Twinkle, twinkle little car
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Forty years of making fast cars and now doing better than General Motors. At close of business on October 31, GM’s share price was 5.79. Compare that with 15.01 for Mattel, maker of Hot Wheels. Yes, Hot Wheels started in 1968 (hasn’t the time flown by?) and has also reached another major landmark -- its four billionth car.
This is it -- a 1:64-scale die-cast model known as the Custom Otto, adorned here with $140,000-worth of diamonds, 18k gold and white gold. And in a fitting celebration of a 40th anniversary, the taillights are rubies. There are nearly 3,000 round brilliant and baguette cut diamonds with a total weight of 22.94 carats. If this wasn’t enough, there’s also a custom-built presentation case with 40 bezel-set diamonds in a “Hot Wheels 40th Anniversary” logo and a rotating base on which the car rests, plus an LED display in the case that shows images of the car’s production.
The design and setting was done by Jason of Beverly Hills. This company has a roster of high-bling clients, such as Missy Elliot, Jessica Alba, LeBron James and Princess Latifa Al Saud (who, despite her name, is not a rapper but a real princess from Saudi Arabia).
Toys are for kids, right? So the good news is that this one-off creation went under Bonhams’ hammer at a recent auction hosted by the Petersen Automotive Museum. It went for $50,000 (over twice the amount of some pre-auction estimates), the proceeds going to a children’s charity -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. But the chances are that it won’t be zooming down an orange plastic track any time soon.