Mattel’s 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour winner announced

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., /PRNewswire/ -- Mattel announced the winner of the 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour. The Nash custom car, built by best friends Greg Salzillo and Dave Ford, will be joining the Hot Wheels collection as a 1:64 scale die-cast. The Nash is the second fan's car to become a die-cast and will hit shelves in-stores nationwide in 2020. The announcement was made at the 2019 SEMA Show, the world-renowned auto show in Las Vegas, where all finalist cars are on display alongside Hot Wheels fleet of life-size vehicles.

Salzillo and Ford's build was chosen from almost 5,000 custom cars entered in the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, which visited 20 cities throughout Europe and North America. 

"The second year of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought more cars, more fans and more competition – it's hard to choose just one winner to be made into a die-cast car!" said Ted Wu, VP, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel. "We chose 'The Nash' as it represents the true garage spirit by bringing generations together and creating an impressive car that's built, not bought. You see it and instantly know it's meant to be Hot Wheels with that color, the shape and the dice."

A team of judges, including Hot Wheels designers and automotive influencers, chose the Legends Tour winner for its authenticity, originality and garage spirit. The final team included celebrity auto aficionados Jay Leno, Adam Carolla, Richard Rawlings, Editor-in-chief of MotorTrend Ed Loh, international auto influencers Juca and Sidney Hoffmann, founder of Gumball 3000 Maximillion Cooper, legendary auto designer Dave Marek and Peter Brock, Speed Channel's Car Warriors host Brad Fanshaw, CarCast co-host Matt D'Andria, racecar drivers Jackie Heinricher and Collete Davis, YouTube sensation Tanner Fox, VP of SEMA Warren Kosikov and more.

The Legends Tour winner's life-size car and die-cast 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.

The Nash has a small-block Chevy 305. The car originally came stocked with 40-hp and now touts 300-hp. The build has custom headers coming out of the fenders, old-school stock steel wheels and original bias ply tires.

"We're extremely overwhelmed, proud and excited over what Dave and I created with The Nash," said Legends Tour Winner Greg Salzillo. "I can't wait to see my kids' faces when they see their dad's car turned into a real Hot Wheels toy."

To learn more about the Hot Wheels Legends Tour visit https://hotwheels.mattel.com/explore/HW_50th/en/legends-tour and follow #HotWheelsLegends.