.
[upbeat music]
- Wow!
Buckle up for a magical ride.
- Oh, my God. This brings back my childhood.
This is what my room looked like.
- Tonight two real-life action heroes--
Angela, a professional wrestler,
and Caroline, a former naval aviator--
get the chance of a lifetime...
- Oh, my God!
- Transforming nostalgic cars from their past...
- I didn't think this would be so emotional.
- Into the life-sized Hot Wheels of their dreams!
- I want something that's never, ever been seen.
- My dream is to make it into a fighter jet.
- Our panel of car experts will be joined
by celebrity guest judge Joel McHale...
- I know that everything that comes out of my mouth
sounds sarcastic, but I can't wait.
- To crown the winner, who takes home $25,000 and a key
to our finale, where one lucky superfan will get
their design made into an actual Hot Wheels
diecast that you can buy.
This is "Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge."
* *
[engine turning over, revving]
- Welcome to your hottest car makeover competition,
where we take your favorite nostalgic wheels and turn them
into real-life Hot Wheels.
This is "Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge."
I'm your host, Rutledge Wood.
Tonight we have two more superfans
competing to create the life-sized Hot Wheels
of their dreams.
Let's meet our superfans.
- I'm Angela. I'm 26 years old.
And I'm from Gilbertown, Alabama.
And something you might not know about this girl
is I also happen to be a professional wrestler.
My love for the fastness and speed of Hot Wheels,
I brought it right to the ring with me.
- I'm Caroline Johnson.
I'm 36 years old, live in Washington, D.C.,
and I'm a former F-18 weapon systems officer.
I flew in the back seat of F-18s.
In layman's terms, to quote the movie we all know and love,
"Top Gun," I was Goose.
Since I was a child, I've had a need for speed.
For me, Hot Wheels represents that.
- "Fight versus flight" night. - Yes.
- Caroline, is there a car
that's near and dear to your heart
- I actually had the coolest car.
I had a 1990s Nissan Sentra
that actually gave me my need for speed
and made me become a naval aviator
flying F-18s for the U.S. Navy.
The Nissan Sentra was freedom.
It was all the things that I craved most in life.
My grandfather gifted it to me when I was 16.
He taught me how to drive and taught me the confidence
and the capability that I really could solve
any problem or anything that was broken.
- Well, Caroline, the '90s are back, because here's that car.
[engine turning over] - No way!
You found it!
Oh, my God!
That's my exact car!
I didn't think this would be so emotional.
I didn't think it would really, like, hit me.
- What do you think your grandfather
would think of the woman sitting in this car today?
- You know, he'd be so proud.
My grandfather passed away at 90.
And so, to be able to honor his legacy,
I could make my family and myself proud.
- All right, Caroline, let's talk to your competitor.
Hi, Angela. - Hey. What's up, guys?
- Tell us about the car that means the most to you.
- Her name is Viola.
She's a black 2010 Hyundai Elantra,
named after one of my favorite actresses, Viola Davis.
And, basically, I found my love of cars
through my grandfather.
My granddad taught me about cars.
And he taught me about wrestling.
And I saw it on TV one day.
I was ten years old, and I made up my mind.
I said, you know what?
That's what I'm about to do with my life.
- It's time to be reunited with Viola.
Take a look.
- Oh, my God!
How did you-- That's my baby!
How did you get her?
* *
Oh, man! [squealing]
There's a floodgate of emotions.
I mean, this was my first car.
- What did this car represent to you?
- This car was a journey for me.
One of the moments I had--
I was going to my championship match,
and I just didn't believe in myself.
And then it's like, snap.
It was like, hey, get out of that.
You got to become A.Q.A.
And that's what I did. I pulled up.
I got dressed. I stepped out of that car.
And I was ready to go.
And if it wasn't for that moment,
I don't even know where I'd be today.
She was more than just a car with four wheels.
She was a friend. She was a companion.
She was my safe haven.
- Let's meet my fellow judges.
Here they are.
Coming to us from Detroit, aka Motor City,
she's our resident Hot Wheels brand ambassador,
a former Hot Wheels Legends tour judge,
and a groundbreaking designer for the Ford Motor Company.
It's Dalal Elsheikh.
- Stop it.
- And he's a major influence in car culture.
And he's been drifting his way into all of our hearts.
He's Hertrech Eugene Jr.
Let's talk about what exactly we'll
all be judging your builds on.
- I want something that feels fast.
Is the vibe of the build loud?
Do I want to cover my ears just looking at it?
