On August 19, 2008 Hot Wheels kicked off a three week, six city, cross country road trip from Mattel, Inc.’s El Segundo headquarters to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The road trip will travel closely along U.S. Route 40, making stops at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah; Speed, Kansas; the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum in Indiana; and the Automotive Hall of Fame in Detroit, before culminating in a grand finale celebration on September 5 in Watkins Glen, New York, home to American road racing. 

At each stop, Hot Wheels will host a free event open to the public, featuring life size Hot Wheels cars, historic Hot Wheels memorabilia, kiosks for kids to create custom Hot Wheels drivers licenses, Hot Wheels die-cast races, autograph sessions with Hot Wheels designers, and many more family friendly activities.

Hot Wheels collectors will have the opportunity to receive a commemorative 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast car created especially for each stop, available while supplies last. The commemorative vehicle to be given away is based on the Hot Wheels car seen on late-1960s packaging, originally designed by Otto Kuhni. The car featured on the packaging was never produced in die-cast form. As a tribute to Otto for this milestone anniversary year, Hot Wheels designers recreated his design in die-cast form for the first time.

General Hot Wheels 40th anniversary road trip stop details are listed below. For more detailed event information as well as photos, videos, and event recaps from the road trip, cruise over to www.hotwheels.com/40th.