Hot Wheels, the company that specializes on building miniature toy cars, has been regarded as a company that loves to think outside the box.
Whether its commissioning world-record stunts, or building tracks with double loops, the toy manufacturer has proven time and again that it can think of just about anything to promote and market itself to its demographic of choice.
This time, it’s done it again, except in a totally different way.
It made a movie - a 22-minute short film, to be exact - to find out the World’s Best Driver. In what can be best described as a novel approach in its goal, Hot Wheels commissioned different teams - aptly named Red Outrageous, Yellow Powerful, Blue High Tech and Green Superfast - to compete in a series of challenges at the Hot Wheels test facility in an undisclosed location.
We’re not going to keep you waiting any longer because the movie definitely warrants your time. Be advised, though, the kind of racing you see in it isn’t exactly the kind you’d want to do on any normal race track.
Just sayin’.
Click past the jump to watch more of Hot Wheels’ stunts over the years
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A lot of automakers have taken to movie tie-ups to promote their latest line of vehicles. Audi, in particular, has done it in all the Iron Man movies.
Well, now it looks like Chevrolet is doing the same, except that instead of Iron Man, it’s tying up with Captain America.
In this video captured by YouTube user Jason Vandervliet, a black 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was seen making an appearance in the set of Captain America: Winter Solider in Washington D.C.
The car, it appears, was being driven by Scarlet Johansson who plays Black Widow in the movie. Look a little closer and you might notice what looks like Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, coming up to the Corvette to have a little chat with his co-star.
There has been no confirmation regarding a potential marketing partnership between Marvel Studios and Chevrolet. But if there is one, they couldn’t have picked a better car to promote than the Corvette Stingray.
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When it was promoted that Alfa Romeo, specifically the Giullieta, would have a prominent role in Fast & Furious 6, not a lot of people thought that the Italian automaker would take it to the next level.
Well, it did; and now we have the Alfa Romeo Giullietta Fast and Furious 6 Limited Edition. The model will be limited to only six units, which speaks to its exclusivity. It will only be sold in the UK via the Motor Village Marylebone in London and will come with subtle additions that will distinguish itself from other Giullietta models.
Each of the six models will get a numbered plaque that corresponds to each of the movies the hit franchise has had. Plus, the dashboard of each of the six models has been signed by the cast of Fast & Furious 6.
Powering these six special models is a 1.4-liter MultiAir four-cylinder engine with 170 horsepower. This engine nets the Giullietta a 7.7-second 0-to-100 km/h (62 mph) time and a 218 km/h (135 mph) top speed.
“This is a very exclusive model taken directly from a blockbuster movie of global appeal," said Damien Dally, Head of Brand, Alfa Romeo UK.
"The Alfa Giullietta Fast & Furious 6 limited edition is a hugely exciting addition to our range, one we feel sure will appeal not just to fans of the films, but all those with a discerning eye for beautiful automotive styling."
Should you be interested in one of the six models, be advised that a lot of people are too. So get to stepping and prepare ₤25,675, which is about $39,100 based on current exchange rates.
Click past the jump to read about the Alfa Romeo Giullieta
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Fast and Furious 6 will open in theaters nationwide on May 24 and following Universal’s launch of the last teaser video, Dodge started an advertising campaign to promote the new movie.
You shouldn’t be too surprised about this decision, considering that Dodge has a total of three cars in the movie: a 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 driven by Dominic (Dom) Toretto in various chase scenes, a 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8 and a vintage 1969 Dodge Daytona.
Dodge created three television commercials to promote “Fast & Furious 6.” The first is called "How to Make Your Car Fast and Furious" and features an updated 2013 Dodge Dart. The second is called "Flash to the Future" and features a 2013 Dodge Charger. The third commercial is still to be announced.
While watching the commercials, between May 13 and June 30, viewers who have the Shazam App on their mobile phones will have the possibility to enter a contest and win a 2013 Dodge Dart.
Click past the jump to read more about the Dodge Dart.
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Fast and Furious 6 is set to arrive on theaters on May 24th and we’ve already seen lots of trailers for it, but of course none of them were as impressive as the actual movie will be --- at least we hope so. Today it’s time for a new trailer - the final one - that will make the wait even more unbearable.
