.
[dramatic music]
- [laughs]
Buckle up for the ride of your life,
where car-loving Hot Wheels fans
will get the chance of a lifetime.
- * Get into my car *
- And step into a world of magical wonder.
- This is crazy.
- It's the most amazing room I've ever been in.
- Transforming nostalgic cars from their past.
- I haven't sat in this truck for almost 30 years.
- What? No way!
- Oh, my God!
What is my life right now?
I'm dancing on top of a life-size Hot Wheels car.
This ain't real.
- Are y'all ready? [all cheering]
Good luck. You're gonna need it.
- * Get out of my dreams *
- Our panel of car experts...
- This build is bangin'.
- Will be joined by celebrity guest judges...
Anthony Anderson.
Jay Leno.
Sung Kang.
Joel McHale.
- * Get into my car *
- To crown a 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.
- * Get out of my dreams *
- Get ready, get set, go.
This is "Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge."
- * Get into my car *
[engines revving]
* *
- Welcome to "Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge."
I'm your host, Rutledge Wood.
Tonight, someone will be riding home with $25,000
and a key to the finale,
where one lucky Hot Wheels superfan
will see their design turned into a real-life
Hot Wheels diecast that you can buy.
It's go time.
Let's meet our superfans.
* *
- Hi, my name is Aldavid. I'm from Phoenix, Arizona.
But I'm originally from Detroit, Michigan, Motor City.
That's where my obsession with Hot Wheels and cars began.
I'm married to my lovely wife, Alicia,
and we have our little boy.
He is four years old.
Kai has about 100-plus Hot Wheels.
We love Hot Wheels.
- I'm Robb Anders.
I'm 52 years old from Gilbert, Arizona.
I'm a retired fire captain.
You know I love things fiery,
so you know I'm gonna love Hot Wheels.
So this is my very first Hot Wheels.
It's obviously a fire engine, which, I rode on a truck
that almost looked just like this.
I would, like, get little things and catch them on fire.
Then I would have the fire trucks respond
to the fire and everything.
So I've been running calls on fire trucks
since I was essentially five years old.
- Welcome, Aldavid and Robb.
Since the dawn of time, AKA 1968,
Hot Wheels has produced
over 8 billion Hot Wheels diecasts.
And now they make 10 million every single week.
- I can't even fathom that number.
That doesn't even sound real. - Wow.
- And I can't wait to hear about the nostalgic cars
that you can't get out of your head.
Aldavid, what's that car for you?
- Well, that was actually my dad's 1990 Chevy K5 Blazer.
I loved that Blazer.
Growing up as a kid in Detroit,
the Blazer was definitely a key item
in helping me to stay in line.
Friends would be out doing what they're doing,
we're working on the car.
So I'm just very, very thankful for my dad, for that truck.
Because who knows what could have been if not.
- A 1990 Chevy Blazer.
Looked like this one, right?
[engine revving]
- [laughing]
Oh, my God.
[upbeat music]
You got the bobble head.
You found the bobble head.
My God.
The Blazer is back, baby.
This is the car.
Oh, my God.
I feel like a little kid that's getting
to live out his dreams right now.
Being able to see the Blazer has allowed me
to come back to my childhood,
and that's super precious for me.
Growing up in Detroit, you're kind of
forced to grow up quickly.
- Right. - In a hurry.
- At a young age. - Very young age.
I love my city, but it teaches you how to be strong.
This car represents-- it represents freedom.
So--sorry.
- We gotta see Robb's car.
- I'm gonna fight back the tears,
but this has to do with my hero, my dad,
and this takes me way back. Way, way back.
The 1980 Chevy pickup truck,
that truck was my dad's pride and joy.
He was the captain of that truck,
and that was his captain's seat.
This is my role model for sure.
All those talks that your dad has with you as a kid
happened on the back of that truck.
- Are you ready for this? - I'm ready.
- Okay. Take a look right over there.
* *
- Let me take it in, man. - Absolutely.
- Wow. - Yeah.
- It's crazy.
This is the truck.
This is it.
Get up here with me.
This is where we used to ride, right back here.
Wow.
Look, I brought this too.
This is what I remember.
- No way. - That's my Hot Wheels. Yeah.
This is from 1976.
It's crazy. - That's amazing.
- We used to--we used to sit just like this.
And we'd have our talks just like this.
The only thing that I can think of is,
I want my dad right next to me, you know, to share this moment.
- Before we start, why don't I bring the other judges out?
- 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.
And he's a major influence in car culture
and makes some of the most insane cars you've ever seen,
he is Hertrech Eugene Jr.
So let's tell them exactly what we're gonna be judging on.
Dalal, why don't you start?
- I'm looking for originality, execution, and hotness.
We wanna see loud, bold, exaggerated features,
and iconic Hot Wheels design elements.
- To be creative is one thing, but your execution
really needs to be on point. I can't stress that enough.
Your stance, your paint, all the little pieces
need to come together, tell your story.
- That's what we wanna see.
Hot Wheels are all about originality,
making these truly your own, one-of-a-kind,
life-size ultimate Hot Wheels.
- Yeah. Let's do it. - Are you all ready?
- Yeah. - Here we go.
- Fellas, now that you've got your cars,
it's time to start designing.
So we're gonna travel to a place
where all things magical come together.
- Okay. - All right.
- It's time to head to the Chrome Zone.
Our superfans have three steps to produce
their dream Hot Wheels.
Step one is design.
The Chrome Zone is a one-stop shop
packed with thousands of legendary Hot Wheels cars,
logos, and images.
It's the perfect place to conjure up a winning build.
Pretty amazing, right? - Yeah.
Can I--can I touch it? - Absolutely.
- This is incredible.
- Robb, so what do you want
that 1980 Chevy truck to really say?
- I want it to represent my career in the fire service.
I want the generations to blend together.
I want it to represent me playing with the fire trucks
when I was a kid.
- When you think about fire trucks,
one of the first ones that comes to mind
is this right here.
- I love that. That caught my eye right away.
- The Backdrafter, to me, is perfect.
This thing has two V16 engines, a huge rear wing.
I see big. I see loud.
- Flames are synonymous with Hot Wheels.
I'm thinking these, like, crazy Hot Wheels flames
that go down each side.
I want these flames to be lit, cut in, Plexiglass.
- You're saying three-dimensional flames?
- I wanna do, like, a three-dimensional flame.
I'm gonna burn down the competition.
- What do you think the best way to really show Detroit
through this Chevy K5 Blazer?
- If there was a way to incorporate a paint job
to take the element of the streets,
because that's where I'm from, you know?
I want to transform it into something
that when you see it, you don't know if you're afraid of it
or if you wanna go in and get in and ride it.
I want metal.
I want steel.
I want strength.
Almost kind of wanna have, like, a exoskeleton framework.
- Oh!
So kind of like this, the Hot Wheels Formula Solar.
This has an exoskeleton.
- That is exactly what I'm looking for.
If I can do something like this, that would be awesome.
- Oh, yeah, just remove the whole top.
- Love that.
- All you have to do now is just build
a life-size ultimate Hot Wheels.
- I think I can do it.
- Now, Aldavid, Robb,
I assume you have the skill set.
Within a week, you could turn these two
into the ultimate Hot Wheels without any help?
- Absolutely not.
- Oh. - Eh.
- You know what? That's cool.
That's cool. I got you.
Actually, the Car Pool's got you.
[dramatic music]
These are some of the best
car builders in the business.
They can weld, they can paint, they can drill.
They can make anything possible.
- Let's go, let's go, let's go!
He's ready! - Let's do it!
- Aldavid, what is the name of your build?
- It's gonna be called the Spirit of Detroit.
- Oh, there we go.
Great name. I like it. All right.
Robb, how about you?
- So third-generation firefighter,
mine's gonna be called Flamin' Firetruck.
- Oh, there we go.
- All right! - Let's do it.
- Your teams have one week to turn these original rides
into loud, insane ultimate Hot Wheels.
When the lights turn green, it's time to go.
Y'all get ready.
- I'm ready, baby. Let's go.
- Go!
* *
- All right now.
Boys and girls, let me show y'all the Spirit of Detroit.
[cheering]
- That's what I'm talking about, baby!
- I really want this car to represent Detroit.
A lot of metal work, tires huge,
bumper blades that look dangerous,
with some graffiti in there.
My son is a huge Hot Wheels fan.
So that's why I think the exoskeleton would be so cool,
because it almost kind of gives him two cars in one.
- What we can do, we can extend these bumpers out,
and we can put rock bars on it so all of this bolts down.
My first job is making the bumpers front and rear.
And they're going to act as the base
for this exoskeleton that's gonna cover the whole car.
- This is a lot to do in the week.
- I think we can do it, though.
- What I wanna build is, like, the ultimate fire truck.
This ultimate fire truck would be
all the bright chrome,
all the bells and whistles and the sounds.
If we can't do real fire, I want it to be as close
to real fire as we possibly get.
- Rather than have a little flame on each panel,
we can have this be one long bold piece of flame.
