Lee Johnstone’s Volvo P1800 From the UK Crowned Winner of 2021 Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour Global Grand Finale at Jay Leno’s Garage
14.11.2021 01:41:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
The winner of the 2021 Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour was selected today during a global livestream event at Jay Leno’s Garage. Hailing from Somerset, England, the 1969 Volvo P1800 built by Lee Johnstone will join a prestigious group of custom cars in the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends™ and will be forever immortalized as a 1:64 Hot Wheels® die-cast toy.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211113005258/en/
2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour Winner - 1969 Volvo P1800 Gasser (Photo: Business Wire)
This Volvo P1800 "Aint No Saint" Gasser was originally registered as new in 1969. Its owner, 71-year-old English motor mechanic Lee Johnstone, acquired the vehicle as a rusty rolling shell before thoroughly restoring, modifying, and transforming it into the quarter-mile monster it is today. Sporting a Chevrolet 454 big block, its new power plant is capped with a 671 GMC supercharger and dual four-barrel carburetors. Finished in a fitting shade of Volvo green, it is a true culmination of more than 50 years of ‘race it, break it, build it better’ experience. Perhaps most importantly – and in true challenger spirit – "Aint No Saint" is also a family affair, with Lee's three daughters, Eleanor, Sarah and Victoria, sharing in the driving duties, and his wife, Sue, on standby to help crew.
Finishing its fourth year, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour is a worldwide competition spanning 11 countries and five continents, making it the world’s largest international traveling car show. Thousands of builds were submitted to compete in a series of in-person and virtual stops, which began in April 2021. Over the past seven months, some of the most unique and inspiring custom creations went head-to-head, all for a chance to become the next Hot Wheels die-cast toy sold – and played with by fans of all ages – across the globe.
This year’s global Grand Finale was co-hosted by celebrity car enthusiast Jay Leno and motorsports ambassador Jarod DeAnda during a virtual livestream event, where they were joined by an array of automotive and design experts from around the world to complete the task of choosing the 2021 winner. Joining them on stage were Ted Wu, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel; Bryan Benedict, Director of Vehicles Design, Mattel; Brendon Vetuskey, Vehicles Designer, Mattel; Henrik Fisker, automotive design icon; Elana Scherr, senior editor of Car and Driver; car customizer and automotive electronics guru Mad Mike; and automotive content creator and drifting enthusiast Sara Choi.
“The Hot Wheels Legends Tour has truly become a global celebration of custom car creations,” said Ted Wu, Vice President, Global Head of Design for Vehicles, Mattel. “With the addition of five new countries in the Tour, we have been able to reach and interact with millions of new fans and builders from around the world. The Volvo Gasser is a wonderful expression of authenticity, creativity and, most importantly, garage spirit. We look forward to welcoming Lee Johnstone and his 1969 Volvo P1800 into the Hot Wheels family and presenting the world with our newest Hot Wheels Legends Tour die-cast toy.”
“Having my family here with me for this moment was so special,” said Lee Johnstone. “I am excited to have my car become a Hot Wheels die-cast toy and to be able to share my passion project in 1:64 scale with the world. It’s amazing to be the first U.K. winner.”
The 2021 Hot Wheels Legends Tour was made possible in collaboration with Walmart and Mobil 1.
To learn more about the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, visit https://hotwheels.mattel.com/explore/en/legends-tour.
ABOUT HOT WHEELS
As a 53-year old brand more relevant today than ever before, Hot Wheels is the world’s leading vehicle franchise which represents and unites all segments of car culture. For decades Hot Wheels has proven its influence in automotive and pop culture with legendary design and epic performance. Through unparalleled collaborations with global leaders in streetwear, fashion, luxury, entertainment, action sports and motorsports, Hot Wheels is the #1 selling toy in the world* with over 8 billion vehicles sold. The brand engages fans of every generation through immersive live events, global competitions, theme park attractions, world-class digital gaming, consumer products and film and television content.
About Mattel
Mattel is a leading global toy company and owner of one of the strongest catalogs of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain and develop children through play. We engage consumers through our portfolio of iconic brands, including Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Fisher-Price®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends™, UNO® and MEGA®, as well as other popular intellectual properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include film and television content, gaming, music and live events. We operate in 35 locations and our products are available in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and e-commerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering children to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.