And, of course, is it paying homage to Hot Wheels history?
- Execution is the name.
Execution is my game.
So I want to see you guys really change
the silhouettes of these cars.
Your fit, your finish, your paint got to be on point,
no if, ands, or buts.
- Well, I want to see y'all battle in this competition.
It is all about originality, okay?
So, to help inspire, let me introduce
you to the Chrome Zone.
Step one, our superfans use inspiration
from their own lives and the magical Chrome Zone.
Packed with the most legendary Hot Wheels ever,
it's the perfect place to create their winning design.
- Oh, my God. This brings back my childhood.
This is what my room looked like.
- I just love how iconic they are.
You can't help yourself but just play with the cars.
- Viola, she made me a professional wrestler,
so I want to transition her into a professional wrestler
and put a big wrestling ring right in the middle.
- You want to put a wrestling ring
in the middle of the Hyundai?
- Oh, yeah. - Okay.
This is one of my favorites right here, the Dirty Outlaw.
This is a winged sprint car
meant to look like the World of Outlaws Series.
When you put it, say, with another one,
to really create that space in the middle, a wrestling ring,
you really need the car to have presence
on the front and the back.
- My first set of gear was purple and chrome.
So let's paint her that same color.
And I'm thinking we put some big pipes right there,
have some pyro coming out.
We're transforming Viola to Vendetta.
Viola, she's a small car.
That's why Viola represents me so well,
because people would look at me, and they'd be like,
oh, she's tiny.
She's short. She can't do anything.
As soon as I put on that gear and I walk out in that ring,
boom, you knew it was time for business.
- What's your gut tell you we should do with this car?
- My dream is to make it into a fighter jet.
- This is the 2 Jet Z.
Now, this feels like a cockpit on wheels.
- I love the cockpit.
Great inspiration right there. - The Power Rocket--
I mean, this was meant to look like a super-fast rocket car.
- I think what's so cool about that
is the afterburner integration.
I want to make this car an embodiment of the adrenaline
from an F-18.
So we've got to have the key afterburner
out here, flames coming out.
We got a sleek cockpit coming back,
some wings coming out the side, and also
make it battleship gray.
- Let's see if we can make that into a reality.
- I mean, let's do it.
- Come on.
To help turn your dreams into reality,
you'll be matched with our Car Poolers.
Caroline, you'll be on the Red Team,
and, Angela, you'll be on the Blue Team.
[cheers and applause] - Let's go, Blue!
- Caroline, what is the name of your build.
- Oh, Need for Speed.
- There we go.
- Angela? - I'm building the Fight Car.
- Okay.
All right, you each have one week
to turn these machines into life-size ultimate Hot Wheels.
When the lights flash green, it's go time.
Are you all ready? all: Yeah.
- We're ready. You ready?
- Ready...
all: Set, go!
[all shouting]
- Beep, beep, beep, beep. - Oh!
- Right there. - Right there.
- We're going to make her the biggest,
the boldest badass wrestling on wheels
that this world has ever seen!
- Yes.
- Boom, Vendetta.
I'm going to cut this bad boy in half.
We're going to put a wrestling ring in the middle of it.
- We're going to slice this thing in half and extend it.
- This has to be strong enough to be able to wrestle in it.
- Big skull in the middle that represents me.
- I like skulls.
- I'll work with Angela to design the championship belt.
We could do that as a front grille.
- Step one, we got to start tearing this thing down.
- This is the kind of thing I do, so I love it.
But turning Viola into Vendetta,
it's ambitious, to say the least.
- This is going to be the Need for Speed,
based off of an F-18 Super Hornet that I flew.
Two seats, we're getting some wings on here, canopy,
got afterburners with real jet packs in there.
My dream is to make wings that actually fold,
bringing in a tail that's fast.
- I think we need to make some room,
strip the interior out, cut the roof off, bring it down
to the doors... - Yeah.
- And then start incorporating our design for the cockpit.
- I'm digging this afterburner here.
So that's going to be interesting to work on
and see how to incorporate that into the build.
You name it, I've done it.
But a jet engine in a Nissan Sentra?
That's new territory.
We're upping the bar here, baby.
Whoo!
- Stay tuned for wild and magical rides...
- We ended up getting a canopy right out of a jet.
We got a wing!
- Is it a bird? - Is it a plane?
- Hey, Fight Car! We just flew past you!
- If you want some, come get some.
- And Hollywood superstar Joel McHale.
