Participants in the Designers Challenge were tasked with designing a car that captured the die-cast brands core essence of speed, power, performance and attitude, while also encompassing the distinct attributes of the Lotus engineering philosophy and brand. The top three designs from each automotive manufacturer were selected and presented to a panel of judges that included editors from the Los Angeles Times, Car and Driver and Men's Journal, along with Hot Wheels designers and executives. The result from Lotus is a stunning open-top two seat sports car concept.

Lotus Design's international reputation for designing visually dynamic and exhilarating sports cars perfectly fitted the brief for this programme and the opportunity to design a concept that was free from the typical technical and legal constraints was relished.

Hot Wheels cars are barely 75mm long, so specific attention went to create a bold shape with generous features that would work well at this scale. Another challenge was to create an exciting design that not only worked well as a car, but also as a toy. The car needed to be recognisable as a Lotus without having to turn it over to look at the badge underneath, so elements are taken from the Elise and Exige such as the headlight design, the Lotus mouth, the pronounced wheel arches and trademark bonnet graphics. Steven Crijns was keen for the design to express the Lotus philosophy of performance through lightweight: therefore the shrink wrapped body is kept to an absolute minimum to save weight.

The dynamic voluptuous curves make the car look agile and fun to drive. Bold aerodynamic aids are incorporated to achieve exceptional Lotus handling. The top exit radiator at the front, a distinctive Lotus design feature, the rear diffuser and a large rear wing all provide down force helping the vehicle stick to the road. In addition, large side air intakes and an open rear end aid engine breathing. Inside the car, the exposed centre spine is part of the structure and incorporates the switches and gear linkage and supports the rear wing.

This was a dream job for the design team because, for many of them, it was Hot Wheels, when as children, their passion for cars and design was ignited. The design and build offered unique challenges because it had to work as a toy and therefore had to remember how specific views, features and tactile qualities of toy cars fascinated the designers as children.

Once the designs were agreed, a CAD model was created on ICEM Surf.
Although there weren't the usual challenges of designing around crash structures, incorporating passenger and pedestrian safety legislation, there were other challenges to overcome. The car had to also be able to perform the Hot Wheels loop. This meant front overhangs had to be restricted.

The toy needed to be strong and without sharp edges and also had to fit on a Hot Wheels chassis. The most challenging restriction was that the whole design would have to be made with only four main components: body, glass, chassis and interior.

A 1:5 scale model was then produced for the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The decision was made to build a clay model by hand rather than mill the CAD data, the reason being that when scaling up a design from 1:64 to 1:5, every surface would have to be modified.

Building the model by hand meant that the design could look its best at the given scale. The CAD model was used as a basis for a tape drawing which in turn was used as a basis for the clay model.

The model was built in the same way as the 1:64 scale Hot Wheels toy that will follow. It features four main components. There is a one-piece exterior body shell and the interior extends to the outside to incorporate the back part of the car. The perspex is wedged between the exterior and interior and all these components combined bolt down onto a chassis that incorporates the rear diffuser. All modelling was completed in-house.

The wheel rims and centres, as well as the steering wheel and lights were machined from a solid piece of aluminium. The fibreglass body and perspex screen were made in the tool room and pattern shop. The paint shop finished the work with an excellent paint job in Lotus Chrome Orange, a perfect colour for a toy.

Final assembly was completed in the design studio with the high level of detailing resulting in it taking longer than normal to complete. From building the armature to shipping the model to Las Vegas, the duration was 12 weeks.

The SEMA Show in Las Vegas proved to be an enormous success with an amazing collection of Hot Wheels models throughout the ages. Over 60m toy cars were sold in 2006 and this was the first time in the history of Hot Wheels that they accepted designs from external companies, putting Lotus in a very exclusive list.