Vehicles from the ’80s and ’90s as Hot Wheels seem to be all the rage these days. Call it the Gran Turismo generation — or whatever you like — but a new wave of collectors that grew up racing rare race cars (in video games) has demanded the crazy-awesome silhouette cars from that era.

One of the newest Hot Wheels to hit the pegs is the #GT-Scorcher. It was Ryu Asada’s take on silhouettes as its inspired by Group 5 race cars from the ’80s and ’90s.

Silhouette cars — for those that don’t know — are race cars that were essentially made to look like production models with crazy aero kits, though the resemblance is purely superficial. The modern day equivalent is NASCAR. Those aren’t really Mustangs, Camrys, and Camaros out there. These race cars have an exterior shell made to resemble one of the engine manufacturer’s models so spectators have a tangible link to the product.

Out of the Hot Wheels package, the first thing I had to do, was to see the #GT-Scorcher next to the one of the most popular Hot Wheels silhouettes: the #Nissan Skyline Silhouette from #Car Culture. In my head, I assumed the resemblance would be closer, but its not, and thats great as this original design was straight from the mind of Ryu.

For the collectors out there: I challenge you to pick this one up, open it, and check out all the crazy details Ryu designed into this casting known as the #GT-Scorcher — not a huge fan of the generic name. My favorite parts of the casting are the clear section of the hood allows you to see a marvelously-sculpted, inline-4 engine; the wide-body kit with air vents above each of the wheel wells, and the exhaust that pokes through, just in front of the huge rear wing.

In breaking down the GT-Scorcher, every collector could come up with a list of cars they see in it — just like with every unlicensed car — and I’m sure those lists would vary quite a bit. Trying to find the inspiration is one thing, but accept this completely a an original design is another. The fact of the matter is: the #GT-Scorcher may not have raced in Group 5 back in the ’80s, but it looks like it could have, and it would have stood out! You can’t help but think of what kind of crazy retro-inspired liveries this car could possibly wear in the future. Hot Wheels is not tied to any license for the casting so mostly anything can go.

Currently, this #2021 New Models HW Race Team release wears the #Hot Wheels Race Team livery for 2021. As a collector of the livery, I’m always a huge fan of the releases that wear it, however, a more era appropriate Hot Wheels Race Team livery would have definitely gave this car an additional edge in the cool factor category. Could that be next?

Since the car is an #Unlicensed Hot Wheels model, there is some level of orange track performance the #GT-Scorcher must meet. In order to hit those loops, an up-sloped chin configuration was necessary in the design so this one got the posable front chin: up for track performance, down for looks!

QUICK LINK! Find the HW Race Team: GT-Scorcher for sale on eBay.

#Race Cars in just about all levels of racing are popular with collectors right now so it is always fun to see what collectors think of a #First Edition such as this. Some may discard it as they do with other original designs, but others will place this one next to the #Nissan Skyline Silhouette (like I did) or the premium BMW/Porsche silhouettes Hot Wheels has done, and be enamored with the fact that we now have an unlicensed silhouette in the mainline. The possibilities are endless! This could very well prompt a new generation of kids to look up Group 5 racing and understand how cool these cars are. As for collectors, you get an extremely well-detailed Group 5 race car that will only cost a buck! Happy hunting!