THE HISTORY OF HOT WHEELS

50 years of awesome, epic and woah!



Elliot Handler co-founded Mattel with his wife, Ruth. She was the brains behind a little famous icon named Barbie (maybe you know her?). Elliot wanted to do for boys what Ruth did for girls. So, he nabbed a GM car designer and an actual rocket scientist and together, they created a toy car that looked cooler and performed better than anything else out there.

The original Sweet 16 and iconic orange track revolutionized the toy car industry, and Hot Wheels die-cast cars are now the #1 selling toy in the world.*

For 50 years, Hot Wheels has inspired generations of kids to challenge the limits of their imaginations. And we’re not done yet!

*The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service/

G11/Annual 2017/Total Toys/Units