- I want to see Hot Wheels as big as our combined
forehead space. - [laughs]
And incredible transformations.
- This could be in a movie.
.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
Hertrech Eugene Jr.,
stone-cold stunted Rutledge Wood.
We need a new host for the show, ladies and gentlemen.
We are taking applications.
- That was great. - Thank you.
- You ever thought
about announcing professional wrestling?
- Yeah, but they wouldn't have me--that's why I'm here.
[upbeat music]
- Beautiful.
[both grunt] There we go.
- In step two, The Car Pool teams
transform their wild designs into life-sized Hot Wheels.
So we've got Angela, a professional wrestler,
and the Blue Team over there, working on the Fight Car.
She's turning that Hyundai Elantra
into an actual wrestling ring on wheels.
That's bananas.
- Is that enough-- to just put something
in the center of these two halves of one car?
What's happening in the front and back?
I'm not sure that just elongating it is hot enough.
- Now, Caroline and the Red Garage
are working hard with that Need for Speed.
They're going to take her Nissan Sentra
and turn it into a fighter jet.
- Demolition time is fun, baby. It's fun.
- Hot Wheels has done a ton of aviation-based diecasts--
fighter jets, airplanes, I mean, you name it.
But we haven't done an aviation-based car,
so I have no idea how they're going to make
those two things fit together.
- Here we are, Caroline. Look what we found.
Look at this! - Get out!
- No way.
We ended up getting a canopy right out of a jet.
It is huge.
I've never seen anything like it.
That is so cool. - It's heavy.
- It's a bit heavy. - Really heavy.
- Looking at it now, I'm not exactly sure
how we're going to fit this onto the top of the car.
The first thing we have to do is chop
the whole top off this car.
- Chop it there, and then we'll tidy up later.
- Getting in there and ripping stuff out
and having Rachel and Tony just go to town.
Yeah! - [laughs]
No more roof. - Yeah!
I was amazed.
And I was like, this is possible.
Hey, Fight Car! - What?
- We just flew past you.
- Whoo!
- Hey, Red Team!
Step across this line.
If you want some, come get some.
- No, no, no, we're already light-years ahead.
[engine revs]
- So where we're going to be making this cut,
it's an interesting spot, because both doors
join together at this pillar.
We cut too far forward or back, we run the risk of not being
able to reattach the door.
Hey, Angela. - What's up?
- These are the lines where your pretty little
baby is going to get sliced.
Just want you to be mentally prepared for what
you're about to witness.
- For a split moment, I almost said no.
I almost said, let's figure something else out.
But I was like, go big or go home.
How can you win "Hot Wheels"
if you don't have a Hot Wheels design?
- So they've got to figure out,
how do they brace this whole thing
that both keeps it together?
It won't just sag in the middle.
- Yeah.
- But really, how do you bring a wrestling ring to life
and make it dynamic?
- Stretching the car and then building the wrestling ring,
making it look clean, all the edges so that it looks
like it's one piece,
this is probably going to be one of the hardest builds
that we see on "Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge."
- Coming out!
- It was nice knowing you, Mr. and Mrs. Engine.
- There we go.
- So, Caroline, I just got to know.
How did you get into this field?
- It was a long shot.
I actually ended up going to the Naval Academy,
and I became a weapon-systems officer.
- So you're in charge of really finding these targets.
- Yeah.
What about you, Tony? Like, what's your story?
- You know, where I'm from, working--
like, 25, you're lucky to see that age.
- Oh, yeah.
- So they call us, like, OGs, so the old guys,
when you're, like, 25.
So if you live past that, it's like, oh, wow, you made it.
I'm from Oakland, California.
There's some tough parts of the city.
So going to school and building cars,
like, really helped to change that narrative of being
a statistic of someone who would have a short life span.
You come through challenges and have to go over adversities.
It seems like we share that similar story.
- Tony and I grew up very different,
but we've had so many similar experiences,
being forever driven and disciplined.
Cars did that for him. The military did it for me.
If you put your mind to it, anything's possible.
- Anything's possible.
- Where's our celebrity guest judge?
He should be here by now. - I don't know.
[intense music]
- Oh, boy. Look who's here.
It's television star and mega Hot Wheels fan Joel McHale.
- Thank you.
Tony, Rachel, thank you for helping me get to this spot.
I wasn't able to do it on my own--thank you.
You guys can go back to your garage if you'd like.
- Got to go.
See you later. - Right. [chuckles]
- Guys, I can't wait to see your builds,
and I'm not kidding.