About Mobil 1
Mobil 1™ motor oil is the world's leading brand of synthetic motor oil. Our advanced technology allows Mobil 1 motor oils to meet or exceed some of the industry’s toughest standards and to provide exceptional protection under even extreme driving conditions. Mobil 1 motor oil is designed to help protect critical engine parts, maximize engine performance, and extend engine life. For more information, visit us online at www.mobil1.us or and follow @Mobil1 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
*Source: The NPD Group/Retail Tracking Service
MAT-W
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211113005258/en/
Contact information
Scott Shaffstall
Mattel Global Communications
scott.shaffstall@mattel.com
310-252-3610
Michael Haas
Extension PR
mhaas@extensionpr.com
949-838-4116
Taylor Vande Beek
Extension PR
tvandebeek@extensionpr.com
310-982-0242
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
MediaCo Appoints Brian Fisher as President21.7.2026 23:15:00 EEST | Press release
MediaCo Holding Inc. (Nasdaq: MDIA) today announced executive leadership appointments that align the Company's leadership structure to support its long-term growth strategy. Effective immediately, Brian Fisher has been appointed President of MediaCo. Albert Rodriguez will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer, focusing on the Company's long-term strategy, growth initiatives and shareholder value, while Fisher assumes responsibility for leading the Company's day-to-day operations and execution. The Company also announced that Roberto Castro has been appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer and Interim Treasurer, overseeing the Finance organization while a search is conducted for a permanent Chief Financial Officer. "MediaCo has built tremendous momentum, and these leadership appointments position us well for our next phase of growth," said Albert Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer of MediaCo. "Brian is the right leader to serve as President, and Roberto's financial expertise wil
Footprint Expands Into PE-Free Cups, Bringing a Proven, Recyclable and Home-Compostable Alternative to Plastic-Lined Paper Cups Into Production21.7.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
Footprint, a materials science and technology company focused on eliminating single-use plastics, today announced it has acquired a recyclable, home-compostable, polyethylene (PE)-free hot and cold cup platform from Transcend Packaging, along with next-generation paper lid and straw solutions. Transcend Packaging is a European company focused on innovation in sustainable packaging solutions. Together, the cup, lid, and straw expand Footprint’s portfolio with a proven solution for the global cup market. Footprint will begin scaling its new PE-free solution through its Poland facility as the company expands across Europe, with North America to follow. As operations ramp in Poland, Footprint will work with Transcend through a manufacturing partnership to support customer continuity across Europe and meet growing demand for practical alternatives to plastic-lined cups. Transcend will manufacture product from its Wales facility for Footprint customers, while continuing to serve customers in
Spectro Cloud Launches PaletteAI Inference Launchpad to Reduce Enterprise Token Costs by up to 70%21.7.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Spectro Cloud, a leading provider of AI infrastructure management software, today launched PaletteAI Inference Launchpad, a turnkey, locally managed solution designed to help enterprises reduce token costs by as much as 70% and run AI inference closer to their data, applications and users. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260721597271/en/ The company also announced expanded PaletteAI support for AMD-powered AI infrastructure, including AMD GPUs, AMD GPU Operator, ROCm™ runtime, and the AMD enterprise AI reference stack — including AMD-optimized models from the AMD Inference Microservices (AIMs) catalog. Together, the announcements expand PaletteAI as one platform for production AI infrastructure across heterogeneous environments — giving enterprises, neoclouds and sovereign cloud providers a more flexible path to run governed AI infrastructure across NVIDIA and AMD silicon. AI infrastructure is entering the tok
RecVue Launches First AI Native Agentic Revenue Operating System21.7.2026 16:03:00 EEST | Press release
RecVue, the leader in billing and revenue management solutions, today announced the evolution of RecVue RevOS into the industry's first Agentic Revenue Operating System. In an architectural shift, the now-native agentic revenue management platform moves revenue operations beyond AI-assisted workflows to fully governed, autonomous execution with more than 50 purpose-built agents that work across contracts, invoices and payment data to predict risk, surface anomalies and escalate exceptions throughout the quote-to-cash lifecycle. Enterprise revenue operations have long suffered from a structural gap between billing systems that generate invoices and ERP systems that record transactions. Finance teams face tedious, manual reconciliation month after month, often resulting in delayed cash, billing errors that generate disputes, revenue leakage from ungoverned contract changes and close cycles that consume weeks. “Enterprise RevOps has always demanded both speed and precision, but traditiona
Yubico Extends Passkeys Beyond Trusted Authentication to Verified Authorization with Launch of YubiKey 5.821.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Yubico (NASDAQ STOCKHOLM: YUBICO), the pioneer of phishing-resistant authentication and creator of the original passkey, the YubiKey, today announced the general availability of its YubiKey 5.8 – marking an expansion of the role of the passkey from secure authentication to include verifiable, hardware-backed authorization. The new firmware delivers a foundation for secure enterprise workflows across identity wallets, document signing, and AI-driven approvals, while also providing developers with the critical capabilities needed to test, design and deploy these next-generation security features early. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260721286409/en/ As generative and agentic AI mature to drive rapid, automated cyberattacks, traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) is failing to keep pace. Security leaders now face a challenge globally: securing not just who logs into a system, but exactly what actions a us
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom