One of the most popular Hot Wheels castings from the 1970s is the Stagefright. Living in Hot Wheels collecting lore, most collectors love the oddity of the funky 1978 Flying Colors Stagefright. Designed as a replica to Jack Keef’s 1849 Concord Stagecoach hotrod, it took a collaborative effort between Hot Wheels designers, Larry Wood and Bob Rosas, to bring this to toy form.

Though the Hot Wheels Stagefright was released from 1978 to 1983, it was released in an identical fashion through all of its releases as it featured the same replica paint scheme as this #First Edition. The brown color of the body varied slightly over the years but nothing more than the color variances we see nowadays. Being that it was produced for 5 years with numerous releases, these are not very hard to find as most kids who had Hot Wheels cars during this time, had at least one Stagefright in their vinyl race case. It gets a lot harder to find a Stagefright with a straight front axle as over time, they have been bent upwards which is most likely a result of the openness of the front wheels and/or someone at the manufacturing plant pushing down the axle tabs too hard during installation — most times a little “child’s love” is involved as well.

RELEASE DETAILS: Brown Body (metal). Black Roof, Seats, Steering Wheel (plastic). Chrome Blackwall (BW) Wheels. Unpainted Metal Base. Made in Hong Kong. Toy# 2020. Released in 1978 as part of the Hot Wheels Flying Colors.