We took a trip across the country to Philadelphia for the latest stop on this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour. For those unfamiliar, the Legends Tour is a series of car shows around the country welcoming the wildest and wackiest rides each city has to offer. A team of judges is tasked with evaluating the cars and picking the one that’s most representative of the Hot Wheels brand. The official criteria are authenticity (does it look like a Hot Wheels car), creativity (is it already a Hot Wheels car), and garage spirit, which ensures that the winner exemplifies that built-not-bought vibe. The winner of each stop on the tour will be invited to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas this November, where one car will be selected to be immortalized in 1:64 scale, die-cast Hot Wheels glory.
We saw some very impressive builds, including a west coast-approved, California-style Ford F100 hot rod and a chopped-up ’57 Chevy that celebrates the era of the tail fin like nothing we’ve ever seen. But the most distinctive, memorable, Hot Wheels-y vehicle on display was undoubtedly a 1968 Toyota Land Cruiser, named “Voodoo Blue” by its owner. It’s slammed to the ground and rides on massive OEM Corvette wheels, but the bit that separates this FJ40 from the competition is under, er, through the hood. The owner, Robert Colfer, had to cut a big square hole in the bonnet to make room for the powerplant: a naturally aspirated BMW V-12. Apparently the judges were impressed, too; “Voodoo Blue” took home the prize meaning Colfer and his one-of-a-kind Land Cruiser are headed to Vegas.