These two cars will be offered—direct to consumer—through Mattel Creations and will carry a suggested retail price of $100. Order books are open now.
How We Got Here
The first Ferrari and Hot Wheels partnership lasted for 44 years, beginning with a production Ferrari 312P die-cast in 1970 and has included a LaFerrari, F40, and F50 in the past. After a brief 10-year hiatus (during which Maisto made die-cast Ferraris), this renewed one kicks off this year, with more to come in 2026. The collaboration could include digital gaming, events, and tracks. What you see today is the culmination of five years’ worth of development.
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“It was the logistics of getting the two companies to be in a place where [they] could bring the partnership back to life,” Roberto Stanichi, executive vice president of Hot Wheels and Head of Vehicles & Building Sets at Mattel, said of the timeline. “[We] went separate ways and sometimes, when that happens, you have to wait until rights are available [again] to reengage in the conversation.”
Obviously, there are a ton of Ferraris to choose from, and everyone has their favorites. The Hot Wheels and Ferrari teams worked together to curate what they believe is a best-hits list. “Vintage, classic, modern, we’re hitting all eras of Ferraris,” Ted Wu, global head of design for vehicles and building sets at Hot Wheels, told MotorTrend. “From there, it’s also fan favorites and [race] cars because the heritage of Hot Wheels is about racing.”
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Typically, it takes between three days and a week to assemble a real Ferrari road car, depending on its complexity. Hot Wheels produces 22 cars every second. But this doesn’t mean attention to detail falls by the wayside. Anyone who’s ever played with a Hot Wheels toy before knows how the cars look like the cars they’re meant to represent. They’re just 1:64 scale.
It’s far from just shrinking a car down and calling it a day, by the way. “[The process] is different for every car,” Wu said. “Sometimes the wheel arches need to be a little more exaggerated; sometimes the rake of the car needs to be more aggressive. It comes down to understanding each car and what makes that car that car in full size so you can replicate it.”
There’s also more to the process. Simply miniaturizing the real-life version in CAD would result in basically zero ground clearance. “These things would barely roll on track, and there’s no way they would make it up a slope, much less a loop,” Wu said. “We do all types of testing to make sure our vehicles will work on track.”
As we alluded to above, Wu called out designing the Ferrari F50’s rear wing as a specific challenge. He and his team—a group of more than 40 designers—“beefed up [the wing] a little bit” because “we knew in our Hot Wheels classic assortment to make sure it was going to be ready for the rough and tumble play that kids are going to do. We want to make sure our toys are great for both display and play.”
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This doesn’t apply to the Mattel Collections cars, by the way, because the Hot Wheels team envisions the adult collectors to be a bit more precious about their purchases. Those cars are a little more delicate, so if you were thinking about launching one off a bookshelf, maybe don’t.
When a Ferrari partnership comes knocking, it’s always a big deal. But the folks at Hot Wheels have more than risen to the occasion.