That could look really cool.
- Oh, smart.
- We gotta get the back of this truck off
so we can get cracking.
It is go time.
It's time to strip this truck down.
Let's get cracking, baby.
We only have a week, so the pressure is on.
- Oh, yeah.
- Coming up, will Aldavid's Spirit of Detroit
come out on top?
- There's no going back now.
- If is not gonna be the way I want, I'd just pull it off.
Ah, I messed up.
- Or will it be doused by Robb's Flamin' Firetruck?
- Hey, I don't mean to interrupt you,
but the truck's on fire.
Oh, boy.
Let's see some ultimate Hot Wheels.
- Yeah!
.
- Dude, where's my Hot Wheels, dude?
- Yeah, where is your Hot Wheels, dude?
- I'm pretty sure it was in this general vicinity, dude.
- We can't do the show without it, dude.
- Dude? - Whoa.
- He's an agile little dude, dude.
- He is, dude.
- Dude.
Hey, little dude.
- Oh, dude.
- Dude. - Dude.
We've said dude, like, 47 times, dude.
all: Dude.
- There is a lot happening in these garages right now.
- In the Red Garage, Aldavid is planning to turn
his 1990 K5 Chevy Blazer into a real life Hot Wheels,
representing the spirit of Detroit.
- This is 30 years of dirt.
Tastes like shrimp and grits.
[laughter]
- Aldavid's adding an exoskeleton,
which is like a metal cage that's gonna be attached
to the outside of the truck.
It's gonna have to all be welded together.
It's kind of like a big metal jigsaw.
- There's no going back now. - Oh, my goodness.
- There's no going back.
- Over in the Blue Garage, retired firefighter Robb
is turning his Chevy pickup into the Flamin' Firetruck,
a tribute to his 28-year career as a firefighter
and homage to his father and grandfather
who were both firefighters before him.
- If one was strobing in opposites,
it might look more like a flickering flame.
- Yeah.
- Since 1968, there have been hundreds
of Hot Wheels with flames.
So Robb really needs to make sure
that these flames are unique.
- The effect of their thinking to see
the flames almost dancing, if that doesn't work--
- It could fully break them.
- You by my feet?
- Yeah, I'm over here just taking apart the exhaust.
- And while the guys are stripping down the van,
I am putting some layout paper on the sides
and drawing right on the car, using that to then
trace out our flames.
We're actually gonna be stacking up colors.
Orange, red, and yellow.
We want something that's a lot more about motion and speed,
and hot, like Hot Wheels hot.
I have a master's in fine arts from NYU.
Putting it to good use.
I'm worried about those flames, 'cause I want them to be
something that people haven't seen before.
[upbeat music]
- So there's, like, a million bars
that I have to be doing for this,
so if you could give me a hand on bending some of these.
I'm doing-- - You want me to help you?
- You can do it. I know you can do it.
- The exoskeleton is really the part
that's going to make the entire Hot Wheels car design.
- Less is more.
Because if you do too many, then I have to cut it.
Because this pipe is so thick that I'll have to cut it,
bend it back, weld it back. - Got you.
- Building this exoskeleton, there's a lot of bending
that needs to be done.
This is thick material.
It takes a lot to bend it.
Everything has to be perfect in order to have
this vision Aldavid has come to life.
There's a lot on the line,
and I want this to be perfect for you.
I want it to be perfect for your son.
How old is your son? - Four.
- Four? Yeah, my son is nine.
- Rachel and I are both parents.
We both understand what it takes to show your kids
that, hey, like, don't worry about what the world thinks,
Mom and Dad are gonna show you what's really possible.
- I'm gonna bust it and make sure that I get this
exactly how you want it.
- Charlie, hey. - Yeah, man.
Oh, this is your jacket.
- That's my actual jacket. Yeah.
- Try it on, dude. Boom. There you go.
- Oh, I'm a proper fireman.
- You look good, man.
- I feel like a superhero. - Yeah.
- [laughs] What does this mean?
- That's my truck number. So engine 278.
Engine is 278.
- So every crew on every truck has their own number?
- Has their own number, yeah.
- Could we try and use that somewhere maybe...
- Probably. I didn't even think of that.
- On the truck? - All right, man. Let's do it.
- But I gotta get this jacket off.
- All right, man. Get it done. Get it done.
- I'm like a roast turkey in here. [laughs]
- Right on the line.
- Blue Garage, hello.
- Hey, hey. - Hi, hi.
- What's up? How are you guys? What's up, man?
- How you doing? - Good to see you.
- I'm excited about these flames.
- Bobby drew these? - Yeah.