I know that everything that comes out of my mouth
sounds sarcastic, but I am not kidding.
I can't wait to see them. - It's going to be awesome.
- I really hope that Joel likes wrestling,
because if he doesn't, it's not going to go my way.
- I knew you were a big car guy when I saw the denim on denim.
- Yeah, that's right.
- I knew, this guy doesn't mess around.
How many cars you got at home? - I have six cars.
- You literally are a kid that loved
Hot Wheels and grew up and now drives real-life Hot Wheels.
- That is literally true.
For all the other guest judges that lie about that...
- Mm-hmm. - Mine's true, yeah.
- I got to warn you, this is going to be hard work.
- It is? - Yeah.
- All right.
Thank you so much for having me, you guys.
[all groaning] - Joel!
- Bye, Joel. - What am I doing on this show?
- Bye!
- Wow, Blue Garage, look at this.
Look at all these room for activities.
Structure-wise, there's going to have to be a lot more
than just these two rails connecting the front half
of the car to the back half.
What's the plan for the rest of the fabrication?
- We're going to build off of these rails
and triangulate the whole thing
and just make sure it's strong enough.
- So design-wise, what are you guys thinking
for the front and the rear of this vehicle,
outside of the ring?
- We're going to open up the hood, plasma-cut a hole,
have a skull.
Skull is one of Angela's things.
- What is a wrestler without a championship belt?
We're going to have a championship belt
mounted right here on the grille.
- Wrestling ring. Cool.
Sounds like your design is going to be cool.
Your execution better be on point.
- Y'all, off to a great start.
Good luck, guys. You're going to need it.
- We got a lot to work on here.
- With this canopy, it is just so big.
And it's going to be so much work to build a frame,
put it on a slide.
So what I'm thinking is that we cut it right down the middle.
And then on the front here, we'll build it on a hinge,
so this whole front piece will lift up.
- Let's do it. Let's cut some metal.
* *
- There we have it. [all cheering]
- Now that we have this canopy cut in half,
it looks like the size is going to be
so much more usable for us.
But I'm still not quite sure how we're going to execute it.
It loses that "jet look" when you shorten it down.
- What if we just make this flush?
No, I'm just going to raise this to try to make it even.
Now step back. Tell me what that looks like.
* *
- I just--I've looked at it 37 different ways.
And I'm just...
This jet canopy is a key piece of our build.
It's really stressing me out
because I need to make sure that this is a perfect design.
.
[tires screech]
- If you've ever seen a Hot Wheels with a paint job
like this, that's called Spectraflame.
- Oh, I see what you're doing. [chuckles]
You give a little Hot Wheels factoid,
and then a big-time celebrity comes in and interrupts you.
It's cute. Seen it before, Dalal.
- You know, Spectraflame is not even technically paint.
It's actually a shiny vacuum-metallized finish
covered in a semi-transparent water-based lacquer.
It's a Hot Wheels hallmark that looks amazing on these cars--
super metallic.
- Oh, wow. Yeah, that paint does look amazing.
They should use it on those super-shiny shirts
that divorced guys wear out to the club.
Oh, this shirt?
[chuckles] I'm not divorced.
I just love it.
Now, my wife--she hates it.
She keeps making this funny joke, uh, about divorcing me.
[chuckles] She's hilarious. - Oh.
This has been the Hot Wheels Handbook.
[engine revving]
- So right now in the Red Garage,
the real question is, can they turn a Nissan Sentra
into a fighter jet
and still make it feel like the ultimate
life-sized Hot Wheels?
- What if we hinge it this way?
- Sideways? - Yeah.
- That's how the trainer jets open up.
- Let's just do it.
- But it definitely does not look like a Sentra,
and I used to drive a 1989 Nissan Sentra.
- Usually when you take a cockpit and some wings
from a jet and smash them onto a Sentra,
it'll make a Sentra not look like a Sentra.
- Very good point, Hert.
- But, really, now they've got to take it to the finish line.
* *
They have made a ton of progress
over in the Blue Garage.
- This Elantra was chopped in half, completely stretched,
almost like an Elantra limo, if you will.
And then they built this entire wrestling ring
in the middle of it. - Oh, man.
- Yeah. Yeah. Get it.
I am making what's going to be the corners
of all the ropes for the outside of the wrestling ring.
So I'm on number three.
I still have another nine to go.
- The real question we keep asking them--
is it Hot Wheels?
- Look at it.
Yes, that is Hot Wheels. Come on.
