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Part 4: Respect the Classics - Speedway of the South Set

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  • Part 4: Respect the Classics - Speedway of the South Set



    A letter in the mail from Hot Wheels... what could it be?


    Here's the letter with Certificate of Authenticity for a genuine Speedway of the South set...



    One of the earliest boxed sets and at the time of release the most expensive boxed set was the Speedway of the South set... Limited to a run of 1000 pieces, the SOTS set went on sale in May 2008... To be eligible to purchase the SOTS set you had to join the Hot Wheels Red Line Collectors club... I joined in April 2008, and bought one set when they went on sale.



    One of these days I'll put the Cars in the display box and put it out on display... For various reasons, many collectors did not purchase the Speedway of the South set when it went on sale... Several of the Piston Cup racers had already been released and they didn't want to purchase Cars they already had... they wanted to purchase just the Cars they needed at the approximate $4.00 price of a single... Unfortunately, Mattel didn't cooperate with those hopes... most of the racers were released, but in various formats and with other Cars or accessories that you might or might not have wanted... In this article, we'll take a look at 6 more of the Piston Cup racers from the Motor Speedway of the South set.

    This set was originally advertised to be numbered as a limited release... when they shipped, they were not numbered and there was no certificate of authenticity... Due to the threat of lawsuits, Mattel did mail letters containing a hologram with the number on it... Mine is 283 of 1000... I'll add photos showing the letter and envelope that it came in.


    The Box
    The Speedway of the South set came in a large box:


    The display box from the Speedway of the South set is huge... I finally took pictures earlier this week - over 4 years after I got mine... Here's the back of the box:



    The thin brown box underneath the display box contains the 2 trays containing the 36 Cars.

    Here are close ups showing the back of the box:




    Side of box:


    Other side of box:



    Piston Cup Racers

    Of the 36 Piston Cup racers in the SOTS set, Apple was only released by Mattel one time, in this set... This is currently also the only official release of Tach O Mint with plastic tires... At one time, there was a prototype of a Tach O Mint launcher... if they ever release Tach O Mint as a Pit Row Race-off launcher (or Lightyear Launcher) I will buy it.

    The rest of the plastic tire Piston Cup racers have been released again as either singles, Lightyear Launchers, Pit Row Race-off launchers, or in multi-packs... in fact, some of them are being released on the new 2013 cardback - King, Chick Hicks, and Nitroade come to mind.

    We'll look at photos of 6 more of the 36 racers from the SOTS set in this article... as far as the order, I picked the ones in order starting with the tray on the left side in the earlier picture.


    Dale Jr #8


    Each Piston Cup racer in the SOTS set came in a baggie... prior to taking photos for this article, I'd never opened 31 of the 36...









    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2847 EA:


    Note that the production code is at the front of the base of the Car - the Dale Jr. signature appears where the production code typically would be.

    The Dale Jr from the Speedway of the South set is unique as it is the only release with plastic tires with the "aggravated" (or aggressive) mouth... While the Kmart rubber tire racer from Kmart 4 had the aggressive mouth expression, the plastic tire single, released on the Supercharged, World of Cars, and Race O Rama cardback series is what is called the Happy Dale Jr - yes, Dale Jr is smiling.

    No other members of Dale Jr's team have been released... If I could make my own customs, I'd definitely make a Dale Jr crew chief, hauler, and pitty.


    No Stall #123










    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2847 EA:


    No Stall has been released in several different packages... it was released as a Movie Moments with Leakless... it was released in a 3 pack with Crew Chief and Pitty in both World of Cars vertical packaging and Race O Rama horizontal packaging... A No Stall Pit Row Race-off launcher was released in both World of Cars and Race O Rama cardback... It was one of the 7 racers in the Dinoco 400 set... A No Stall semi (cab only) was released - I know longer have mine - it was turned into a custom RSN hauler by GotFrank... A No Stall Hauler was released in the same case with RPM Hauler... No Stall is one of my favorite non-blue or non-purple racers.

