Would you pay R2.3m for this toy car?
Would you pay R2.3m for a VW Kombi? How about paying that for a matchbox-sized toy? That s what this tiny Hot
’
Wheels pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb prototype is reportedly worth - about double what you d
’ pay for a brand new, full-sized Volkswagen Caravelle.
It belongs to US collector Bruce Pascal who was seven years old when Hot Wheels toy cars hit the market in 1968. The small diecast cars soon became the number one toy for boys, and Pascal spent his childhood racing and collecting them.
When he grew up, Pascal put his Hot Wheels in a cigar box at his mother s house, where it collected
’ dust for almost 30 years until he rediscovered it in 1999. My friend offered to pay me “
$200 [R3,050] for the cigar box. I declined and held onto the box and car, but it was his offer that made me start researching the value of Hot Wheels and pursuing collecting as an adult.”
His collection was growing by the thousands, but Pascal had his eye on the most valuable Volkswagen ever produced - the pink Volkswagen Beach Bomb prototype.
When Volkswagen and Hot Wheels first collaborated to make the model, it had a narrow body and surfboards hanging out of the back window. It was unable to stay upright when it rolled, so Hot Wheels redesigned the model, making the sides more weighted and moving the surfboards to the sides of the vehicle.
These redesigned models made it to production and were sold with a sticker sheet of flowers to decorate the vehicle, epitomising the 1970s flower power
“” era. However, it is the original prototypes with the surfboards out the back window that are extremely rare, as only Hot Wheels employees had access to them.
The pink Beach Bomb prototypes are the rarest of all these models and there are only two known to exist. Pascal tracked down the owners and eventually acquired both models. He has since sold one to a friend and collector, but the one in the best condition has stayed with him.
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