It’s obvious that Hot Wheels has some folks on their design team who really get it. What “it” are we referring to?There are all sorts of little nods and winks to various automotive subcultures all over their collections, and the Manga Tuner—part of the 2020 Tooned collection of adorable disproportioned cars—is the perfect example.
All the right kawaii—cute-ified, Japanese-style—touches are there. There’s a front-mounted oil cooler, just like your favorite shakotan-style rides. It’s got a bit of a grachan-style going with the big flat spoiler and the overhanging hood “brow”. And the cartoonish proportions are just perfect, looking like it sprouted right off the screen of some cutesy bosozoku anime show. The tiny toy is right-hand drive, because of course it is.
While there are some other models in the 2020 Tooned collection that look great, the Manga Tuner is the one that really speaks to us. That said, Head Starter—an early rear-engined, pre-aero race car with Lotus and early Honda F1 car overtones—is equally cool for different reasons. And the ’69 Chevelle looks just right chunk-ified. There are a bunch of 2020 releases in the Tooned collection, some of which are new castings while others are old favorites, so take a look and see if any are going to be a must-have for your collection.