    No Stall with rubber tires was included in the Kmart 2 Cars Collector event...


    Clutch Aid #121












    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2777 EA:


    Clutch Aid was released as a Lightyear Launcher... it was also released with rubber tires as part of the Kmart 2 Cars Collector event... Due to the white rims, Clutch Aid is a favorite Car used by customizers tires to make custom Apple racers...


    Faux Wheel Drive #54


    Faux Wheel Drive is definitely one of my favorite Piston Cup racers... the details on the paint job are amazing... the tire tracks... Outside the Speedway of the South set, Faux Wheel Drive with plastic tires was released as a UK promo Car... I traded for many of them from UK friends niler7, akumulator1, and PCD founder Rippers... a year or so ago more of the FWD promo Cars turned up on eBay from a UK seller - I bought 8 more...

    Faux Wheel Drive with rubber tires was released as a single for the Kmart 5 Cars Collector Event... it was also included in a synthetic tire 3 pack right before Kmart 5 with Gask-Its and Lightning McQUeen.

    Here are more pictures of Faux Wheel Drive from the Speedway of the South set:









    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2777 EA:


    No Faux Wheel Drive team members have been released.


    View Zeen #39


    View Zeen Corrective Windshields... helps you see on those short and long drives... View Zeen was one of the 5 plastic tire racers included in the First Kmart Cars Collector event (along with Sputter Stop, Sparemint, Transberry Juice, and Shiny Wax)... It was released as a Lightyear Launcher... it was later released with lenticular eyes in a 4 pack... the other View Zeen release was with rubber tires during the Kmart 5 Cars Collector event.

    We've seen a prototype of a View Zeen hauler... that's it for Team View Zeen so far... Here are more pictures of View Zeen from the Speedway of the South set:











    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2777 EA:



    Trunk Fresh #34


    Trunk Fresh has been released a few more times than some of the Piston Cup racers... we've also seen releases as both a Pit Row Race-off launcher and a Lightyear Launcher... It was released in a Target exclusive Speedway 4 pack with The King, RPM #64, and Lightning McQueen... Mattel also released a Trunk Fresh Pitty and a Trunk Fresh Hauler... Trunk Fresh with rubber tires was released as part of the 3rd Kmart Cars Collector event.

    Here are more photos of Trunk Fresh from the Speedway of the South set:








    Here's a photo showing the production code, 2777 EA:


    There were also a few Trunk Fresh racers released that featured a black nose as opposed to the yellow nose... in fact, JMDL Toys just awarded one as a prize within the last few weeks.


    In Conclusion

    My wife was not happy with me for buying a Speedway of the South Set... with shipping, membership in the Hot Wheels Red Line Club, and the one set, I spent about $362.00... Within a week of receiving my set, she wanted to know why I didn't buy 2 of them... Limited to 1000... some have been broken up and sold as individual singles...We've not seen as large a boxed set since then...

    It may seem that most of the Cars in the set have a production code date of 2777 EA... but others were made on different dates... if I remember right, 17 or 18 of them were 2777 EA... many built on the Leakless body style have a production code of 2637, the same date as on my box.

    I wanted a complete set of Pit Row Race-off launchers; Mattel released 19 and GotFrank made me the other 17 as customs... I wanted a complete set of haulers and still do... same goes for the team crew sets with crew chief and pittys.

    I have not assembled my Speedway of the South set... if any of you have and would like to post a picture showing the fully assembled set, I'd appreciate it.

    As always, thanks for reading... I appreciate your comments.

    Chris


    I am cac1959... I am a Cars-a-holic... and a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

  • #2
    another great read! I definetly wish I could have one of these, but I probably won't as the prices are way out of my budget for a one time purchase. I'll try and assemble a poor mans version with a custom apple

    Transformers for Trade
    Feedback: pixarcarsdiecast.com; cybertron.ca; tfw2005.com; ebay.ca

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