This thing is amazing.
- So I brought my first pair of gear around.
It's a little faded because I've had it since 2018.
- Ooh, I like the skull because his mouth is open.
How could you not like skulls? That's my thing.
I'm renowned for making totally unexpected,
strange, and wonderful things.
This is my bag, and I'm totally up for it.
- Caroline spoke a lot about how F-18s work,
how the wings would fold up.
I thought, huh, that's what we're going to do.
- This angle here is the same as the angle in the wing.
- Putting heavy jet wings onto the sheet metal
of the side of a car--
doesn't seem like those two things should go together.
We have to brace the car
so it doesn't rip the whole sides off the car.
* *
- Ooh, Red Garage, wow.
- I mean, we have these incredible wings
that are from a real Tornado, actually,
that flew in combat.
- This is getting straight jet-engine turbine power--
blue flames, afterburners.
Bring some marshmallows, because it's going down.
- I just want to be extra, extra clear--
fireballs. [imitates explosion]
- Fireballs. Whoo! [imitates loud whooshing]
- Caroline's team has really bitten off a lot here.
And to see Tony get thrown into the deep end with--
by the way, turn this Sentra into a jet car,
that's when you really see what people are made of.
Yeah, we're going to jet. [laughter]
[engines revving]
We are halfway through the build, everybody!
Halfway through.
- Halfway through the build!
And sadly, because we're halfway,
Rachel has been eliminated.
- Oh, no.
- Now it is up to Tony. It is up to Tony.
You eliminate mechanics as you go, right?
- Mm-hmm. And then they have to date each other.
- It's also a dating game? - Yes.
[intense music]
- This is the jet, then, Tony?
- This is the jet-engine turbines with afterburners.
- That thing is huge!
- Does this look familiar to you?
- I mean, that thing's sexy. - Yeah.
A jet engine to install in a car
presents so many challenges.
Easy. Easy. - Easy does it.
- We have to make sure the balance of the weight is even
because that jet engine weighs a ton.
Also, we're dealing with high amounts of fuel, flames.
There can be an explosion.
- Is there a manual for this sort of thing?
- In our heads. - Oh, okay.
- [chuckles]
I'm starting to feel tense, and I'm hoping that this works.
[engine revving]
- Oh, there's not a lot of spring in that.
When you get body-slammed on that...
- We've bent a lot of steel.
And the frame of the car is starting to come together.
But now we have got to make sure
that the floor of the wrestling ring holds together
and it also has some flex in it but not too much flex,
or it's just going to break in half.
- The car has got some spring, though.
- Let's get it secured first.
And then you can practice your special moves.
- Sweet Caroline and Angelic Angel
are fighting it out hard in the garage.
And nothing can get in the way of that,
not even this big machine behind me that does just that
every single episode.
Oh, boy!
The Inspirationator 5000, it's alive.
- What?
- And it's about to throw you for a loop
with one of these over 800 awesome Hot Wheels.
Oh, boy.
- Oh, that is what's flashing.
- Oh.
Look at that.
El Viento.
Dalal, tell us about it.
- This thing is muy caliente.
"El viento"is Spanish for "the wind,"
because it's a whirlwind of itself.
This puppy is fast.
It has a removable canopy, an adjustable front splitter,
and, oh, by the way, it's electric.
- Thanks, Dalal.
If you want the 25 grand and the key to the finale,
you'll need to add an element from this Hot Wheels
into your design.
- It's the last thing we need.
- You can make part of your car removable,
electrify the build, or adjust the seating.
And I like all three of those things.
- Get with your team. Make a plan.
When the lights go green, it's back to work, ladies.
You ready? [buzzer sounds]
both: Go!
- What? What? What? - Let's go.
- There's that removable canopy.
- Make the canopy openable.
- Electrifying the car is something that I think
is going to be our niche.
Right now we've got the canopy as just manual.
Being able to make that so it's automatic
I think is going to be a game changer.
- What about the belt that you're going to craft
around the front of the car?
What if we made it so you could remove it
and have it as the winning belt for the wrestling?
- Can we do that?
Adding the championship belt was already a fantastic idea.
But then Charlie took it up a notch and said,
hey, why don't we remove it,
so at the end, when you win the match,
you are the Hot Wheels champion, baby?
- All right. - Let's do it.
- Let's go.
* *
- Hey, Blue Garage. - Hey, hey.
- Guys, I've got to be honest. This is beyond insane.
I really want to get in there with you.
- Get in there. So much room for activities.