We're liking the idea of one sort of big gestural flame.
- This truck has a lot of real estate,
so I hope they have an idea or a plan
to tie these 3-D flames into the entire truck
because there's a lot of truck.
I mean, you know what they say, more flame, more better.
Am I right? - They've always said that.
- Dude, is that the fastest you've ever made
a ladder rack in your life?
- The only time I've made a ladder rack.
- Oh. Yeah.
- Now I've seen it on, though, because we've just put it on,
I'm now thinking of twisting that down to the ground.
- You're gonna do what?
You're gonna twist what?
- I've just come up with this idea of twisting the ladders
and remaking them so they come down
and drop down to the back of the truck.
Curved ladder, that's what I think.
But I've now said it out loud, I'm gonna have to do it.
What are you doing?
You don't even know if you can do that
and you've just told all the judges.
So that might have been a slight mistake on my part.
[laughs]
[dramatic music]
- Can we have a stop on the time?
- Oh, shoot.
The judges is here.
- Hey, what's up, Red Garage?
- Hey, what's up, guys? What's going on?
- Rachel, Paul, they're awesome.
They already got our base in for that exoskeleton.
- It looks like your bends are pretty on point by hand, so.
- Thank you. - That's--that's pretty wild.
- I've been a welder for a very long time.
Metal work is my jam.
- She has not marked a single thing.
- All eyes. - All eyes. All eyeballs.
- Do you know how long she's been welding?
You were how old when you started?
- I was 15. - 15?
- When we tell you we brought you the best of the best,
we're not playing. - So what do you guys think?
Yea? Nay? - I see the vision.
- I got a little bit of a visual.
I can't give you a yea or nay until I actually see it.
- That's fair.
I think with the help of my team,
we're gonna figure it out, though.
- Hey, guys, no easy way to say this,
this chop shop needs to chop-chop.
* *
- Aldavid's exoskeleton is giving
a very aggressive energy to the body of this car
that I'm really excited to see.
But it seems like they've taken away more than
they've added at this point.
And we're not gonna be judging off of anything else
except for what they are adding to these builds.
- Robb and the Blue Garage, they're doing their best
to make this thing original.
I'm really curious to see how they execute this
because Hot Wheels has made a ton of iconic fire trucks.
So how is this one really gonna stand out and be special?
- Hey, y'all, there's five days left.
Yep. That's right. Five days.
[upbeat music]
- It's all coming together.
- It looks good, man, the color scheme.
- That's nice, right?
It's got--it's actually got a little Hot Wheels going on.
- Bye, y'all. - Look at that.
- Oh, man, you nailed it. - Light that business up.
- Hey, I don't mean to interrupt you,
.
- The truck's on fire.
- Hold on, everybody. Hold on.
I can handle--I can handle it.
[dramatic music]
Whoo.
- No fire too small.
- I believe this exoskeleton is so key.
It's gonna be what makes the whole build
so different from anything else.
- Rachel has gotta get every bend
and every piece of the tubing perfect
before she welds the whole thing together.
That's fusing two pieces of metal together with hot metal.
- I'm very concerned about overall style.
I totally get his story, but it's gotta flow.
It's gotta have a vibe, you know?
And he might be pulling it off, and I just can't see it yet.
- You know how, like, we've got those little thin bits...
- Oh, yeah, on the front. - On the front bumper.
Gonna replicate that on the back
so it looks, like, ready for the apocalypse.
- I like that. - Like, ready for anything.
- When you look over at the Blue Garage,
they gotta be careful with that Plexiglas.
It's super easy to shatter.
- See what we got cut-wise.
- No. - That's bad.
- I'm loving the colors, though.
The red, yellow, orange, classic Hot Wheels colors.
I like it.
- I almost wanna redo it and tape--tape--
- We're not gonna redo anything at this point.
We just need to cut this out.
[upbeat music]
- Halfway through, y'all.
* *
- Hey, Aldavid. Come take a look at this.
- What do we got? - This is the piece you bent.
Look at it. - Oh!
- It is a perfect fit.
This thing is going to shine.
* *
- We got a little setup here with some propane torch.
Just gonna kind of torch the wood.
I kind of felt like flaming fire truck, burnt wood.
So this is gonna go floor up to wall,
the memorabilia display case for my gear.
I wanted to add a little bit of a chrome element to it.
If I just put these metal slides between each strip
of wood, it just kind of accents it a little bit
and just makes it a little more special.
It's kind of a salute and tribute
to almost 28 years in the fire service,
and I think it's really gonna just accent
kind of, like, who I am and put the personal touch
on this Hot Wheels project.
