This Guy Can Build Your Dream Car on the Palm of Your Hand
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American toy company Mattel’s scale model car brand Hot Wheels started a contest five years ago called Hot Wheels Legends, which, for some people, became an annual pilgrimage to search for the next miniature custom car build. Winners are given the rare opportunity to have the car immortalized in a diecast 1:64 scale model and sold commercially to toy collectors worldwide.
Brendon Vetuskey, the lead designer for Hot Wheels Monster Trucks diecast vehicles and the Red Line Club diecast vehicles was in Manila in August and was the chief judge in the 2023 Hot Wheels Legends Philippine edition, whose winner will represent the country for the Hot Wheels Legends Global Semi Finals as well as Asia Pacific Fan Favorite. In cooperation with Concept One Wheels PH and Toy Kingdom Philippines, it’s the first time Hot Wheels staged this contest here in the Philippines.
Hot Wheel's creative designer Brendon Vetuskey
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On August 19, some 30 cars entered the qualifying round at Ortigas Technopoint’s scenic roof deck parking, a popular hangout spot for car enthusiasts. Contestants were trimmed to the top 10 semi-finals, which were then displayed at SM Mall of Asia’s Main Atrium. The top three vehicles were chosen by the judges.
Hot Wheels Legends Tour Philippines was held at SM Mall of Asia
The winning vehicle was a highly customized 2016 Toyota FJ Cruiser owned by Frederick Corro. The heavily modified off-roader in essence captured the spirit of Hot Wheels: almost nothing in this car was left original. This unique custom-built one-of-a-kind vehicle was customized from top to bottom and, according to the owner, is very capable of extreme off-road racing.
Frederick Corro's FJ was awarded 1st prize and will represent the Philippines in the global semifinals.
“I built this car for almost two years,” Corro said. “I did a lot of test fits, using trial and error, and even broke this and that, until I managed to make it run perfectly.”
Second prize went to Justin Santos, also known as Justin Buzz Hype, who has a large following in the custom car community and is a popular fixture among car shows. His entry was a 1988 Toyota Cressida.
Buzzhype's Toyota Cressida won second place
“The car was inspired from the ‘80s Kaido racers in Japan,” he said. “Kaido racers back then were driven by the Yakuzas together with the Bosozoku motorcycles. They run together in the streets and highways in Japan at midnight. This car is the only Kaido racer car in the Philippines. It has a one-of-one kits and a period correct livery. I bought the car year in 2015 and custom built it all throughout the years. This car has a love/hate relationship between us as it always breaks down and yet I still continue to build it and let my creativity and imagination run through it. I drive this car really hard at all times and it always makes me smile and all the people that this car passes by.”
Third prize went to Rob Chua with a 2022 SR Performance “Batman” Race Car. Chua said that the one-off build was carefully crafted and designed to be a “Frankenstein” and everything was customized to match each other parts.
“Just like Hot Wheels toy cars, it underwent designers and engineers to create a one-off creation and took two years to build,” he said. “It gave us a hard time to source out parts, especially from the US during the pandemic. We built this rig to match the size, image and likeness of me. From colors down to seat height, it is formed to suit around me. The Batman name is so it matches me, Robin. The perfect duo.”
Robin Chua's SR Performance Batman race car
The car that won the coveted Fan Favorite Award was Manny Dimaculangan’s 1974 Porsche 911 G-series Safari, inspired by the Porsche 911s that raced in one of Africa’s toughest endurance races.
“Everything done was period-correct since all cars should be pre-1985 and only major suspension upgrades are allowed and gearbox and engine should be tuned within manufacturer’s specifications and no major upgrades are allowed,” Dimaculangan said. “I have always loved Porsches. I had this car custom built as a tribute to one of Africa’s toughest races, the East African Safari Classic, which is also Kenya’s longest race. This is where man and machine go through a gauntlet of fast, wet and dry and very extreme weather and off-road conditions. That is why I have equipped this car with proper safety, recovery and high-performance suspension and engine upgrades and is fully road and off-road worthy.
“From the proper suspension and engine tune, rack system, in-cage safety seats, harness, tubes and gauges, no expense was spared to make sure this car is worthy of the theme,” he added. “The Ethos of the East African Safari Classic is distinctly old school. Unlike many show-and-tell builds, I can put my car on a grueling race and drive it to office the following day. It is my tribute to one of the best classic rallies in the world and I can proudly say this is not a garage queen and but rather a princely African thoroughbred.”
The entry earned the most social media engagements with almost 3,000 likes and wows online during the event.
Manny Dimaculangan's Porsche 911 Safari was awarded Hot Wheels Legends Fan Favorite
Esquire Philippines had a chance to see some of Vetuskey’s personal car collection, a 1967 Pontiac Firebird and a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air. He said he looks forward to seeing a radically built custom “jeepney” in next year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour.
Brendon's 1955 Chevy Bel Air
Brendon's 1967 Pontiac Firebird
Hot Wheels Legends Philippines was powered by Sonax, Vinyl Frog, Liqui Moly, Little Trees, CW Home Depot and Metrics.