* *
- As you know, Hot Wheels needs to be big, bold, loud.
Right now we're still looking like a stretched Elantra
with a wrestling ring in the middle.
So what's the plan?
- We've got a couple ideas, but it really depends on time.
- Okay.
- So we got to work with the big parts first,
and then we can focus on the smaller details.
- Right.
I would really expect them to be thinking
about changing more of the silhouette of this car.
I'm not sure how they're going to make
this all look cohesive.
- Are you guys worried about the flow
of the car getting interrupted
with the seats poking out of the back at all?
- The big thing here is we got to do
something other than just putting a box
in the middle of the car.
We have to make sure
that this is Hot Wheels featuring wrestling,
not wrestling featuring Hot Wheels.
- What's your biggest concern at this point,
knowing how little time you have left?
- That's the biggest concern.
We've got lots still to do, not a lot of time.
- No pressure.
.
- What's your earliest memory of playing with Hot Wheels?
- We had a ravine behind our house.
And there was, like, a stream at the bottom.
And we would see if we could get
them to go all the way down.
Good times.
- So you know, as a kid, when you were playing
with Hot Wheels, it could do anything.
That's how you can take a Hyundai Elantra
and turn it into a wrestling ring
or take a Nissan Sentra and turn it into a fighter jet.
- [imitates afterburner firing]
- Wait, that's an afterburner?
- Apparently. - I feel like it's more like...
[imitates afterburner whooshing]
[car horn honks]
- Yeah.
Two days left, everybody.
- So you hold it, and then I'll trace out the shape.
- Being able to make that canopy so its automatic
is going to be a game changer.
- Caroline's team used an actuator to open the cockpit,
and that actuator uses electricity
to basically push a rod up to lift the canopy open.
- The only way we can make it higher
is if we move that to the right,
but then this wouldn't be in the middle.
It's incredibly heavy.
Unfortunately, it's not working so well.
- Do you think Rut could get in here?
- I think Rut's going to have to try.
- Get him doing some yoga to get into there.
- Hey, Charlie, check this out!
- Whoa! - What is that, man?
- If this exhaust doesn't say Hot Wheels,
I don't know what does! - [laughs]
- The exhaust is huge,
and it makes the car even longer.
But it looks cool, so it's worth adding.
- This will be the belt-- it'll have some fasteners
that we can just slide this front piece off of.
- Oh.
Who doesn't want to raise up a big championship
and scream that they're the champion?
Everyone wants to do that.
Even people who've never won anything,
they want to be able to take a belt off a car and say,
hey, I won this match.
Let's do it.
Come on, we're a champion! - Yeah!
* *
- Well, hello, ladies and gents.
- Okay, can you tell me more about what this paint
is going to look like?
- So we are going with the battleship gray
to really honor the F-18.
- Have you guys thought about doing a Hot Wheels gray?
- [chuckles] - Something shiny,
something metallic,
something that's really loud and bold, you know?
- That is great feedback.
I'll take that in my hip pocket and take it with me.
- When people don't necessarily want to take your idea,
they say that is "really great feedback."
And that was awesome to watch.
- Last day of the build, everybody.
- Last day, everybody!
- The last day. - Last day!
- Y'all could take notes.
You see how when I tell them how
long it is, then Joel shouts it, and then adds something--
- Guys, I'll yell anything that you say.
- Hert is so handsome.
- Hert is so handsome!
- I like this guy.
- Rut's head is proportionate to his body.
- Rut's head is in proportion to his body!
[laughs] I can't say it. - No, it's not.
- I couldn't get it out. - No, it is not.
- [laughs]
- Hey, Blue Garage. all: Hey.
- How are you? - Whoa, look at the tears.
Whoa. - I see the tears.
I see the bling.
What else is happening to the exterior of this vehicle?
- We got the exhaust going on in the back of the car.
And then, also, you're never the same
after your first match, never.
So, after Vendetta's going to go through her first match,
we're going to put a couple dents and stuff in her.
And we're going to make her look
like she's been fighting her whole life.
- I didn't know we were going to do that.
- Yeah, mark that. [laughter]
I think we felt the same way. - Now you know.
[bell dinging]
- Caroline and Angela, the time has finally come
for you to leave the garage.
But don't fret.
Your car is in good hands with your Car Pools.
It's time to paint.
You two, get out of here.
- I want some love. - Yeah, you got it. You got it.
Step three is all about finishing touches--
adding wild colors and decorations before the cars
are reassembled.
