We are happy to announce that the next Hot Wheels to wear the JNC logo is the 1972 Toyota Corolla Levin. Not only that, but the car is part of the Team Transport series, which comes with a matching truck. The set is part of the premium Car Culture line, which means they’re intended for collectors and feature greater detail than a typical $1 Hot Wheels.
The TE27 is one of our favorite Hot Wheels castings from the past few years. The classic Toyota has been missing from the Hot Wheels lineup for far too long, and in fact is rarely seen in 1/64-scale diecast form. Obviously it’s the Toyota Corolla Levin variant, as its real-life Sprinter Trueno twin was never sold in the US.
Funnily enough, you still get a Sprinter in the set. That’s because the truck is called the Sakura Sprinter. It’s not a real truck, but recalls Japanese cab-overs from the 1970s or 1980s, sort of a cross between a Nissan Diesel CW20 and Hino Ranger. It’s the perfect baller hauler for a vintage Japanese race car.
As denoted by their gold flame logo, the premium Hot Wheels cars feature rubber tires and a metal base instead of the typical plastic you’d find on a mainline car. There’s also and highly detailed paint depicting trim, grilles and vents, emblems, and head and taillights with multiple colors.
The JNC logo appears on the roll call on the rear quarter panels, in good company with Advan and Sparco. Also represented are the individual rivets for the fender flares, which, like on the real car, are metal.
The back of the truck folds down to make a ramp and the container is spacious enough to fit the car inside. The set retails for around $16 and is currently available at most big-box stores that carry Hot Wheels. Happy hunting!
Wow! Congratulations on the recognition!
The exterior design of the TE27 / E20 Corolla (Levin) deeply reminds me of coupes and other cars that were sold and made in the same period (both of which share the same specifications like having a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for ex.) like Alfa Romeo 105 / 115 coupes and the Pininfarina-designed Peugeot 504 (as well as Toyota and its Corolla’s fellow compatriots from Mazda like 808 aka 818 due to trademark issues with Peugeot over latter’s tradition of naming cars with a zero in the middle, Grand Familia and Kia Brisa II in South Korea) but the look of it (TE27 / E20) as a Hot Wheels toy (since Hotwheels in a hashtag spelling is owned by Hasbro) made me remind of the brand would have developed toy versions of cars that are were supposedly not made for US (ranging from senses to roads) meaning Hot Wheels would be trying to make diecast collections of European (mostly non-German as in non-Mercedes, non-BMW and non-VW) vehicles like those sold by Renault Group (Dacia included as its models are considered as off-road friendly), Stellantis (formerly PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat SpA but cars from these units plus Europe-centric Jeep models) and others (including RIP Saab).
It would have been like Tomica doing that idea, as suggested that last time I tried to find them in public was that none of them sold diecast toy versions of Renault nor former PSA / FCA (only the bulky and antiquarian Wrangler did) products, although Japanese connections would be proven to Renault and former Fiat SpA (as well as Volvo) products, for examples – Fiat Sedici is was normally a first-generation Suzuki SX4 with badges that are necessary to be replaced and half of Renault Group products have links with Nissan (and later Mitsubishi) but Renault, Alpine and Dacia cars have different body designs (which reflects traditional stereotypes of European cars) in contrast to their Japanese stablemates at RNM / RNMA.
The body kits seen in TE27 / E20 as being rear-wheel driven would have been ideally viewed as they’re applied on the Gallic lion’s 504 and 505 (since these two are also the last of France’s FR layout production cars), the Vulcar Warrener from Grand Theft Auto’s HD universe (as Vulcar is GTA’s Volvo analog and Warrner had styling references from 504 and that of AR aka Alfa as well as FF layout-only cars Renault 12 and Lancia Fulvia) is the closest to a non-Teutonic European car that ending up look like a typical Japanese racing-type car not just with TE27 / E20 but also fellow Japanese Datsun cars etc. of the same period of time…
Ok. I’ll be on the hunt for this one when it comes out. I’ve got the MK3 Supra with 4-Runner Team Transport; as well as the Toyota Soarer. This TE27 looks great.
“MK3 Supra with 4-Runner Team Transport”
Ooh, I’d love that!
HW is starting to sell the Sakura Sprinter in sets with authentically-liveried American muscle as well. I suppose it resembles a Ford C-Series or Chevy-GMC 72″ Steel Tilt as much as it does Hino/UD/Isuzu. But the first one is a Plymouth factory-backed ‘Cuda and it doesn’t look like the Dodge cabover (which used the A-series van cab) at al!l