Hot Wheels offers new 1951 ‘Hirohata Merc’ for 2024

Mecum Auctions sold the original “Hirohata Merc” in January 2022 for $1.95 million (the new owner wrote a check for more than $2.1 million after adding the 10% buyer’s commission), and now you can have one for just a buck and quarter — if you’re lucky enough to find one on retail store pegs.

Leading the brand-new Hot Wheels “mainline” cars coming out for 2024 is an all-new, approximately 1:64-scale casting of the famous 1951 Mercury custom built in 1952 by Sam and George Barris with Frank Sonzogni of LA’s Barris Kustoms for owner Bob Hirohata. It was not the first bathtub Mercury Club Coupe to get the top-chop treatment—heck, Sam Barris had already chopped the top on his own 1949 Merc before he dropped the Hirohata’s top—but it is believed to be the first 1951 Merc to get a top chop (1951 Mercs had a unique roof that differed from the otherwise-similar 1949 and ‘50s Mercurys). With its innovative hardtop-style side window treatment on a chopped top, unique trim components and numerous other modifications, the Hirohata Merc quickly became the quintessential lowered custom Merc. In the decades that followed, its swagger was copied over and over on Mercurys across the United States, from its Buick side trim to its simple “floating” grille bar to its frenched ’52 Lincoln taillamps in extended rear fenders—all before James Dean appeared on the big screen in 1955 with a mildly customized 1949 Merc coupe.

Americans became well-acquainted with Bob Hirohata’s Merc through many magazines of the day. (It's so famous, it's still appearing in magazines, including Old Cars.) The Ice Green and Organic Green Transparent-painted Merc plastered the covers of the March 1953 issues of Hop Up and Motor Trend. Later that year, in the October 1953 issue of Rod & Custom magazine, Hirohata’s cross-country road trip from California to the Indianapolis Custom Show in the Merc gained the car more attention. Shortly thereafter, it hit the big screen with an appearance with Mamie Van Doren in the 1955 motion picture “Running Wild,” now repainted in a “gold lime mist” color, as Hirohata once described it.

Hirohata sold the car in 1955 or so and it passed through a few other owners. It also received at least one more color change before Jim McNeil bought it in 1959 or 1960. McNeil drove the car until 1964 and then parked it until one-time Rod & Custom Editor Pat Ganahl tracked down the thought-to-be-lost car in McNeil’s garage during the late 1980s. Ganahl gathered many leading and legendary customizers to restore the car with McNeil, some of whom had originally worked on the car, and it was beautifully restored. The "Hirohata Merc" was sold at Mecum Auction’s 2022 Kissimmee sale by McNeil’s family a few years after his 2018 death.

Shortly after the "Hirohata Merc" was restored in 1997, it was featured in numerous publications (again). At the same time, it was crafted as a true 1:64-scale model in Hot Wheels’ Legends series as part of a set that included three other Barris Kustoms: the "Ala Kart," Elvis Cadillac and another Barris-kustomized Merc coupe. The set was expensive at $119.96 (or four monthly installments of $29.99 each), but the scale cars were crafted to such a high quality they transcended being toys. The tiny bumpers, grille bar and side trim were separate chrome-looking pieces; the Lincoln taillamps were transparent red lenses; and the Sombrero wheel covers were authentic and even chrome-looking. The interiors and chassis were likewise extremely detailed—much more so than a standard $1 Hot Wheels car swinging on the pegs of the local Kmart. These cars couldn’t be bought at the local Kmart or Target store, either, but had to be ordered by mail.

The Hot Wheels Legends Series marked the pinnacle of the level of detail that Mattel would instill in its pocket-size Hot Wheels cars. There were other four-car sets in the Hot Wheels Legends series and even 1:24 and 1:64 pairings of an individual car, such as a custom 1949 Mercury in both scales, and the ZZ Top “CadZZilla” custom 1948 Cadillac fastback in both scales.

When the Hot Wheels Legends series ceased, the toymaker’s "Hirohata Merc" casting continued on in its 100% Collectibles line and then its Kalifornia Kustoms series, each time with a unique paint scheme that never appeared on the actual "Hirohata Merc." The 100% Collectibles and Kalifornia Kustoms series priced cars at about $10 each ($20 for a set of two), a much lower price point than the Hot Wheels Legends’ $29.99-per-car price point. These series are now out of production, and along with it, Hot Wheels’ original "Hirohata Merc" casting stopped being cast.