- Dude, I love it, because it kind of
hits a spot in my heart.
Like, my daughter, my daughter is an EMT.
- Really? - Yeah.
Let me tell you, that just made this area
a little more special to me.
So I'm with it, bro.
Let's--let's crush this thing.
- Hello, Blue Garage. - Hey.
- Whoa, hello.
- The first thing that catches my eye is this ladder,
like, potential wing situation. - That's all him.
You're talking to him right here.
- Well, we originally spoke about
swooping down a little bit.
- That's what I remember. - I remember this.
- Yeah, but we ended up deciding as a team to swoop up.
I wanna do something unique and different
that maybe Hot Wheels has never seen before.
And that's why I'm committed to trying to find
enough time to get this done.
- Charlie's ladders and wing could be that one element
that tips this build over the edge
and gives Robb and his team the win.
But they're really gonna need all the other elements
to tell the story with it.
- This thing looks like it's glowing
and lit just sitting here.
- I gotta be honest, I was expecting
a little bit more wow.
- Wow? - You know?
- Yeah, yeah. No, I get it. I get it.
- I'm hoping the flames get bigger
or just get more of them.
Because right now, if the flames
are gonna be the most exciting element of this build,
they're really lacking.
- That was surprisingly heavy.
The exoskeleton is finally done,
and I can move on to things like the grill
and all of the other fabrication that needs doing.
- Paul's got these blades that look
a little dangerous, to be honest,
but the crazier the better, I guess,
because this is what I wanted.
This is the essence of Detroit right here.
- That looks way more badass
than I thought it was gonna look.
- Yes. That is what I wanted.
- Yes. [laughter]
- That completely looks like it goes now.
- Yeah, yeah. That's the one.
- You got it lit up?
- Look at that. - Wow.
- With the blue light, that's pretty rad.
- I like the blue. I think that pops, man.
- That's nice. - Yeah.
The judges are planting all these seeds
of doubt in my head.
I'm like, Dalal's got some issues with the flames,
and I'm worried, because these flames
are absolutely gonna make this build.
Can you make it-- could it strobe or flash?
- Oh, yeah.
- That's--I don't like that.
- Whoa. - Whoa, that's dope.
- That is flame right there.
Look at that. [laughs]
- Oh, boy. - What the deuce?
- Oh, boy.
- This is a weird trick.
- Ah, the Inspirationator 5000.
- Let's go.
- Everybody stop what you're doing.
- What?
- Get ready, because this thing's filled
with over 800 Hot Wheels
from 50 years of Hot Wheels history.
* *
- You know what that is.
Oh, boy.
One of my favorites, the Bone Shaker.
- I love this little guy.
Bone Shaker is one of the groundbreaking Hot Wheels.
There's been over 100 models of this car designed
in the past few years.
It features a chop top, exposed engine,
which you know I love, and decorative skull.
- Excuse me.
You guys know there's a life-size Bone Shaker
right there and it's sick.
- Yeah. That thing is awesome.
Now, in order to win the $25,000
and get a key to the finale, guess what?
Aldavid and Robb, you and your teams
each need to incorporate at least one design element
from the Bone Shaker into your build.
- Are you kidding me? - Yeah, no big deal, right?
Yeah, just throwing you for a little loop.
Go!
- It's like, we already have a full plate.
Like, how are we gonna incorporate these changes
into our plan that we already have?
- First thing I'm looking at, eight massive chrome pipes.
- I like that.
I mean, that goes perfectly with my theme
of heavy metal machine, rugged. - Definitely.
- The Bone Shaker exhaust pipes coming out the side
kind of reminds me of the Detroit feel.
We have a ton of car plants there,
consistently fire kicking out of those things.
So I think that'd be a cool little feature
to throw on two side exhaust pipes
and really let those flames kick out.
- And have flames coming out the top, baby.
- I like that.
- I think we got the flames already.
We got that done. What are you thinking?
Are you thinking anything special?
- Yeah. Well, I'm liking the exhaust.
We don't have any exhausts out of the car at the moment.
I like that there's four of them.
- Yeah. - There's four of us.
- Also, four generation of firefighters--
my grandfather, my dad, me,
and my--hopefully, my youngest son.
Are you guys ready to do it? - Yeah, man.
- Let's go. All right. Let's get it going on.
- All right. - Team Blue!
- So the Inspirationator 5,000 spit out this little bad boy.
And I'm gonna be working on the exhaust.
So the twist is gonna be similar,
but instead of them coming down,
we're gonna pop them out the hood.
