind “La Liebre” includes Giuseppe Casagrade, Maurizio Moschini, Pablo Olmos, Omar Aguilar, Nicolás Orellana and Jose Ignacio Barra.
Celebrating car builders and enthusiasts around the world in their drive to be legendary, the 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour traveled through 13 countries with 11 regional stops in the United States, the release noted. New Tour stops for 2024 included visits to Colombia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Hot Wheels team and local automotive personalities evaluated more than 5,000 vehicle entries with millions of event attendees around the world.
Since its launch in 2018 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Hot Wheels, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour presented by Mobil 1 has grown from a U.S.-based series of local Walmart events to the world’s largest traveling car show, bringing in builders and automotive fans through both virtual and live events.
