‘Texas Toot’, the nickname of an ultra-custom 1992 Autozam Scrum micro truck built by Craig Meaux of Beaumont, Texas in the USA was picked as the winner of this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour recently. The vehicle will be immortalized as a 1:64 Hot Wheels die-cast vehicle for sale worldwide, as well as inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.
Customized in Meaux’s garage and built entirely for fun, ‘Texas Toot’ started life as a stock Japanese import in 2020, before becoming this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour champion. This custom Kei truck features a fabricated 5-foot hydraulic lift, Chevrolet 454 big-block, TH400 transmission, 12-inch drop reverse rotation FTI transfer case, 250 shot nitrous kit, train horns and massive custom welded 30×15 wheels.
‘Superhero’ truck
Following this bucket list win, and in true challenger spirit, Meaux intends to use his passion project in burn-out competitions, which he is sure to dominate in what Jay Leno calls his ‘superhero’ truck.
“I wasn’t expecting to win, so this is a dream come true,” said Meaux. “I wanted to create something that no one else had. I didn’t have previous experience with this sort of fabrication, so it’s awesome that it came out the way it did and to have everybody enjoy the truck.”
Held at Jay Leno’s Garage, the virtual Global Grand Finale of the event was co-hosted by the celebrity car enthusiast and motorsports ambassador Jarod DeAnda. For this fifth annual Hot Wheels Legends Tour Global Grand Finale, 10 custom builds from around the world – including Malaysia – were considered by a panel of judges. Their task was to find the model which best represented authenticity, creativity and garage spirit.
First Hot Wheels Legends truck winner
“The competition was strong in 2022 but turning a Japanese mini truck into a monster truck was hard to beat,” said Ted Wu, Vice-President, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel. “As the first truck to be crowned since the inception of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, we hope Craig’s passion project inspires builders and fans from around the world to set big goals and follow their dreams. I cannot wait to see what this super-sized mini truck looks like in 1:64-scale!”
‘Where Legends Are Made’ campaign
As part of this exciting finale event, Hot Wheels announced the brand’s first-ever adult-facing campaign, ‘Where Legends are Made’. Designed to further engage the global car enthusiast community, this campaign serves as an umbrella for the adult-facing activities that Hot Wheels will launch in the future, expanding beyond traditional automotive into pop culture.
This includes segments such as fashion, film, gaming, NFTs and luxury, while remaining true to the brand’s car culture heritage with builder activities such as the Hot Wheels Legends Tour – the world’s largest travelling custom car show.
Wu said that ‘Where Legends are Made’ was created to expand the brand’s reach to more adult auto enthusiasts with an affinity for Hot Wheels and encourage them to celebrate their passion and become collectors. “Membership in our exclusive Red Line Club tripled in 2021, which proves that there is a strong demand for premium limited-edition die-cast cars and a desire for an adult members-only collector community for Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles,” he added.
