Back in 1964, the two-door 2+2 Porsche 911 was introduced in Stuttgart, Germany. The goal was to create stability at higher speeds, so aerodynamic lift was a challenge and thus aerodynamicist Hermann Burst was brought in to help design a car to achieve an improvement of drag and lift.
Sporting a rear-mounted flat-six engine and utilized a torsion bar suspension and it has stuck for generations to today.
The RS version (which is short for Rennsport in German which translates to “race sport”) would introduce the Carrera RS 2.7 that would feature a larger engine (2687 cc) and 210PS, Bosch mechanical fuel injection, a revised suspension and a ducktail rear spoiler, larger brakes and was lightweight.
The car was one of the best road cars of all time, known for its speed and dependability and the vehicle that would usher in the GT and RS road cars of today and for this vehicle alone, only 1,580 were made. Thus making it a wealthy car collector’s dream to own one.
In 2023, the Porsche 911 Carrera has now evolved to its current 992 series. But the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 is a pioneer of road racing. A pinnacle of German engineering at the time and very well respected today.
Of course, not many of us could afford to own a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7. But we can afford a Hot Wheels die-cast mini vehicle version of it!
So, let’s take a look at the 2023 Hot Wheels Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 / Retro Racers as part of the main line.
Let me start off by saying how awesome of a job Hot Wheels did with that gradiant blue of going lighter to darker and then the Carrera name with the darker blue shadowing behind it. It’s very nice!
For an inexpensive mainline vehicle, the car looks very good and to be perfectly honest, I think this would be a good car to modify, to paint the rims blue to match the blue in the Carrera and also add a the amber orange and lighter gray to the headlights and also the rear taillights. Making the rear grill black like the real version may be a bit difficult.
There is only so much to ask for in a mainline release, that you can hope for a more premium product that adds those details. On the rear,the Porsche logo is a bit off-balanced as the left side is slightly higher. I wish there was a tough of red underneath the tail lights. But I suppose that can be up to modders to mess with.
But for the price and what you get, this is a very good mold and solid vehicle considering it’s under $1.25. It’s eye-catching but in my eyes, immediately I looked at what can be done to make it look even better. And unfortunately, at the same time, it made think of those who will purchase so many for customizing and making it hard to find.
Part of my struggle with Hot Wheels is that it can really go far out in color and detail with many of their mainline vehicles, but for an iconic vehicle like the 911 Carrera RS 2.7, it irks me they couldn’t add the extra detail to it which is a bit surprising. And before people say, “well, you are a Tomica collector. You don’t like Hot Wheels”. I beg to differ because I own more Hot Wheels than Tomica. I grew up with Hot Wheels and Matchbox, but I don’t like what has Hot Wheels has evolved in becoming.
But I suppose if the car is not a Hot Wheels original, not JDM and has no attachment to their Ronin, Boulevard or Fast and the Furious releases, it won’t get the extra paint detail.
This is where I think Hot Wheels has become a bit complacent for main releases, some cars getting better treatment than others, I don’t like seeing iconic cars getting shabby releases.
At the end of the day, at $1.25 car, while we have seen every toy go up in price alarmingly, the fact that Hot Wheels hasn’t strayed too high in the past 25 years and not charging $3 or $4 a car for the mainline release is amazing (action figures went from $2.99 to $9.99 or $24.99 depending on the scale). And if you want better, you need to spend on the more expensive Hot Wheels releases.
Overall, the Hot Wheels Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 / Retro Racers is great for those who can customize it and give the love and detail it deserves. And for those who just want to own it, remove it from it’s plastic and cardboard prison and play with it or display it. Or buy it to introduce the passion of collecting and playing die-cast metal cars to the next generation of collectors.
