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HOTWHEELS 1967 CAMARO COMPARO; Previous Version vs. 2010 Re-tool
Topic Started: Jan 16 2011, 12:27 AM (4,425 Views)
ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Posted Image

In late 2010, the eternal Hot Wheels 1967 Camaro appeared in orange with black hood stripes as a mainline issue. I believe this may have been around case code "P," or earlier. As of this writing, (January 2011) it is currently available in I think the 2011 "D" cases. This is a longtime favorite among both HW collectors and diecast fans overall. The roots of this casting began in 1968 as the Custom Camaro, one in the original batch of cars to be issued as "Hot Wheels." It was copyrighted as a retooled version in 1982 and released in 1983. The car has been in active use since then, and always has the "1982" date on the chassis bottom (base).

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Swifty chose the 1967 Camaro as a Car of the Day for January 10, 2011. The thread led to a conversation about the history of this casting, so I decided it was time to review the current version, as I believe most people don't know that this is another very modified tool.

I have chosen for the comparison version the 2010 release in matt anti-freeze green with black stripes. This is the mainline Camaro issue just before the new orange version. Mine was carded as a 2010 case "J" release.

OVERALL APPEARANCE: You wouldn't know there were changes made to this casting unless you look it over carefully, and you start finding more and more differences.

CHASSIS ("base"): This is where the hunt began. It still has a metal base!! The new car car has removed the "@ MATTEL, INC. 1982" copyright and only says in italicized lettering, "1967 Camaro @ TM GM". The drive line and layout of the rivet holes is different, as well as the front wheel flanges. The front has been cleaned up with a more refined and even grille mesh. The tail end has been cleaned up with rear bumper being smooth, and no longer the mold separation point for the base---this now has been moved to the bottom panel. Customizers take note- this area will have to be filed smooth and cleaned up. I drilled the car apart, and INSIDE the base there is a copyright "@1982,2009 Mattel, Inc."
The inside of the base has many little changes, including the removal of a large post, and higher side rails to hold in the interior parts.

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Are the bases interchangeable? No. Because of the new interior parts fit, small sections interfere with swapping the bases. If you remove the interior parts on the older car, the new base will then drop right in. The old base cannot fit the new car body because the engine area interferes with the fit.

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BODY: The body looks like it was cleaned up and is not an all "new" body, like they did to the Mustang. The major body change is adding the front axle retainer under the engine compartment, where on the old version it was part of the interior piece. The locator pin inside the roof that centered the glass area has been removed. The hood now has a lip on the front underside, and the car is a hair longer probably due to this. I used a caliper on other parts of the two bodies, and they all matched allowing paint thickness differences.

I don't see any differences in the engine area, just a mold cleanup.

INTERIOR: The new version has a completely new interior assembly. The seats are more square edged than the previous issue, and the center console has no indented area where the floor shifter would go. The steering wheel is more rounded and has no mold line through the center, but still is very simplified, just like the dash area. The rear package shelf is shorter and rounded compared to the okder car.

Are the interior parts interchangeable? Not really, due to the fact that the newer one no longer has the front axle retainer area. With carving you might be able to fit them, but there is not a significant change in the newer interior to make a difference in appearance.

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GLASS: There is a difference in the way the glass is laid out as a single piece so it all fits well with the other internal changes. Since the window openings haven't changed, the glass areas are the same size. The new piece does not have a hole in the center portion that fits into a flat locator peg inside the roof as found on the older Camaro.

Are the glass parts interchangeable? Not really, because the glass fits in with the interior piece differently, they would need some carving to fit. Then they may not stay in place tightly, so again, the work wouldn't make any improvement in appearance.

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SUMMATION: A sigh of relief that Mattel made a pretty sane makeover of a classic. There will be many who will citicize them for not making a more detailed and scale Camaro (There still are NO door lines and trunk line!), but a lot of people consider this product as "THE" car to think of when you talk about the charm of Hot Wheels and the redline years.
Just my opinion, but we need to leave this one alone. It still has the same body look and stance, and they kept the opening hood, so I'm happy with what they did. May this Camaro live long and prosper in everyone's collection.









Edited by ivantt, Jan 16 2011, 01:51 AM.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Thank you for the great review! I would not have noticed the new casting unless I drilled a few apart and tried to swap parts...
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diecastdingo
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Minivan
Great review and thanks for that. I agree that they did well to leave it overall unchanged and close to the original.
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James
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Mr.Bowtie
Thank You, and yes HW's needs to let this one live long and prosper.

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accobra64
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Minivan
ivantt
Jan 16 2011, 12:27 AM
Just my opinion, but we need to leave this one alone. It still has the same body look and stance, and they kept the opening hood, so I'm happy with what they did. May this Camaro live long and prosper in everyone's collection.









Thank you for the fantastic review of the new and old castings.
Your report is extremely detailed and informative.
I don't regularly buy or collect HW castings but on occasion I will buy ones that I like.
The 1967 Camaro is one that I will buy.
I was not aware of the new re-tooled casting so now I have something to search for in the future.
And thanks again for all the work that you have put into bringing us this informative presentation.
I learned something new today.
Sharing of knowledge is a good thing.

Cheers. Cobra
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Pegers
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Pony Car
we will have to wait for a new china and thailand issues to see if those castings where recasted.
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BOWTIEWAGON
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Subcompact
very cool discussion. My question,does that mean that the Black one that came out first in 2010 is the same casting(tooling) as the orange one? i would think so,but just thought I would ask.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Since the black one would have come out way before the anti-freeze one I show, then the black one (I think that one had green glass) would definitely be the older casting. The orange one is the retooled version. As far as I know, the ones I pictured were both available in late 2010 and in the case codes I mentioned.

Surprisingly, I don't see any mention or pix of the newer retool being used in the 2011 mainline lineup. With a new tool, I would have expected a followup revamped color after the orange version.
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