A lot of Hot Wheels unlicensed cars are based off of real cars. To this collector, its always fun to discover which ones are based off of which ones. The Hot Wheels Fandango was designed by Hot Wheels designer, Phil Riehlman, and is based off of the 2000 Dodge Shelby Durango–a car I had the chance to sit in!

The transition from taking a licensed car such as the 2000 Dodge Shelby Durango and turning it into an unlicensed Hot Wheels car in the Fandango can be quite the task for the designer. Enough modifications must be made to the design, so that it cannot be considered the car that it was based off of. Most notably, the Fandango isn’t a “Durango” its a “Fandango”…the name changing ever-so-slightly so it does not have to be licensed. The largest visual difference is the fact that the Fandango is paneled and is a 2-door vehicle versus the Shelby Durango that has windows and is a 4-door vehicle. Other differences can be seen in the hood and body kit.

2011 was a transition year for the Fandango casting. It went from metal body & plastic base to plastic body & metal base. The casting did however, retain its favorable reputation in the Hot Wheels Graphics Department as every release of the Fandango has been heavily tampo’d (tampo if a term for the process in which Hot Wheels graphics are applied).

The Hot Wheels Color Shifters version shown below was the first release of the Fandango after the casting was modified. Numerous castings were modified just like the Fandango to have a plastic body & metal base so they could be part of the Color Shifters line–apparently the color-changing paint they use only adheres to plastic, so in order for the body to change color, it must be plastic. Since this was in the Glow segment of the Color Shifters, this release does GLOW when warm.

RELEASE DETAILS: Reddish-Orange (when cold) to Glow-in-the-Dark (when warm) Body (plastic). Light Blue Tinted Windows. Black Interior. Chrome 5-Spoke (5SP) Wheels. Unpainted Metal Base. Made in Malaysia. Toy# V0578. Released in 2011 as part of the Color Shifters, in the Glow Series.