Today I saw a car that reminded me of one of my old Hot Wheels cars. When I was a kid I didn’t know what a Buick was, or a Chevrolet, or a Ford. Hey, I was growing up in the Inner City. We couldn’t afford a car  We didn’t know how to drive one. I took public transit, walked, or else rode my bike.
I was first introduced to playing with Hot Wheels thanks to my brother. We enjoyed many hours playing with those shiny little cars. Our Hot Wheels zipped along down plastic tracks that we elevated on the backs of chairs and other nearby furnishings. We didn’t have the battery powered Hot Wheels that we saw on TV.

Hot Wheels were powered by us, down makeshift ramps, accelerated by gravity.

There is a car show going on downtown today. Some of the cars look like the cars we played with as kids. The stuff our dreams were made of. Namely, Hot Wheels for big boys and girls who can afford the real thing.

Nevertheless, some cars in today’s car show lineup just look too strange, too big and bulky or too suburban. Those are the cars that we would not pick to be our special car in a Hot Wheels race.

There was something endearing about playing Hot Wheels with my brother and sister. We didn’t always get along, but what often brings people together is the thrill of cars!