Check out the rad winner of Polestar’s Hot Wheels design competition

The winner of Polestar’s 2024 Design Contest in collaboration with Hot Wheels has been revealed, with the excellent ‘Polestar TRX’ you see above taking the top gong. 

Created by Shashank Shekhar – a professional designer from India – the TRX looks like a rugged, off-roady cross between a supercar and a pickup truck. Oh, and because this year’s brief was to design a 1:64 scale die-cast, the winner will actually be turned into a proper Hot Wheels car. We’re told it’ll hit shops in the summer of 2025.

A four-judge panel with representatives from Polestar and Mattel selected Shekhar’s design as the winner for its “exaggerated proportions and sleek surfaces” which they said “presents a bold interpretation of Polestar's normally subtle design philosophy”.

“I'm thrilled to win,” said Shekhar. “This will be the first design in my career to be produced, so it's a big deal for me. I never thought that someday, something I have created would end up as a Hot Wheels car. It has been a great journey, and I've had an amazing time so far. Something like this gives you a lot of confidence as a young designer.”

This was the fourth edition of the Polestar Design Contest – open to both professional and student designers. The brand says that previous entries from students have seen them go on to work for the Polestar Design team.

Italy’s Powei Chen was apparently awarded the runner-up prize for the cyberpunk-style ‘Cyber Shaker’ that you see below, while Roman Moor’s excellent Le Mans-inspired ‘Polestar Track Toy’ concept was given an honourable mention.