The '96 Mustang GT Convertible GT entered the Hot Wheels line up in 1996. It had several wheel variations that year and one was very hard to find on a US card. That wheel variation was the gold 7 spokes and is pictured below but, on an international card with the rest of the wheel variations that were also released on the casting.
After 1996, the Mustang had several releases and became popular with collectors around the diecast world. It appeared with several different tampo schemes as well as several kinds of wheels.
In 2003, after such a short run in the Hot Wheels line, this Mustang was retired and would not return. After some very nice castings of it, many collectors were saddened to hear this. It appeared one last time in the Final Run series of the 2003 Hot Wheels as pictured below.
Now that I have shown some actual releases of this very nice Mustang, I'd like to show some pictures of some prototypes. The collectors panel got me these pictures together and I appreciate it. This first prototype I'd like to show was from when the casting was being made. There are two features on this prototype that did not make the final production car, which is also the car that the actual released cars are made to look exactly alike. If you look close, the "GT" emblem on the front fender is raised. Well on the final production car, tampos were used instead of the "GT" being raised. The same also goes for the "Mustang GT" on the rear bumper, as tampos were also used for it.
This next prototype is a resin hand painted casting that was used to put on the 1996 Hot Wheels poster. Pictures of the poster are included.
Thanks for checking out this article and I hope you learned a little something from it. Most only see the retail side of Hot Wheels or most only see them as toys, but there are other areas that we collectors are very interested in. I am really hoping that this casting makes a return to Hot Wheels one day, but for now we do have the castings that were released to admire and enjoy. I'd like to thank members of my collectors panel for getting me the pictures of the prototypes. Very interesting indeed!
