MINICARS: Hot Wheels bosozoku-style Mad Manga

Holy effing crap. If you had told us a year ago that one day Hot Wheels, the most red-blooded American toy there is, would have a takeyari-equipped bubble-flared shark-nosed zokusha in its lineup, we would have called you baka. And yet, here it is — the 2012 Mad Manga.

This is the brain child of Mattel’s Jun Imai, who’s brought us iconic nostalgics like the hakosuka and kenmeri Skylines, the AE86, Datsun 510, and SA22 RX-7. Imai-san tells us that this car was loosely inspired by the C110, which you can catch a glimpse of in the C-pillars. The rest, from ankle-slicer air dam to mile-high exhaust, is pure Japanese bosozoku excess, and we adore it.

Mattel lets Matchbox handle the stock looking scale models, freeing up Hot Wheels to go nuts with hot rods, lowriders, and race cars — the extreme side of car culture — and you can’t get more nutty than a purple stars-and-lightning schemed zokusha.

[Image: HotWheelsCollectors]

permalink.
This post is filed under: bosozoku, minicars and
tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

22 Responses to MINICARS: Hot Wheels bosozoku-style Mad Manga

  1. Kev says:

    Are my eyes deceiving me?

    Way to go, Hot Wheels!!!

  2. Nigel says:

    That’s awesome….just awesome.
    Another great one Jun.

  3. E-AT_me says:

    it’s nice and all, but how does it handle down the orange track?..

  4. josh says:

    that’s all kinds of awesome 😀

  5. Bonzi Lon says:

    Bosozoku & Rad Rod, my 2 favorite custom styles.

  6. Toy_yoda says:

    Ditto, haha!

  7. Tyler says:

    Best thing since things were invented. LOVE IT. I hope they come out with many boso paint jobs so I can buy multiple examples of each one! Thank you Jun!

  8. Jun says:

    Just want this to be very clear: It’s “inspired” by many of the cars we love, but not based on it. You might see a similarity or two, but this is a HW original design all the way. 🙂

  9. Nigel says:

    I think see Laurel C230 in there also…

  10. eastwest6 says:

    Jun Rocks!

  11. Killer Tofu says:

    Awesome! Is it out yet?

  12. Killua says:

    I have no words for this! It’s just too awesome!

  13. got-rice says:

    While I’m not so crazy over Boso, I definitely can appreciate the Japanese roots. LOL, as predicted some of the HW collectors aren’t feeling it…I guess it’s too “culture” for them.

  14. Sarcasmo says:

    A nice CONGRATS to HW for holding it down, and giving car enthusiasts of ALL backgrounds what we want.

    Let the Godfather trumpets play!! 😀

  15. Jeff Koch says:

    Found a bunch hanging on North Carolina pegs this week. Took them all. Now to search locally, here in Phoenix…

  16. Jacobo says:

    In 2021 the mad manga has the best graphics so far!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *