The Mattel Dream Mobile
Co-designed for Hot Wheels by Ryu Asada and Neal Smith, Paul Brent Adams uncovers the roots of this trio of recent Hot Wheels releases.
Paul Brent Adams details a recent design by Ryu Asada that echoes Mattel's first car.
The American toy giant, Mattel, released its first toy car, a big plastic Dream Car, in 1953.To help celebrate its 75th Birthday in 2020, Mattel released a small-scale replica of that toy in the Hot Wheels range.To date, there have been three colour variants, all matching the colours used on the 1950s toy - and there should be several more colours to go. Given the importance of this model in the history of Mattel, and the later Hot Wheels line, it surely deserves a closer look.
Mattel was founded in 1945, by Harold 'Matt' Matson and Elliot Handler, the company name being a blend of their used first names.The company was based in California and, in 1953, released the Dream Car (No 465) - a 1950s vision of what cars of the future might look like, with a jet-age bubble canopy and lots of chrome. It was big model in selfcoloured plastic with metal trim, and a Speed Streak friction motor powering the front wheels. Design credit went to Elliot Handler and Joseph Kossoff.
At 101/2 inches (27 cm) long, and roughly 1/24 scale, it was an impressive toy.The clear plastic 'bomber bubble' canopy could be removed.The car was initially available in four colours: Red Blaze, Blue Bullet, Chartreuse Dreamliner, and Black Diamond, all with either silver or gold trim.The blue and black versions were later dropped, and replaced by two new colours,Yellow Jet and Ivory Bullet.The toys were shipped to retailers in cartons of two dozen cars, in an assortment of colours.
Hot Wheels included the slightly renamed Mattel Dream Mobile in its 2020 range, although the copyright date on the base says 2019.The first version was red with a grey plastic interior, silverprinted trim on the canopy and rear body, and a blue-tinted canopy.The chrome base also formed the large front bumper and grille.The car was part of the HW Dream Garage sub-series.The model is only 67 mm long, or just over two and a half inches. The M75 logo appears on the card, along with the words Mattel and “Est 1945”.
This is a really nice model.Very low slung, the wheels are almost hidden by the bodywork.As the body tapers towards the rear, the rear wheels have a narrower track than the front.This mini Dream Mobile is a very accurate reproduction of the original car, although the canopy is now fixed, and there is no friction motor.
The next two versions are part of the 2021 Hot Wheels range, but are now in the “Tooned” subseries of cartoon-like models. First to appear was the blue version, although I would call it turquoise.The interior is now yellow, and the canopy is clear.Apart from that the models are identical.The card for this model still carries the M75 logo in the corner.The latest variant is in green, with a red interior, and clear canopy and there is no M75 logo on its card.
That is the Dream Mobile line to date.Three models in red, blue, and green, following the colours of the original.We can therefore expect to see further versions in black, yellow, and ivory over the next year or two.There might even be models with gold rather than silver trim.Again, that would be faithful to the original. DC