This 600bhp Chilean race car has won the 2024 Hot Wheels Legends Tour

This dinky little thing that looks a little like a shrunken endurance racer actually started life as a 1968 Ford Falcon, and now it’s all set to become a Hot Wheels 1:64 die-cast toy, because it has just won the 2024 edition of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour.

It’s nicknamed ‘La Liebre’ (The Hare) and is the brainchild of Giuseppe Casagrande and Maurizio Moschini who co-founded ‘Cars and Coffee Chile’ back in 2013 as a nonprofit organisation with the aim of growing the car community in Chile.

To create La Liebre, the Falcon chassis was heavily modified by Baufer Garage and fitted with a tubular frame and roll cage. A custom-built Chevrolet 350 small block V8 making 600bhp was then plugged in and connected to a Saenz 910 five-speed gearbox with straight cut gears. The body is made from fibreglass, and we’re told that the whole thing weighs just 900kg. Should be pretty lively.

“This year’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour brought out so many incredible builds, making it difficult to select just one, however, the mission behind the La Liebre built by Cars & Coffee Chile was emblematic of what the tour is all about,” said Ted Wu, senior VP and global head of design of vehicles and building sets at Mattel. Great job.

“Not only is it an extremely impressive build, but it was created to help grow the car community in Chile and inspire others to participate. That’s what makes this vehicle, and the team behind it, deserving of the win and entry into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends.”

The Legends Tour has been running since 2018 and describes itself as ‘the world's largest travelling car show’. Each year heats are held around the world before a Grand Finale sees a global winner crowned. Said winner then has their car turned into a 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast. Very cool indeed.