Stock# 18207
Collector# 635
CB's Die Cast Review: February 20, 1998
1998 First Editions #8
`65 Impala Lowrider
Firstly, when they say "lowrider", they really mean it. This car sits on gold wire
spokes and is so low that the base almost scrapes the ground. The clearance is about
one sixteenth of an inch. You almost expect this car to start bouncing up and down
all by itself!
Well, this is the third FE I
have found for 1998, and I have to start by saying that if Mattel keeps this up,
we are going to have 40 winners this year. Like the Ford Escort and the
Jaguar D-Type, Mattel is batting 1000 with this new `65 Impala Lowrider.
The `65 Impala was a big, long car, and this casting has captured the contours of the
original very well. The proportions look very good, and the body shows the usual
level of detail, with recessed lines for the doors/hood/trunk lid; tail end has the
traditional six round taillights and the chevy emblem. Casting of the hood vents is
particularly crisp.
The finish appears to be another case of using the final colour over a black base coat;
Mattel seems to like this technique, and so do I. In this case, the colour is a deep
metallic purple (although some people, well, actually, only one particular individual,
may prefer to refer to it as either maroon or fluorescent magenta, but I digress),
and I find that the end result reminds me very much of the old spectraflame colour on
the original redlines. This is set off very nicely by yellow and orange fader tampos
on the hood and sides; some black lines are also apparent on the hood, adding
definition to the design. The Hot Wheels logo appears on the right side only, just in
front of the rear wheel. The design seems very realistic and appropriate; perfectly
matched to the car and the "lowrider" concept. Interior has better than average detail,
and is molded out of a pale gold plastic which nicely complements the exterior finish.
The glass is clear un-tinted, and they have done the vent windows in the same way as
for the `59, with ridges to represent the frame. In addition, the rear windows
are rolled up, which I think looks better than the rolled down approach of the `59.
The base is chromed plastic, a la `59 Impala from 1997. My only beef is with
the grille; in my mind it seems to extend too far down. However I don't have a
`65 Impala kicking around, so I admit I could be wrong; in addition, this can be
excused as being a "custom" grille, so no points off for this small detail.
