If you are a fan of Formula 1, toy cars or both, a trip to McDonalds
may be in order. As we go to press, you can still get three new Hot Wheel
F1 cars (Jaguar, Jordan and Williams-BMW) when a Happy Meal is ordered.
Sorry, the McLaren was a Happy Meal option last January and the Ferrari
was available with an F1 pit-stop set found in Canada.
The cars come without the sponsor decals attached and you have the delicate
task of putting them in place. The decals are excellent and quite accurate.
All five cars shown above share the same casting although the Ferrari came
with a metal base while the other have plastic. Wheels differ between the
Ferrari, McLaren and current F1 cars as well but all are appropriate.
Hot Wheels is also releasing an upscale version of these same five cars
for $4.99 each. As I have only seen pictures to date I cannot compare the
quality to the Happy Meal cars. Of course, no tobacco ads are shown on the
cars and the Jordan sports the wonderful 'Buzzin Hornets' livery that is
used by the team when tobacco ads are banned.
After a great U.S. Grand Prix (especially for Ferrari fans) at Indy, F1
may again be a force in the States. Let's hope that we see more F1 toy cars
as a result.