It's a twist element.
So there's a lot of pressure on the line here
because I know the judges are gonna be looking for it.
Small diameter pipe from the youngest in your family
to the largest diameter for the oldest in your family.
So there's a hidden meaning in there.
- Yes.
- I'm gonna weld those together.
We'll start positioning them on the hood where we want them.
Something like that, right?
I mean, we're talking Hot Wheels, right?
So let's get crazy with it. - Yeah.
This nails it.
This is exactly what it is we were looking for.
It's hot.
It'll wake you up.
[laughs] It'll wake you up.
- We're gonna put these cool stacker exhausts
on the back of the cab.
I've already slash cutted this end
to give it that sort of hot rod aesthetic.
They're gonna look awesome.
- None of us saw this coming, of course,
and now we're kind of going back to the drawing board.
- This is where the flame's gonna come from.
We're gonna get a system where got a gas bottle in the taser.
It'll blow some huge flames out of those crazy exhaust stacks.
- You can't see that from the side now.
- Let me see.
- I just don't want anything to be blocked.
- It's not an exhaust. It's a flamethrower.
It's gonna throw flames out.
- Can my team pull off flames?
I'm nervous about this right now.
- What are you nervous about?
- I don't know-- it looks weird.
If it's not gonna be the way I want, I'd just pull it off.
.
- Right now, both garages are working on some wild exhaust.
It's their twist element from the Bone Shaker.
- So good it held itself.
- The twist has certainly stirred things up.
- My concern is that it's gonna look too busy
back here with all of the piping,
and then we're gonna have the seat belt bar,
so I'm just trying to, like, make it make sense.
I want the exhaust to be at the back of the bed,
where versus Rachel, she's thinking that we should put it
more towards the front of it.
So when they're coming up,
it kind of feels like the fuel tank
is feeding that fire to come out of there.
- These aren't gonna be in the way at all.
Because we were originally gonna have them
coming out and across.
- Will that look too, like, much in there?
- For right now, we're skipping out
the bar on the frame itself.
So we're gonna put it on the inside.
- If they say we need to do it, I'm willing to get it done.
But hopefully it looks good and the judges are impressed.
- It really seems like the Red Garage,
they wanna build this toughness.
What we have to see is, can the Blue Garage
connect fire truck with Hot Wheels
and make something different that we haven't seen before?
[dramatic music]
* *
- We are behind.
My favorite element on this truck
is definitely the ladders.
Okay, they're gonna be tricky to line up.
[banging] There you go.
- This is gonna bring it together, Charlie.
It's Hot Wheels.
- We're gonna swoop them up and connect them
to the biggest wing we've ever built.
* *
- Robb, they don't trust you with the big tools?
- [chuckles]
- It's all right.
- Hello, Blue Garage. - Hey!
- Whoa. Hello.
- Tell us about this wing.
I see the ladders have been bent upwards.
- There's gonna be a big wing on top.
- Whoo. That's gonna be pretty spicy.
- This truck is clearly gonna be hot.
But is it gonna be hot enough?
- Red Garage. - Hello.
- It looks like you guys made a lot of progress.
- Yeah. This one's come together good.
- I'm wondering what else about this build
is going to be really Hot Wheels?
- We've got some big chrome exhaust stacks
to sort of mimic the chrome exhaust stacks
on the Bone Shaker.
- It's gonna kick some fire out.
What more Hot Wheels than live fire on a vehicle, right?
- I think I'm a little bit concerned with all of the grit
and the metal and steel that is happening on this vehicle,
that maybe it's going to be a little bit too moody.
- Absolutely not.
- What I'm looking for is these bold Hot Wheels
design elements, like vibrant colors
and metallic paint.
Is it going to be too dark?
Is it not going to be enough of a showstopper
when you're walking through a store?
- Not at all.
I have a custom graffiti artist...
- Okay. - That's gonna be coming in.
That will add the extra oomph.
- Keep grinding. - Thanks, guys.
My back is against the wall.
I'm representing my entire city.
I really wanna impress the judges.
I really wanna show them that
we can incorporate these design features that are key.
The car is called Spirit of Detroit.
I really wanna tap into that big, bold lettering.
- Graffiti is one of those things that can
look super cool if done right.
Or it looks a little rough. It's a fine line.
- Yeah.
- There has been multiple Hot Wheels over the years
that have featured graffiti design.
Aldavid is going to have to work extra hard
to bring the originality if the design's gonna cut it.
- Yeah.
This is gonna be dope.
I really wanna win for my son.
It's bigger than just the money.
It's bigger than just being here
and having fun and being cool.
