Kiwi MX-5 wins 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

The 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour has finished, with a first-generation (1990) Mazda MX-5 winning against an international field. Built by New Zealander Chris Watson, the MX-5 called ‘Chimera’ will join past Hot Wheels Legends Tour winners in being reimagined as a diecast toy car.

Watson said he was inspired by the Cyberpunk aesthetic and Japanese ‘Kaido Racer’ (street racer) culture when building Chimera. Adding an external oil cooler, front diffuser and auxiliary lighting, Watson also fitted slim LEDs within the partially raised headlight covers and air vents in place of the front indicators. Chunky wheelarch flares extend out 10cm from the body and cover equally fat 15-inch turbofan wheels.

At the rear, a massive custom roof panel gives the first-gen MX-5 roadster the look of a fourth-gen MX-5 RF fastback, with both whaletail and sharkfin spoilers. The tail light assembly has been gutted, replaced with a ribbon LED, while a motorcycle muffler is visible beneath the rear bumper.

Paint combines gunmetal grey with fluoro green accents, while faux patina, Japanese graphics and a bunch of stickers add to the street racer vibe, too.

The factory interior has been gutted, replaced with competition seats, window netting and a racing steering wheel. LED lighting, custom gauges and switchgear are also visible inside. Custom door trims are visible, while a laptop mounted above the passenger seat carries a sly nod to the original Fast & Furious movie.

Whether Watson also modified the MX-5 engine and transmission is unclear, but for a Hot Wheels toy, it doesn’t matter - unless it pokes out of the bonnet!

The judging panel that determined Watson’s Chimera MX-5 as the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Tour winner included NASCAR driver Toni Breidinger, Mercedes-Benz designer Dalal Elsheikh, Jay Leno and members of the Hot Wheels design team. Inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends, Chimera will be released as a 1:64 scale toy sometime in 2024.