- Caroline really wants to go with a battleship gray.
Judges, however, want it to really have that hotness feel.
But I think Caroline has a really good idea
on the direction of the paint for this vehicle.
- Wrestling's all about the pyros,
the speakers, and the lights.
Right now none of them work.
- Hey, guys.
- You got it working? - I think I did it.
- This jet motor--we need to make sure that we get
this thing running because this is the whole basis
of this entire build.
- Okay, here we go. - It's upside down.
- I'm getting ready.
both: Three, two, one.
- Go!
Did you press the wrong button?
- Help me look at this real quick.
Putting a jet engine inside of a vehicle
is a first for me, like, period.
We've got fuel. - We got power.
- I need to double-check the relays.
I need to double-check the fuses.
- It's all on you right now, man.
- One hour left, everybody. This is the last hour.
- Final hour! - Final hour!
- Move, move, move! - Did this get done?
- It's a whole lot of wiring.
I don't have any battery voltage.
- Calling the Red Team.
I'm sure you'll be successful, just not today.
[imitates jet engine] - Are you just going to be
standing behind the car making jet engine noises?
- The whole time, yes.
- You feeling the pressure, Charlie?
- I'm feeling the pressure. - How about you, Bob?
You feeling the pressure? - I'm feeling the pressure.
- Who's feeling the pressure?
- 30 seconds! - 30 minutes.
- 30 minutes! 30 minutes!
My bad. 30 minutes.
- Is it on? - That might do it.
Let's see.
- Charlie, I got you right here, buddy.
- What, you got it over there? Chop! Chop!
- Hey. - That's it. You got it.
all: Five, four... - Let's go, team.
Let's go, team. all: Three, two, one.
- That's it!
.
- Well, the cars are being reassembled,
and we are getting so close
to seeing some life-sized Hot Wheels.
- I want to see Hot Wheels as big as our combined
forehead space.
- That's huge.
Let's get our superfans out here.
[cheers and applause]
- Wow.
[grunts] Let's go!
- Oh, I love it.
- Welcome back, Caroline and Angela.
You know, for the past week, you and your Car Pools
have transformed nostalgic cars from your past
into life-sized Hot Wheels.
Caroline, you are up first.
- I have the same feeling right now as I did every morning
when I would head into combat.
And it's a mix of a little bit nerves.
But I know we're ready.
- Let's check out your brand-new
ultimate Hot Wheels.
[engine revving] - Oh, my God!
- Yeah.
- Whoa. [cheers and applause]
- That's right. There they are!
[cheers and applause continue]
- Oh, my God. I am so amped about this car.
- Rachel hooked you up.
- No!
- There's something else. - What else?
- Let the wing down. - What?
What? - Yeah.
[cheers and applause]
- Getting the actuator to raise the canopy,
that is a really hard feat of engineering.
- Oh, my goodness.
- Oh, let's do it.
Hey, Joel. - Yes.
- Would you be my Maverick, take me for a flight?
- Absolutely. - I always need a good wingman.
- Swing your legs in. Yeah.
- Here we go.
- Look at this thing! - All systems go.
[excited chatter] - Zero to 120.
We're on our way.
- This is amazing.
- Joel, how are you feeling? - Very much at home.
It's one of my favorite Nissans I've ever been in.
- You can be my wingman any day, Joel.
- I don't know what I'm doing.
- Joel can take me anywhere as his Maverick,
and I will follow right behind him as Goose.
Guys, better than I could have ever imagined!
Yes!
- Caroline, tell us about this car.
- I remember riding around
in this 1990s Nissan Sentra with my grampy.
And we've taken it and transformed it
into this Need for Speed,
inspired by the F-18 that I flew in the Navy.
And so first, put a real Tornado fighter-jet canopy
and the wings on the car.
And then we also added a removable trunk panel
so that we could really see that afterburner,
that jet engine that we put in the plane.
- Wait, does the jet work?
- It works.
- As they say on "Hot Wheels Ultimate Challenge,"
prove it, Tony.
- It has literally, literally come down to this moment.
I'm nervous, and I'm hoping that this works,
not only for the judges, but for Caroline.
all: Three, two, one, go!
- Blast off!
[scattered cheers] - Come on, big money!
- I'm so nervous.
[engine whooshing loudly, all cheering]
- Hearing it spool up and then seeing
the afterburner light off and to hear that roar--
it echoed in the garage.
It was magical.
- Congratulations! That was amazing!
- Yeah! - Yeah!
