Even sensible Honda has a wild side. For a company that prides itself on the fuel-efficiency of its cars, a two-seater with a 20-liter V-10 seems somewhat out of character. And yet, what kid wants to play with a Hot Wheels car modeled on a Civic Hybrid?
When six-year-old boys think of cars, they think of things like the Honda Racer. The 1/64th-scale die-cast car, which goes on sale next month, was born of Mattel's Designer's Challenge and the Hot Wheels 40th anniversary celebration. Honda - along with Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, Lotus, and Mitsubishi - got a chance to design a no-holds-barred expression of their brand's inner child.
The Honda Racer is intended to evoke the company's H emblem and draws its stylistic inspiration from the 1967 RA273 Formula 1 car.
More details and pics courtesy of Honda and Mattel...
"The core concept is built around our idea for an 'ultimate race car' and leverages the design freedom made possible by a scale model car," says Guillermo Gonzalez, the Honda stylist and East Los Angeles native who designed the Honda Racer.
Wedged between the driver and navigator is 20 liter VTEC (variable valve timing and electronic lift control) V-10 engine - yes, 20 liters, as in 1220
cubic inches, or two liters per cylinder — complete with chrome velocity stacks and a tangle of fat exhaust headers.
"Designing a Hot Wheels car is very different and in some ways more liberating than designing a production car," Gonzalez says. "The primary design constraint is that the car had to fit on the orange track and perform a loop. Aside from that, the possibilities are without limit."
