Old Redlines Never Die, they Just go Faster by Paul Vreede

Faster than anything made before or since, that is. The somewhat playworn survivor in the picture is living proof.

I found it on the doormat in the kitchen the other day, with earth packed inside and in the wheelwells. Turns out Mrs V had come across it while weeding a border in the garden. Where my boys will have overlooked it after playing there more than a decade ago. This was its second reprieve from possible oblivion.

The first time was when my eldest son dug it up from a bargain box underneath a sales table at the monthly swapmeet, somewhere round the turn of the millennium. Such a box can be the last stop before redundancy and destruction for many a toy, but my son liked it and we got it for pocket change.

His father certainly approved of his choice, because I instantly recognised it for what it is. I didn't have that particular model when I was his age, but I did have a few of its stablemates. For this was no mere playworn little car. This, ladies and gentlemen, was a genuine Hot Wheels Custom Barracuda from the first series, now known as Redlines because of the red line on the wheels. Part of the first 16 models issued by Mattel in 1968. And part of the revolution those caused.

I remember well being astonished by the pair of Custom Camaros my father brought back from a business trip to the States for my brother and I. We had many fine Matchbox and Husky cars but these were instantly outclassed by these shiny marvels that ran from the front to the back of the house without stopping. We got more once they became available in Holland, with the track and the loops and all.

Later in life I could more fully appreciate what havoc those toys created in the market. Every other manufacturer was forced to catch up, develop new wheels and suspensions to compete, plus shiny paint and also a track system if at all possible.

My son's new acquisition re-enacted his father's experience to quite some degree. He already had other toy cars equipped with free-running plastic wheels, even some modern-day HotWheels to use on the HotWheels track that I'd bought from US expats at garage sales because it was being sold again in North America but not here. The old veteran has of course the original suspension and wheels that were part of the revolution back then. And which still surpasses the cheapened-down versions of today's toys, modern HotWheels included.

So Redlines rule. Which is why even a "pre-loved" example will always be appreciated. And why I'm glad this particular one is back again!