- This is a car and a jet.
This is amazing.
The canopy brings the whole thing together.
The detail is off the charts, down from the names,
down to the little warnings.
This could be in a movie.
You guys are geniuses.
- This screams original.
It is a little Nissan Sentra and a whole lot of jet.
And I've definitely never seen anything like that before.
The question is, is it hot?
- This vehicle is insane, and I love the way
that you guys incorporated the twist, with the electrification
and allowing the canopy to open and close--
very Hot Wheels.
But I think what I wanted was just that next step.
So the car paint--
would have great to have been Spectraflame.
- First of all, I want to say congratulations.
A week to do this is just out of this world.
But at the same time,
I think you got really wrapped up in the jet part
and didn't so much focus on the car part.
- You know what? I got to disagree with you, Hert.
I actually really liked
the Nissan incorporation of the car,
to see the edges of the bumper, the front grille.
We can see the shape.
I mean, Caroline did want to make a jet out of her Sentra.
I think she nailed that.
That's the joy of Hot Wheels magic right there.
Congratulations. - Thank you. Thank you.
[applause] Look at this thing.
- Angela, are you ready to see the fight car?
- Oh, I'm ready, baby.
- Let's do this!
[engine revving] Oh, my God!
.
- Joel, let's do this. - Let's do this!
- Oh, boy.
[engine revving]
- Oh, my God!
Look at it!
Yes! [shouting indistinctly]
[all shouting happily]
Vendetta is sick! I mean, oh, my God!
The spike, the V, the skull, the ring--
she's amazing.
- Tell us where this thing started
and what we're looking at right now.
- We took my black Hyundai 2010 Elantra.
And what I wanted to do was give back to this car
and give her a story of her own.
[triumphant music]
This right here, baby, is Vendetta.
We chopped her in half, broke her down
so we could incorporate the wrestling ring.
Bob had this amazing idea to create this 3D skull
that is literally coming out of the hood,
because she is turning into Vendetta--
my dream come true.
- Ah! - Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
- We were promised that this would look and feel
like a wrestling event, which means,
let's get ready to Hot Wheels.
- All right.
Charlie, I'm calling you out. - Me?
- The Mad Hatter.
- Let's go! - Yeah!
- Let's get to the fight. Come on.
[all cheering] - Come on!
- You got this, Charlie. Get back in it.
[all screaming]
- Yeah!
- The winner gets the belt!
Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Hot Wheels wrestling champion of the world--
Angela! [all cheering]
- Yeah! - It worked.
When you look at this car and you think about originality,
the cup runneth over.
The skull with the lights.
I mean, the championship belt to integrate El Viento
into the lines of the car-- what a great move.
But I will say, I don't get the feeling
that it is one autonomous thing.
As an avid Hot Wheels fan... - Yes.
- What makes this car a Hot Wheels to you?
- Because there's a wrestling ring in the middle of a car.
What do you think? The power seats?
- I definitely think it has all of the Hot Wheels elements.
It is loud. It is bold.
It's got pyrotechnics.
I wish you guys had done more with the rest of the car.
Like, when I'm looking at the front quarter panel,
it's, like, largely nothing has been done because it does feel
like you have these really, really cool features
and components,
and a launcher kind of grew on the outside of it.
- I feel like you really executed your story.
You live your life of wrestling,
and you put a wrestling ring in the middle of a car.
It's exploding out of it.
And I can't think of any other way to execute it better.
- It's incredible. - Yeah.
- Caroline, Angela, with the help of your Car Pools,
you transformed these classic cars
into legendary ultimate Hot Wheels.
The superfan
who inspired our favorite ride
this week is...
[dramatic music]
* *
Caroline!
[cheers and applause] Congratulations!
- [laughing wildly]
- You did it. way to go.
- What really pushed her team over the edge
was they have a build that looks cohesive.
You see it, and you know exactly what's going on.
It's a fighter-jet car.
It looks fast. It looks bold. And it tells a story.
[all cheering]
- Oh, my goodness. Grampy would be so proud.
- Caroline, congratulations.
You've got 25 grand and a key to the finale.
[cheers and applause]
That's right.
You'll compete against the rest of this season's winners
presented by Xfinity to see if your next creation
will become a real Hot Wheels diecast that you can buy.
Huge thanks to Joel McHale.
We will see you next time for another race
to the finish line with life-sized Hot Wheels.
For Hert and Dalal, I'm Rutledge Wood.
Catch you on the next lap.
[cheers and applause]