Page 6 - Volume32Issue3R

Custom Mustang painted panel that matched the
car with no gas cap. Later, all
had white or dark interior, a flat
dash and a large black steering
by Todd Burriss aka: PLANETREDLINES wheel with a tinted blue glass.
As production went on, they
were several other colors of the
Spectraflame paint issued. Light
brown, blue, green, purple,
olive, orange, and the most rare

The first 16 Hot Wheels hit the stores in 1968 and it was a new thing that
would blow everybody’s mind when it came to die-cast. Adults and kids
were on a trip for a lifetime. The Custom Mustang was one of these first
sixteen models and it was one of Fords most popular cars in the Muscle
car era.
This casting was one of the several other Muscle cars that was produced. was creamy pink and aqua. These colors of the cars now had a full black
The casting was a very close replica of Ford’s 1967-68 Mustang Fastback. painted rear panel. As far as most all HK paint later had issues from bad
This casting was manufactured in both United States and Hong Kong. quality control. The problem years later was that the paint started toning
Both were very similar, but they did have a few different characteristics. underneath the paint. Collectors call this toning or mottling. Most Hong
For example, the HK dominated on this with their first production model Kong cars had a good color matching hood, unlike the US made versions.
by having an opening hood with an Open Hood Scoop (OHS). This name
derived from the cut out open hood scoops in the hood of the car. This The US castings at the time were also being produced, and they had
was their first production of this casting, which quickly changed within a a few early runs that also included the painted rear panel. These early
few weeks of production cause of the cost effectiveness. The issue was run cars were in Spectraflame red and blue. The US car had a different,
the extra work that had to be done by the engineers. When the car was less detailed base and had a lower more level look and sported a silver
painted, the overspray showed up on the engine compartment, so each painted wheel. The US castings featured a slightly different interior than
car had to hand painted silver to cover this mistake. These cars came in the HK, still sported white or dark colors, but had a rounded dash and
two colors Spectraflame red with red interior or gold with brown interior. a interior matching small steering wheel the clear glass. The paint came
The model was re-engineered and weeks later the production the car in abundance of colors with red, blue, and antifreeze being the most
in remained the same, but without OHS. The car continued to have the common. Other colors that were produced and are hard-to-find and these
were green, brown, rose, and purple. Rare colors include aqua, creamy
pink, and orange and are high valued colors to collectors. The rarest is a
light red watermelon color, and it was said to be less than 100 produced.
This color was only found on the 1968 16-car Store Display. This car sits
on the display just like all the others and the hooded cars was displayed
with the hoods in an open position. The hood was glued at the cowl to
keep it open, so lots of these cars will have glue residue present and
some also will have the paint missing.
As later production continued, some Hybrids were made, which was a US
red body/red interior and the gold body/brown interior and continued casting with a tinted Hong Kong glass, unlike the normal US clear glass.
to sport the deep dish wheels with a bright chrome finish. Eventually, the This glass was ribbed in the rear section and was a later produced Boss
deep-dish front wheels faded out on the front wheels, to just a standard Hoss glass without the blacked out rear section. Apparently this window
type redline wheel. Both first production and the second production had glass got shipped to the US plant and they used them on a very low pro-
the highly detailed base and had a “jacked up” look. They had a rear duction cause it is only found in three colors. Orange, medium blue and a
standard blue. These are very high valued cars cause of the low produc-
tion.
As far as a collectors point of view, all these Mustangs are highly collected
cars and can get very pricey in today’s market. Some selling for thousands
of dollars, especially in the Blister Pack. The Watermelon US car can cost
you as much as $3,000.00 in mint condition. The OHS will be practically
impossible to find in the blister-pack, but loose examples are out there,
but expensive they are. If you want a cheap alternative, go with a gold or
red Hong Kong models as these are fairly reasonable.

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