The man behind the iconic Hot Wheels cars celebrated his 50-year anniversary of starting with Mattel by retracing his Route 66 road trip from Illinois to Los Angeles in custom Sixt-edition Shelby GT-S rental car.
“Larry Wood has made millions of Hot Wheels that used gravity to fly down an orange track,” Tracey L. Smith, executive vice president of Carroll Shelby International and International Director of Team Shelby, said in a statement. “Now he flew across the world’s most famous road in a bright orange supercharger Shelby muscle car. Along the way, Larry connected with fans of every generation who shared his passion for the automobile, regardless of its scale. Everyone enjoyed swapping stories with Larry and Shirley along the journey.”
Wood, who began his career as a designer for Ford Motor Company, took the exact same Route 66 road trip with his wife as they did in 1968 when they moved to LA so Wood could become Mattel’s chief designer for its new line of die-cast cars.
“Sixt and Shelby recently began their relationship by offering the supercharged Shelby GT-S in our fleet at select locations in the United States,” Sebastian Birkel, CEO of Sixt, said in a statement. “This is a car that we designed together with Shelby to give our customers the opportunity to experience the passion of American performance. We were thrilled when Shelby and Mr. Wood approached us to drive one of these dream cars on his odyssey. It is an amazing car that will allow him to travel in comfort and style.”
Photos courtesy of Shelby.
