Leading global toy and family entertainment company Mattel announced the 2024 winner of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, the world’s largest travelling car show, during the virtual Global Grand Finale held on 16 November.
After taking home the top spot during the 2024 Chilean tour stop, a home-built race car, nicknamed La Liebre, secured the global victory and was inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends. The Hot Wheels design team will now transform the life-sized car into a die-cast car for collectors and fans to enjoy in 1:64 scale.
Hosted by motorsports ambassador Jarod DeAnda, this year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour Global Grand Finale showcased 10 incredible builds from around the world. Tasked with choosing the entry that best represents authenticity, creativity and garage spirit, the panel of judges featured:
- Jay Leno, TV host and car enthusiast
- Dalal Elsheikh, automotive experience designer
- Larry Chen, Renowned automotive photographer
- Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias, actor and comedian
- Toni Breidinger, NASCAR driver
- Juca Viapri, Mexican automotive influencer and car customizer
- Hot Wheels Design Team
In 2013, Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini co-founded Cars and Coffee Chile as a nonprofit organisation to grow the car community and culture in Chile. The La Liebre project began as a method of promoting their organisation and engaging local automotive enthusiasts. After acquiring the Falcon, a custom-built Chevrolet 350 motor producing 600 horsepower was installed and mated to a Saenz 910 five speed transmission with straight cut gears. The original chassis was heavily modified by Baufer Garage and currently consists of a tubular frame and roll cage. The La Liebre weighs under 2,000-pounds, thanks to the tube chassis and custom fibreglass body that was developed to maximise aerodynamics. A blend of vintage style and modern performance, designed for pure speed, the La Liebre impressed and inspired the judges not only with its looks but its role in the Chilean automotive community.
The Cars and Coffee Chile team behind La Liebre includes: Giuseppe Casagrade, Maurizio Moschini, Pablo Olmos, Omar Aguilar, Nicolás Orellana, and Jose Ignacio Barra.
“This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought out so many incredible builds, making it difficult to select just one, however, the mission behind the La Liebre built by Cars & Coffee Chile was emblematic of what the tour is all about,” said Mattel senior vice president and global head of design, vehicles and building sets Ted Wu. “Not only is it an extremely impressive build, but it was created to help grow the car community in Chile and inspire others to participate. That’s what makes this vehicle, and the team behind it, deserving of the win and entry into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.”
Celebrating car builders and enthusiasts around the world in their drive to be legendary, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour 2024 travelled through 13 countries with 11 regional stops in the United States. New Tour stops for 2024 included visits to Colombia and the United Arab Emirates. The Hot Wheels team and local automotive personalities evaluated more than 5,000 vehicle entries with millions of event attendees around the world.
Since its launch in 2018 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Hot Wheels, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour presented by Mobil 1 has grown from an U.S.-based series of local Walmart events to the world’s largest travelling car show, bringing in builders and automotive fans through both virtual and live events. Previous champions include the inaugural 2018-winning 2JetZ, 2019-winning THE NASH, 2020-winning 1970 Pontiac Firebird, 2021-winning 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser, 2022-winning “Texas Toot,” an ultra-custom 1992 Autozam Scrum micro truck and last year’s champion, a one of a kind 1990 Mazda MX-5 roadster nicknamed “Chimera.”
