The Most Beautiful Car in the World? Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale

That is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot on the car world.. the most beautiful automobile... Everyone knows how Enzo Ferrari called the Jaguar E Type the most beautiful car he'd ever seen, and certainly most car enthusiasts have their own opinions on the matter. 

However, I would put the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale down as the most beautiful.. Just look at it! Every curve is so careful and delicate, but exudes such a powerful stance. It's a truly tiny little car, but you'd never know it by looking at photos. To me, it looks larger than life, one of those cars that just eliminates time completely, it looks as fresh now as it did when it was first shown in 1967. Alfa Romeo only made 18 examples of it, a road-going version of the Tipo 33 sports prototype race car. 

I had the pleasure of seeing one of those 18 in person at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance back in 2017. It was as close as I've ever come to a religious experience, it is just too stunning to put into words!

And how lucky we are now that Hot Wheels has decided to produce a 1/64 version! In the newly revamped Boulevard series for 2020. I'll have to be honest, not many of the rest of the cars in that series have excited me much, but this one certainly makes up for it! Perfect stance, wheel choice, detailing.. the designers at Mattel really nailed it. Certainly one of the best models of the year. 

Anyways, it's been quite a while since I've been active on this blog! Hopefully we can change that now. Look forward to lots more content coming soon!

Matchbox 1997 Chevy Tahoe Custom

I'm trying to finish up the insane amount of customs I have sitting on my workbench haha. Like, it's getting bad. So many projects!
But here's a nice Matchbox Tahoe that got a repaint and a wheel swap. I've always liked this casting for some reason.

Hot Wheels Datsun 620 Pickup Custom

I can't believe it's taken me until now to get an example of this casting up on the workbench! It's one of my favorites, I have every version released so far in my collection.

Nothing too crazy with this custom, just a repaint and a wheel swap. I think it came out pretty well!

Hot Wheels BMW 3.0 CSL Street Custom

Here's my take on one of the best recent HW releases, the BMW 3.0 CSL! These have been my favorite BMW model for as long as I can remember. They are just the ideal car to me, elegant styling, great performance and just an overall classiness that modern cars can't touch.

HW has done nothing but racing spec ones so far, and they've made some very nice ones... But I decided to see what I could do with a street version.. And I am absolutely thrilled with how it came out. 

Matchbox Volkswagen Saviero Cross Pickup

VW has a habit of making all sorts of interesting vehicles, and then selling them pretty much everywhere except the US. The Saviero Cross is a perfect example of that. Basically a cut down version of the 2 door "Gol" (which itself is a reworked Polo), it has proved to be an incredibly popular vehicle in Brazil. It is priced right around the $20k mark, which I find to be quite reasonable. Who knows, with the popularity of small pickups taking off again here in the States, VW might be able to shift a fair few of these here!

The Matchbox version made its debut in the 2011 mainline, part of the "modern golden age" that Matchbox collectors like to talk about these days. It hasn't been used a lot really, just a handful of times in the mainline and in a few multipacks. This is one of those castings that is quite nice and realistic, but always seems to come to the pegs completely overdone with crazy graphics and colors that cover up the nice model underneath.

So as usual, I decided to take one of those "loud" models, and quiet it down a bit. I think it pulls off the maroon with white wheels well! Drop a line in the comments and let me know what you think.

Matchbox 1962 VW Beetle Custom

I think this one might be my favorite custom that I've done so far...

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been a fan of air-cooled VWs. Not a fanatic by any means, but I have always held that a true car enthusiast will always smile a bit when they see an old Bug drive by, and I definitely fall into that category!

But I absolutely love how this one turned out, the Matchbox 62 Beetle is my favorite VW casting anyway, and this one is just about perfect in my eyes. Exactly how I'd have a real one. Black over white interior with white walls. I tried a new technique with the wheels that I'm pretty happy with! A simple white paint pen on the regular Matchbox disc wheels. Not perfect, but it makes for a nice effect.

Matchbox Ford Transit Mk3 Custom

The humidity is absolutely killing my paint here lately. Something about baking the paint messes with the clear coat for some reason. So I'm having to strip down several of my recent paint jobs. But this one came out ok! Just a simple repaint of a casting I enjoy collecting a lot, the Mk3 Transit.

After:

Hot Wheels Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Custom Repaint

Still on a Japanese car kick! I was tired of seeing all these crazy paint jobs, so I'm taking some more popular Japanese HW castings and making them a bit more stock looking. I'm particularly pleased with how this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X turned out!

Matchbox Jaguar F Type Coupe Custom

Just a little repaint of a new release to share today. The F Type is my favorite car currently on sale, and I love the version that Matchbox came out with! They really nailed it. I decided to just do a quick repaint to match the one I got to drive at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance last year. What an experience that was!!

Here's the one I got to drive... What an experience!!