2019 Hot Wheels 'Custom Otto'

I got the headphones I asked for for Christmas, and, with what family I still live with, unwrapped them as expected on Christmas morning. What I didn't expect to also unwrap that morning was a gift from my younger sister, my first Hot Wheels car since I was younger than twelve years old. As it was the only thing I could sit around and fiddle with whilst with my family, I sat and fiddled with it.
     I probably fiddled with it too much.
     In fact, I fiddled with it so much I became interested. I looked it up on the Internet. I wasn't surprised to find that there are dedicated Hot Wheels collectors, but I was surprised to find out that a stocking filler my sister had picked up from Tesco at random had something of an interesting history.
     The Custom Otto is named for Otto Kuhni, designer of the original 1968 run of Hot Wheels cars and their packaging. The Custom Otto was the car that appeared on the cards attached to the cars - and nowhere else. It did not exist as a physical car until the 40th anniversary of Hot Wheels, in 2008, referred to until then as the 'lost Redline' - Redline being the title of the original Hot Wheels run.
     Six variations of the car were made then, and handed out at special events at various racing circuits around the U.S., such as Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, with a variation specific to each. Today, these models are collector's items. They feature seals marking the event they were distributed at, special wheels and paint jobs, and bonnets that hinge open to reveal a 1/64th scale die cast engine. I can't comment on the modelling of this engine as the collector who's video I watched of the Indianapolis variation refused to take it out of the package.
     Over the next several years, the Custom Otto retained mythical status. A variation was gifted to Hot Wheels employees at Christmas, 2008. One, and only one, was produced encrusted with real diamonds and gold.
     The one I received is a mass-produced 2019 model. There are two variations I can confirm to exist, blue and purple. Mine, the blue, has a metal base while the purple has plastic. However, the wheels of the blue are of a lower standard. The rims are just cut-outs of the same material as the base, pasted onto the solid barrels that make the wheels. The purple one has spaces between five copper-gold spokes. Copper-gold apparently reduces friction, making these models faster.
     On the interior, black plastic in the blue model and cream in the purple, are modeled seats, dashboard, and gear stick. There is no steering wheel. I haven't inspected a Hot Wheels car in years, but the stray Matchbox Ford Explorer, dated 1998, that sits on my window-sill waiting for the year it gets put away has a steering wheel. So too does a poorly-proportioned and entirely plastic '50s Chevy, made in China.
     The exterior takes cues from plenty of muscle cars of the era it was initially designed. The whole has the look of a Dodge Charger, pinched at the front and rear, and the lines of the rear window and c-pillar are reminiscent of a Corvette of the period.
     The blue paint goes better than the purple metalflake with the white stripes and contrasting red pinstripe that both models share. The portion of stripe over the rear left wheel was scuffed right out of the factory in Malaysia.
     The car looks good, rolls well, and is built solid. Its history has ignited an interest in Hot Wheels I haven't had since I was a kid. Its shortcomings are easily overlooked, and I think ti will make a good start to the collection I would start if there was a chance of me remembering having the idea in the morning.