The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler. Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to be more like "hot rod" (i.e.customized/modified or even caricaturized or fantasy cars,often with big rear tires, Superchargers, flame paint-jobs, outlandish proportions, hood blowers, etc.) cars, as compared to Matchbox cars which were generally small-scale models of production cars. He began producing the cars with assistance from fellow engineer Jack Ryan.

The first line of Hot Wheels Cars, known as The Original Sweet 16 was manufactured in 1968. These were the first of the Red Line Series, named for the tires which had a red pin stripe on their sides. There were sixteen castings released, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley with assistance from Handler and Ryan. The first one produced was a dark blue "Custom Camaro". Bradley was from the car industry and had designed the body for the (full-sized) Dodge Deora concept car and the Custom Fleetside, (based on his own customized 1968 Chevrolet C-10 fleetside.

How to recognize safe toys?

- Look for certificates on the packaging (the most important ones are CE (Conformité Européenne), Certificate of the Institute of Mother and Child, Certificate of the National Institute of Hygiene, German TÜV Rheinland and Dekra) and they must also meet the European standard EN 71.

- Check the workmanship: are the seams straight and durable? Does the toy have small parts that can easily break or get lost? Does it have sharp edges? Can the child get caught or wedged in any of the elements?