Crazy Cool Cars

Hot Wheels may be small, but engineering them takes as much time as designing a full-size car! Mattel’s designers use real-life 1-ton cars and turn them into a 2- to 3-inch toy that can fit in the palm of your hand. It takes 12 to 18 months to produce each model before it hits stores.

“I need to be both a toy expert and a car expert,” explains Hot Wheels designer Bryan Benedict. “I worked as a ‘real’ car designer for 10 years, but I have been having more fun designing Hot Wheels.”

Hot Wheels may be small, but they take as long to make as a full-size car! Mattel’s designers use real-life cars and turn them into a toy that can fit in the palm of your hand. It takes 12 to 18 months before a new model is ready to hit stores.

“I need to be both a toy expert and a car expert,” explains Bryan Benedict. He's the designer for Hot Wheels. “I worked as a ‘real’ car designer for 10 years," he says. "But I have been having more fun designing Hot Wheels.” 

Benedict starts each design with a simple sketch. He is mostly known for his fantasy designs. These include his world of Character Cars based on characters from movies, comics, and video games. But everything he designs rolls like a real car, even if it is a fantasy car. So Benedict often works with car companies to make sure his Hot Wheels version mirrors the real thing as much as possible.

Once Benedict finishes his sketches for a new car, he sends them to a digital sculptor. The sculptor uses a 3-D printer to build a model of the car. Then a team of engineers runs multiple tests on the model cars to make sure they zoom properly. They also make sure that all the parts can be manufactured. Benedict oversees the entire process, frequently checking with his team on the progress of each new design.

“I love being a part of the creative process, and I love seeing the final results of our hard work in stores,” says Benedict. “It’s great when kids tell me how much they like one of my designs.”

Benedict starts each design with a simple sketch. He is mostly known for his fantasy designs. These include his world of Character Cars. They're based on characters from movies, comics, and video games. But everything he designs rolls like a real car, even if it is a fantasy car. So Benedict often works with car companies. He wants to make sure the toy car version looks like the real thing as much as possible.

Once Benedict finishes his sketches, he sends them to a digital sculptor. The sculptor uses a 3-D printer to build a model of the car. Engineers runs tests on the model cars to make sure they zoom properly. They also make sure that their factory can make all the parts. Benedict oversees the whole process. He often checks with his team on the progress of each new design.

“I love being a part of the creative process. And I love seeing the final results of our hard work in stores,” says Benedict. “It’s great when kids tell me how much they like one of my designs.”