MINICARS: Hot Wheels’ mid-engined Honda CR-X

In 1981 Hot Wheels debuted the Hot Ones, a line of diecast cars with an articulating suspension and thin axles for a smooth, frictionless ride across your tabletop. Mattel has been busy re-launching many of the iconic cars from this series, as well as adding new models that weren’t included in the original collection but probably should have been. Case in point: the Honda CR-X, an 1980s icon of sport compacts.

However, in true Hot Wheels spirit, this is no ordinary concours-grade CR-X. It’s a Mugen-kitted mid-engine monster from the mind of Ryu Asada, Mattel’s resident Honda head from across the hall at Matchbox.

Apparently the car was loosely inspired by King, a two-volume manga by Keiichiro Shinmura about a guy who converts his CR-X from FF to MR to become “king” of the touge.

Gold SSR MkIIs may not be available on the Hot Wheels, but the diecast’s techno Mazda 626-esque rims are straight from the Ultra Hots, another 1980s Hot Wheels line that consisted of top sports cars of the era like the Ferrari 308, Porsche 928 and BMW M1. Good company for this pocket rocket. See more scans from the manga like the one below at HondaCRX.info.

Images: HotWheelsCollectors, Kodansha, HondaCRX.info]

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7 Responses to MINICARS: Hot Wheels’ mid-engined Honda CR-X

  1. E-AT_me says:

    i’m a super honda-head. this is such great to see. i can’t wait to go grab ’em all! 😀

  2. GEN2TWINCAM says:

    Not if this Honda Head gets there first!!

  3. kevin t says:

    Freakin cool

  4. got-rice says:

    hopefully, these won’t be hoarded by the HW heads

  5. slimwhitman says:

    As an owner of a ’86 CRX, I was excited for this release. Now that I see it….not so much. I was hoping for something that was more similar to “stock”. This is way too wacky. It barely looks like a CRX. I am bummed.

  6. Samuel Harper says:

    I agree Slim. The weird longitudinal rear engine swap was too much. Not sure how you’d even pull that off. Makes no sense, since you can easy just take the whole transverse engine transaxle unit and put it into the rear. A longitudinal engine would require some kind of heavy S-drive (or whatever they call it) to move power forward, then back again into a transaxle, which would have to fit under the engine. In any case, I assumed it was supposed to be a drag-racer, since rear-engine swap CRX’s handle terribly, with all the weight in the back. At least he kept it as a DOHC 4-banger.

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