The 10 Rarest Hot Wheels Ever Made

9 min readMay 3, 2018

If you own any of the Rarest Hot Wheels, You Might As Well Call in Rich to Work!

It used to be that when we saw Hot Wheels cars sitting around, we thought about the good times we had crashing them mercilessly into each other off of bright orange ramps. Now we’re thinking a little differently, and after you read this list, you might be, too. Now you can tell your friends your giant collection of Hot Wheels isn’t just taking over a room in your house — it’s an investment portfolio waiting to be cashed in. Not all Hot Wheels are worth money, but if you happen to be lucky enough to have any of the rarest Hot Wheels cars, we have some good news. You could be rich!

1968 White Custom Camaro

The Camaro from 1968 is a pretty rare car — in the right color. It was one of the first cars released in 1968, and there were several colors. The metallic red version can sell for $500, which isn’t bad, but the white version puts that to shame. You see, the white custom Camaro was a prototype, and there weren’t many produced. This means it’s almost impossible to get your hands on one. There are only a few known to exist, but if you happen to have one, it could make you as much as $2,500!

1970 Red Baron with White Interior

The Red Baron has a lot of history. It originally stems from the imaginary villain Snoopy faces when he sits atop his dog house. A company called Monogram released the first version of this as a model kit, and then Hot Wheels eventually turned it into a die-cast treasure. Most of the models have a black interior, but on a very rare occasion, a 1970’s edition shows up with a white interior. These white interior cars are incredibly rare. Even hardcore collectors are unsure if they’re a prototype or a very limited run. Either way, the only way this car has ever been found is loose. If you happen to have the white interior version, it could make you villainous $3,000!

1995 Collector Number 271 Funny Car

There are said to be only 12 of these cars in existence. There was an error in the printing, and given that cards are printed on sheets of 12, it’s believed the error only lasted for one sheet. The sheet is blue with a white number. The good news for you? Only six of them have been found carded. Which means if you happen to be digging through your stash and find one of these funny cars still on card? You could be looking at as much as $3,500!

1970 Ed Shaver Custom AMX

The AMX was sold predominantly in America and was a fairly popular car — but that is not the version we are talking about. The Ed Shaver Custom AMX was only sold in the UK to mimic the drag-racer Ed Shaver and his Hot Wheels-sponsored car. The only difference between the American and the (much rarer) UK version is the stickers that were placed on the vehicle. This makes buying an actual UK version much harder. Care has to be taken to make sure the stickers are original and not some aftermarket addition. If you happen to have an original UK Ed Shaver Custom AMX in your position (with the real stickers), you could be holding as much as $4000 in your hands.

1974 Blue Rodger Dodger

When we were researching this car in more depth, we found it strange that the Hot Wheels wiki doesn’t mention it in blue, but all other sources say this car is legit. The most common version of this rather scarce car comes in plum, and then is followed in rarity by the plum paint with a white interior. Both are pretty rare, but they don’t hold a candle to the blue version of this flaming die-cast monster. Sure, if it was a real car you would never be able to see over the engine, but as a Hot Wheels? This thing is stunning. If you happen to have the old school Blue Rodger Dodger? Well, the highest sale we know of was back in 2011. Someone spent an insane $8,000 to get their hands on a 1974 Blue Rodger Dodger on card.

1969 “Cheetah” base Python (Hong Kong)

The first prints of the Python were very much a case of looking before you leap. The Python was one of the first Hot Wheels produced and in their haste, they didn’t secure the rights to the name “Cheetah” before they produced the cars. As it turns out, the name Cheetah was already in use, and Hot Wheels had to quickly pivot to the new (and more common) model name Python. The name Cheetah can be found on the bases of a rare few of the first printed Pythons, making them worth a monumental sum. Some of these Cheetah prototypes made it into the wild and people have found them among their collections. The Cheetah base Pythons were most often made in Hong Kong and can be worth up to an incredible $10,000!!!

1968 Hot Pink Beatnik Bandit

The Beatnik Bandit was a favorite of the early models. It was based on a prototype car with a domed roof and a joystick instead of a steering wheel (come on, it was an awesome idea. The wheel is sooo outdated). Now Hot Wheels had struck gold with boys, but they set their sights on another group — little girls. So Hot Wheels tried something new and released the Beatnik Bandit in hot pink. The thing is, they didn’t make a very large run of this stylish pink car — which makes it worth a small fortune. If you happen to have this radical racer sitting in your collection, you could be looking at as much as $15,000! It is worth so much that it made our list of the top ten most valuable die-cast cars of all time.

1970 “Mad Maverick” base Mighty Maverick

Another example of Hot Wheels looking before they leaped. This car is so rare, and so valuable, it’s basically legendary. We do know they exist, as they have been found in collections. The problem — no one’s selling. Okay, a bit of history on this incredibly rare and coveted car. The “Mad Maverick” name was only used in the prototype and pre-production phase of the Mighty Maverick’s existence. The car was renamed to the Mighty Maverick because Johnny Lightning owned a Ford Maverick named the “Mad Maverick.” This forced Hot Wheels to change their car’s name to the Mighty Maverick. The newly named Mighty Maverick became a very popular car that was mass produced, but the prototype base? Well, we have some rough news for you completionists out there — Only three are known to exist in the entire world. Even worse? None of the three known models have ever gone to auction.

What we do know is this: this car is guaranteed to be worth thousands. This die-cast car is a unicorn, and the value is currently immeasurable. We placed it in the number three spot on our list for three reasons: there are only three in existence, it has a truly legendary status among collectors, the fact that none have ever sold. We know it would sell for more than the Beatnik Bandit, but we doubt it could ever beat out the next two cars.

1969 Pink Rear-Loading Volkswagen Beach Bomb

This Beach Bomb is also a prototype (are you sensing a theme here?). The Pink Rear-Loading Beach Bomb is another legendary car among collectors — primarily because there is only one known in existence. Sure there are rumors of a second model — but we think that it exists more in the hope and tears of obsessed collectors, not in reality. This prototype is most likely one of a kind.

The Beach Bomb was released, but it had one huge change. The mass produced version has its surf boards stored in a side compartment, not loaded into the back of the van. This little change makes a giant difference in the value. A 1969 rare colored Volkswagen Beach Bomb sells for around $800 in 2018, but this prototype is valued at an insane $125,000!!! We doubt you have one, because as we said, only one is known to exist. Does this car sound familiar? We’ve written about the Rear Loading Pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb before. It even made our top ten most valuable die-cast car list. This prototype is considered the rarest Hot Wheels car ever — by collectors, but we have one more on our list that tops it.

40th Anniversary Diamond Encrusted Otto

Now you might disagree with us on the details, as this was never a production model. There was no opportunity to ever own this car. It was commissioned by Hot Wheels themselves as a 40th anniversary present to the company. We wish that someone would commission us a birthday present this valuable, because Hot Wheels really outdid themselves. They made a car so rare, so valuable, and so sparkly, we could never bring ourselves to race it down a track — we might lose a diamond that way. It is one of the single most expensive die-cast cars ever made, and we can see why.

This car was encrusted with 1,388 blue diamonds, 988 black diamonds, 319 white diamonds, 8 rubies, and is made out of 18K white gold. It took celebrity jeweler Jacob Arasheben 600 hours to assemble! The real kicker that sets this incredible, totally untouchable Hot Wheels apart? It cost Hot Wheels $140,000!!! With a price tag like that, and the fact only one was ever produced, you can’t deny the fact that it is the rarest Hot Wheels car ever.

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Originally published at gemr.com on May 3, 2018.