Like, I have more skin in the game.
We gotta win. It's kind of a non-negotiable.
We have to win.
- Yo, Red Garage, Blue Garage, the week's almost over.
You might not feel ready, but it's time for paint.
- Aldavid and Robb, you have been vital
in this entire process, but now it is time
for your Car Pools to finish it out.
- No.
- We're gonna send you off so they can do their thing.
- All right. Bring it in. Bring it in.
- I trust my team, and hopefully,
we can get this done, but there's still a lot
of stuff that needs to happen.
- It was real, man. - [laughs]
- It means everything for me to win
because of what the build is for,
the story that's behind it.
I mean, what son wouldn't wanna make his dad proud?
- It's the last day of the build,
and right now, the cars are off
getting painted and wrapped.
Then the Car Pools will have a matter of hours
to finish Robb and Aldavid's designs.
One hour to go.
- One hour.
- Have you tried the lights yet, Bob?
- I'm ready to turn them on.
- Oh, there you go.
- Oh, everything looks good, except for the ones
that aren't lit up. - No!
- The flames aren't lit up yet,
and those are the things that are gonna make
this build come together.
How's that?
- That's worse. Much worse.
- We have less than an hour to figure all this stuff out.
- We are running out of time here.
- It's time to make some flames, baby.
- And we still have to test the whole
flamethrower exhaust on this build.
Okay. - All right, let's see.
The box is clicking and nothing happens.
- You got five minutes left.
- Let's try this. - All right. Still no spark.
- Still no spark? - Still no spark.
- Don't ruin it now.
- One minute to go.
- Do you feel that pressure?
- This is the last bit.
This is the last bit.
- Oh, my God.
- Go, go, go, go, go.
all: Five, four, three, two, one.
- That's it.
.
- Guys, what's small, red, and incredibly powerful?
- Oh, it's a pimple on school picture day.
No?
Lindsay Lohan in her debut feature, "The Parent Trap."
- Hmm. Mm-mm. - Mm-hmm.
Seth Green on literally any day of the week.
- Close, but no. - Ugh.
- I know. It's a red Corvette.
- Sure, that's a killer ride, but no.
Something else that's small, red,
and holds incredible power is this red nose.
It has the power to change a child's life.
Tonight, we're supporting Red Nose Day and their mission
to break the cycle of poverty
for children in the U.S. and around the world.
You can learn more and donate, if you can, at RedNoseDay.org.
[dramatic music]
[nose honks]
The car transformations are complete.
Let's see some ultimate Hot Wheels
and get our superfans back out here.
Aldavid, Robb, get out here.
Welcome back.
Aldavid, Robb, for the past week,
you and your Car Pools have put all of your effort
into transforming a nostalgic car from your past
into the ultimate life-size Hot Wheels.
And now it's time to see if your hard work paid off.
Aldavid, you're up first.
- All right.
- Let's check out your brand-new
Spirit of Detroit ultimate Hot Wheels.
* *
- Let's go!
Look at my boy.
[all cheering]
- Whoa!
- That's exactly what I wanted.
Like, that is what I want.
It got the red glow.
Dang, you did a good job with the graffiti.
Oh, I'm not gonna cry. I'm gonna be cool.
Rachel, look at this exoskeleton, girl.
Oh, my God. [laughs]
Oh, my God.
[applause]
Yeah.
[laughs]
- Wow. Those are some hot wheels.
Now, tell us about this build, Aldavid.
- We had a classic 1990 Chevy Blazer.
And now it's turned into the Spirit of Detroit--
bold, loud, tough.
Starting off with the bumpers, love that fabrication.
I love that it's custom.
Exoskeleton, super dope.
I really think that graffiti piece
took it to another level
because Hot Wheels, traditionally, it's clean.
Detroit has never been represented before.
I think we threw in all of the twist elements,
an incredible exhaust coming in,
same style as the Bone Shaker.
I 100% achieved the vision for what I was looking for
as far as the essence and the spirit of Detroit.
- Now, Rachel, it seems like y'all were having
a little trouble with that flaming exhaust.
I feel like we need to see if it works, right?
- I want it to work.
- Oh, let's do it. Come on.
all: Three, two, one, Detroit!
[cheering]
- All right.
- That's toasty.
That's warm.
- The flames are incredibly dope.
I mean, you could feel the heat on your face
when you're hitting it.
- I'm impressed. To do all of this in a week?
I think you made something that's tough,
and this is truly an incredible build.
- I wanna see a car that looks like
a life-size Hot Wheels,
and I think this build has that all over.
It's tough. It's got grit.
