Hot Wheels toys have often been about cartoonish excess—or occasionally just cartoons—like dual engines, giant scoops, outrageous color-changing paint. This life-size Hot Wheels graced the SEMA show circuit last year as a static display. Now it can do a whole lot more, and it’s as outrageous as anything Hot Wheels has ever made thanks in large part to Ford’s impressive three-cylinder EcoBoost.
This freak machine is the Hot Wheels Rip Rod, a show car built in collaboration between the toy giant and Ford. After its turn on the SEMA floor last year, Ford Racing mad scientists in the U.S. and the U.K. began working to put power to the plaything.
The Bandito Brothers-designed Rip Rod now rips around using the same powerplant that propels the miserly Ford Fiesta. Make no mistake, though: This thing’s not tuned for fuel efficiency. The crazy car combines an off-roader’s gnarly tires and super-compliant suspension with the squat, squared-off body of an El Mirage land-speed hot rod.
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And there’s something strangely appropriate about the tiny engine powering this batty blaster. The first generation of speed freaks that set out on dry lakes in pursuit of maximum velocity weren’t all blessed with fire-breathing V-8s. Plenty of them made do (and still do) with formerly frugal four-bangers. The Rip Rod gives that history a sideways nod, and sounds bonkers doing it. Skip ahead to the 57-second mark for the hot slideways action.
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via Agya
