This is one of those cars in my collection that is nothing special. The release is not highly coveted and I don’t collect the casting. Still, I love it! Why? I can’t explain… nor should I have to. The #2011 Hot Wheels #Cars of the Decades #’86 Monte Carlo SS is just cool.

Backtracking just a bit, the Cars of the Decades line was a #Walmart Exclusive line that predated the themed assortments they carry now. Hard to think that was 10 years ago, but never-the-less it was, and this car has been sitting in my “to-do stash” for several years — meaning, I have meant to feature it, just never found the words.

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As far as the release, I don’t consider it to be a memorable one by any means. You can’t roll up to a Hot Wheels show and just start talking about it to collectors. It came and went, and if you’re a newer collector seeing it for the first time, you’re probably thinking it is the 2021 Target Exclusive Flying Customs release seen below (to the right).

Yeah, it’s the same #’86 Monte Carlo SS casting, and they’re both red — and both have a combination of black, gold, and white graphics. To me, despite being so similar, the Flying Customs release doesn’t come close to the #Cars of the Decades release in the cool factor category.

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In the #Cars of the Decades line, the #’86 Monte Carlo SS was representing the 1980s. Other vehicles in the line featured decos that managed to stereotype decades with certain design elements. This car for some reason, doesn’t outright say ’80s deco, and believe me: thats a good thing! Instead, we were giving more of an era appropriate car ready for the drag strip.

What really sets this release apart from others is the addition of a windshield tampo. You just don’t see that very often with Hot Wheels. A white “1750” looks to have been written on the windshield by a window marker presumably in the queue at the drag strip. What the printed number actually represents is the Toy# (SKU) for this particular release which is W1750. Window tampos are something I’d definitely like to see more of when it comes Hot Wheels and drag cars.

The other element of this release that has me digging it also has to do with the graphics. Sponsor logos are done all the time on Hot Wheels vehicles, but with this one, they have a very natural look to them. There seem to congregate around the front and rear wheels wells, leaving half the door clean. They give the impression that the owner of this car is still trying to win races to pick up that big door sponsor. Yeah, thats really reading into it, but to me, cool models like this always seem to tell a story.