Already a fan of the "Hirohata Merc," I was literally giddy when I saw Hot Wheels first offering the Hirohata Merc in 1:64 scale. The moment back in 1997 when I began seeing magazine ads for the Hot Wheels Legends Barris Kustom Series, I traded my hard-earned greenbacks for the two-tone green Merc and the other three cars in the set. Writing a check for the full $119.96 was a bit painful—that was a lot of bread for a college student like me— but when the set arrived, there wasn’t a moment of regret. I very well remember the summer day the set containing the tiny "Hirohata Merc" arrived. I was sitting in the shade of my parents’ garage during their garage sale when the delivery driver pulled up. We rarely received packages, so I knew what he had to be delivering. Sure enough, the package had my name on it and I immediately tore into the box. The set has since held a special place in my embarrassingly large toy car collection. On one of the occasions where I saw the "Hirohata Merc" in person, George Barris was present and I had him sign the acrylic cover to my Hot Wheels Legends set, although the signature faded with time. My colleagues have joked that items with Barris’ prolific signature are probably worth less than those without it, but it holds a special memory for me. I’ve since collected Hot Wheels’ "Hirohata Merc" in nearly all of its other appearances (100% Collectibles, Kalifornia Kustoms, etc.).

The new "Hirohata Merc" Hot Wheels car is a big deal, because it’s only the second time the famous car has been crafted in 1:64 scale, and it will be widely available wherever mainline Hot Wheels cars are sold (those cars priced at about $1.25 at stores). At that low price point, the new "Hirohata Merc" Hot Wheels car is much more financially available to all car enthusiasts, regardless of age and income, especially when compared to the previous and more detailed Hot Wheels Legends "Hirohata Merc" that retailed for almost $30 in 1997 money. While hanging on pegwall displays at Target, Walmart and grocery stores, the new Hot Wheels "Hirohata Merc" casting will bring custom cars (or kustom cars) within reach of young and old, and most importantly to the hobby, expose more people to that legendary car and custom car culture in general.

Hot Wheels’ new 2024 "Hirohata Mercury" was designed by Mattel designer Brendon Vetuskey, who is said to have worked with legendary retired Hot Wheels designer Larry Wood in creating the new mainline version for 2024. Wood reportedly loaned Vetuskey the resin model that he used to create the earlier Hot Wheels Legend "Hirohata Merc," and that model was 3D scanned for the new mainline edition. But make no mistake, these are truly two different 1:64 models of the same car from the same company.

The 2024 "Hirohata Merc" Hot Wheels mainline casting lacks the separate chrome trim and other highly detailed components of the Hot Wheels Legends version, as well as even several tampos (Hot Wheels’ “decals”) for the taillamps, window trim, grille, etc. The only tampos on the car are those for the Barris emblem on the front fenders and the headlamps.

Construction of the new mainline Hirohata Merc is also different than most other Hot Wheels, and rather ingenious. The new Hirohata Merc is built in such a way to keep the cost of production low while offering an impressive amount of detail in a $1-or-so toy. The upper Ice Green portion of the toy’s metal body has been cast as one part, with the lower Organic Green part of the body cast as part of the plastic chassis. Wedged between them is a silver tampo that adds silver to the swooping Buick side trim that divides the two greens. The dual spotlights are formed as part of this silver-plated interior pan and poke up through holes in the hood. The bumpers are also formed as part of the silver-plated interior pan and are wedged between the body and base. This method of construction keeps the new Hirohata Merc toy car within the five main components incorporated in a mainline Hot Wheels car (body, windows, interior, chassis, wheels), thereby allowing Mattel to keep this mainline Hot Wheels toy cars at such a low price.

Fans of this new Hot Wheels car will reportedly see two different-colored versions; the Ice Green and Organic Green version pictured here (the Hirohata Merc’s original and current paint scheme), and the Gold Lime Mist upper body as the car featured in “Running Wild.”

The Hot Wheels 2024 "Hirohata Merc" mainline car pictured here is probably an early production version that wasn’t completely assembled; it’s what Hot Wheels collectors call an “unspun” or “unriveted” version without the rivets installed to complete the assembly process. The car was also not fitted with the production wheels, but instead has Real Rider rubber tires and chrome five-spoke wheels that will not appear on production versions. The production version will likely come with plastic whitewall five-spoke wheels with black wheel spokes (WW5SP). Watch for it to swing on pegs at your local Hot Wheels-selling retailer in the Rod Squad series in late winter or spring 2024—I know I will be hunting for it.

UPDATE: The Hot Wheels casting of the Hirohata Merc in its original sea foam green upper body color and darker green lower body color debuted in early to mid 2024 in Case Code G and followed up in Case Code H. The later, lime green version appeared toward the end of 2024 in Case Code M and N. To end 2024 and lead into 2025, Hot Wheels put its own spin on the Hirohata Merc by coloring the body metallic purple with a white base that extended up the body sides, beneath the '53 Buick side trim, to give it a two-tone look again. The purple version appeared in 2025 Case Codes B and C, and the version in some B cases was a Super Treasure Hunt with Spectraflame purple paint and silver wheels and Real Rider rubber tires (type WWMD). 

Angelo Van Bogart is the editor of Old Cars magazine and wrote the column "Hot Wheels Hunting" for Toy Cars & Models magazine for several years. He has authored several books including "Hot Wheels 40 Years," "Hot Wheels Classics: The Redline Era" and "Cadillac: 100 Years of Innovation." His 2023 book "Inside the Duesenberg SSJ" is his latest. He can be reached at avanbogart@aimmedia.com

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