[REVIEW] Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL

Lesney Matchbox time is here again. As I hinted in the last review, some of these installments will not be Lesney products. This one isn’t just not a Lesney Matchbox model, but is from their nemesis. Today we examine the Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL. This casting entered the range in 1982, and had a long run, remaining until 1999. As one can see, this is an example of Hot Wheels getting it right:

Some may recall I reviewed another variation of this casting last year:

This version is pretty much the same, save for the wheels. I had a couple examples of this casting in my childhood fleet, and I enjoyed them as I was a fan of the W126 from a young age. Hot Wheels really did a good job with this, as proportion is excellent, exterior detail is accurate, the interior is also well done with an accurate dashboard shape, the suspension has some travel, and the colors work well with the car. One may notice a fun bonus on this casting, the dog in the back seat - I have always imagined it as a German Shepherd. I suspect scale is around 1:65. From all angles, there’s no mistaking this for anything else:

Front and rear have similar detail, with the wipers on apparent Euro lights, and the trunk star being nice features:

The base is metal, typical for HW of this era, and features technical and identifying details. With the very 80s gold “Hot Ones” wheels, this is from earlier in the production run:

A glimpse of the pooch in the back seat:

I am definitely glad to have this casting in my collection. This one brings back memories, and it has quality that in my opinion is superior to many castings from this brand. I found this in a bin at a toy show for $1, I think, it was too nice to not take home:

A 1:1 from autoevolution: