Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Hot Wheels, by Mattel... the origin

The story of Hot Wheels ® really began back in 1945.

It was in that year that Elliot Handler, his wife Ruth and Harold “Matt” Matson started the company that was, at first, called Mattel Creations. They operated out of the Handler’s garage in suburban Los Angeles.

Their new company would eventually grow beyond their wildest dreams to become Mattel, Inc., reputed to be the world’s largest toy company.

Fast forward to 1967 and the development of a tiny, but ever so important, little wheel. Elliot had envisioned a line of die-cast miniature automobiles that would incorporate speed, power and performance.

So, at his request, Jack Ryan, Mattel’s head of design, developed a high-speed wheel and, in 1968, Mattel Hot Wheels ® die-cast cars were introduced to the world.

 The name “Hot Wheels ® ” was chosen after Elliot saw Harry Bradley’s custom Chevy El Camino in the Mattel parking lot. He commented that “Those are some hot wheels” and the name stuck.

http://www.delmartimes.net/news/2013/aug/02/automatters-hot-wheels/

No comments:

Post a Comment