I was a little bit worried about the exoskeleton at first.
I thought it was gonna make the build look a little bit
too moody, too dark.
- Also having Ethan, that graffiti artist,
work his magic on there, dude, what a cool thing
to see the sort of contrast
of all those layers come together.
It just--it looks so good.
- You guys did a fantastic job.
- And the flames? - Yeah.
- Hot by definition.
- What do you think of that exhaust, Hert?
- I wish you guys did something else with the exhaust.
I feel like, we get it, it's a big, bad, bold truck.
Stackers like an 18-wheeler?
Kind of basic, in my opinion.
- What I love about the twist is how it makes
all these Car Pools completely rethink
in the middle of a build, what are we doing?
And to make something like that exhaust, I mean,
that thing's a work of art.
- I mean, this is more than just Detroit.
You know, this is Detroit, my family,
my friends, my son, my dad.
- Congratulations.
[applause]
But this is a competition,
which means it is time to see Robb's Flamin' Firetruck.
- Bring it out.
I'm nervous, just waiting for that truck to roll out
and see if we got it all done.
[applause]
Yeah! Yeah!
.
- The competition is fierce.
Let's see that Flamin' Firetruck.
- Bring it out.
[dramatic music]
Yeah! Yeah!
[laughs]
Nailed it, man! Yes!
- Wow.
- Yeah, guys!
Everything that I wanted,
everything that I dreamed about with this build
is staring right back at me in my face.
Look at this spoiler. You guys just nailed it.
Oh, you got 278 on top. - Yeah, man.
- No way!
Bob, look at the flames, man.
Amazing.
Everything right here, man.
* *
28 years, man. Wow.
Gone in a second.
- Robb, tell us the story behind this wild ride.
- We started with my dad's 1980 Chevy pickup truck,
and we turned it into the Flamin' Firetruck.
Slapped the ladders on there.
We ended up going with this really cool
Hot Wheels flare that just popped up
to this huge spoiler.
These flames just run down the side of the truck
and give it that speed feel.
To incorporate the Bone Shaker, we put the four pipes
down each side of the hood.
We made it one-of-a-kind Hot Wheels fire engine.
We truly did.
- What do you think your dad would say if he saw this?
- I think he'd approve, man.
He would just silently kind of give you the nod.
- Dalal, Hert, before I let loose,
I wanna know your expert opinions.
- The wing is out of this world.
I don't know where your brains go to say,
oh, I'm gonna turn these ladders into a flaming wing,
but I love it.
The Zoomies are pretty out of control.
You didn't just do a traditional
equal length Zoomie. You spread it out.
I love what you guys did with the flames,
stacking them 3-D, get some light behind them,
make them look like they're dancing.
But this is also a big truck,
and I feel like you left a lot of real estate open as well.
Don't make it look half used.
- This car is hitting a lot of those
Hot Wheels design elements, the lights and the flames.
I think it's great.
This team did an incredible job with storytelling.
But I'm gonna have to agree with Hert that there's still
so much real estate left.
I really wish we had done more with the flames on the side.
- You said, Robb, "I want 3-D flames dancing down the truck."
And you got that, man.
They feel alive. I think that's so cool.
It's such a beautifully done shrine to your family.
You got so much to be proud of, man.
- Thank you, man. I appreciate it.
- Now, this was a really tough decision.
The superfan who inspired our favorite ride this week is...
- I just don't know how it's gonna go.
I got my fingers crossed they look at the complete package,
they consider the story and everything,
and I can pull it through and get that key to the finale.
- I really wanna win, man.
I really do.
* *
- Aldavid. - Yeah!
[cheering]
- Congratulations.
- Whoa!
- The Spirit of Detroit has won, baby.
We won, baby.
- You got it, son!
- We did it. We won.
The pride that he can now take home for his dad, for his son,
for everybody in Detroit, I am just so excited.
- Aldavid, how does it feel, bud?
It's bigger than the money, man.
It's bigger than all of this.
I really wanna change the perception of how
people see where I'm from.
I feel like I'm getting the chance
to really impress my son and really show him, like,
whatever you wanna do, whatever you wanna do, you can do it.
- That Blazer looked incredible.
This is what Detroit's all about.
This is raw, unfinished steel.
And when you see it with the graffiti, I just love it.
Aldavid, congratulations.
You are $25,000 richer.
- Whoo! - Yeah!
- This is the key to the finale,
where you'll be competing... - Let's go!
- With 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.
For Hert and Dalal, I'm Rutledge Wood.
We will see you on the next lap.
[cheering]
- Yeah.
* *