The sixth installment of the movie series brings back three of the greatest names: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson. Fan favorites — Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez — are also going to make their return. The movie’s plot starts on the idea that Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) aren’t able to return home due to a series of previous problems. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary and he needs the team to help out.
Please remember that the Fast and Furious 7 has already been confirmed for July 11, 2014, so we have even more to look forward to.
The full-court press surrounding the upcoming release of Iron Man 3 has reached a fever pitch, especially for Marvel and German automaker Audi.
A week ago, the two companies decided to give fans of the comic a chance to write their own ending, or more specifically, create the final frame of Iron Man’s comic book showdown against the Blizzard.
This week, Marvel’s "Steer the Story" campaign released a new video, only this time it’s one where Marvel fans will undoubtedly trip over in delight. Or at least those with the artistic chops to do so.
See, Marvel and Audi are giving fans a chance to learn how to do draw a car. But it’s not just any car; it’s a lesson on how to draw the Audi R8 Spyder. The tutorial is a pretty cool exercise, specifically because the instructional video starts with a blank sheet of paper and runs us through the entire process of drawing the R8, beginning with the outline all the way to the shading.
Click past the jump to read more about the Audi R8 and Marvel’s Steer the Story contest.
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It’s true that there’s more to life than watching a movie franchise like the Fast and the Furious. But for those who have a serious infatuation with fast cars and huge explosions, the sixth installment of the franchise promises to satisfy our thirsts.
That being said, the movie’s release next month just can’t come soon enough and if you’re not the type to worry about spoilers, this Fast and Furious 6 featurette is something that you should take a look at.
On the flip side, if you don’t want to know a pretty significant plot in the story and how it ties up to previous movies of the franchise, you probably shouldn’t click play.
But you’ll be missing out on quite a lot, particularly some commentary from some of the film’s stars, including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and director Justin Lin.
It’s your call if you want to watch. If you choose not to, you can click past the jump to instead watch the collection of trailers (including a parody) that have been released of the movie.
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If there were any doubts about the financial goldmine that is the Fast and Furious franchise, recent whispers are suggesting that a seventh movie is already in the works.
And it even has a scheduled release date: July 11, 2014.
All that and yet, the sixth movie hasn’t even come out yet. Talk about having an eye on the future, huh?
Obviously, the plot of the seventh movie will hinge largely on what happens on Fast and Furious 6. That or they do deviate from the whole story completely, similar to what they did on Tokyo Drift.
We don’t think that’s happening because a big chunk of the Fast and Furious universe, especially the last three movies including the sixth one, revolves around the escapades of Vin Diesel’s character, Dom Toretto.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out because the only way we see a seventh movie being made is if somebody from the gang dies in the sixth movie.
In any case, click past the jump to watch the extended trailer of Fast and Furious 6
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The movie is still months away from hitting theaters, but the anticipation surrounding the Niki Lauda-inspired movie "Rush" is becoming more and more palpable by the day.
Last week, we saw the first trailer of the movie starring Spanish-born German actor, Daniel Brühl, playing the role of Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth playing the part of rival James Hunt. It was, in a word, riveting.
This week, the second trailer for "Rush" was released and if you loved the first one, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be equally in love with the second trailer. It’s longer, for one, and it gives us a better idea regarding the story of the movie and how it turned both Lauda and Hunt into far more than just fierce rivals.
Let’s face it; the greatest F1 rivalry will always be Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, but if there was a 1A, it would be Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
Rush, which was directed by Ron Howard, tells the story of the duo’s interlinked history.
Click past the jump to see the first trailer of Rush
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If you want to make a great movie that will attract tons of automotive enthusiasts, Formula 1 is, no doubt, one of the best topics. The latest one was inspired by three-time F1 champ, Niki Lauda, and will be released on September 20, 2013.
The movie, which is named "Rush," tells the story of Lauda, talks about his rivalry with McLaren driver, James Hunt, and presents the horrific Nürburgring crash from 1976 that cost him his face. As no surprise, most of the plot is centered on the 1976 F1 season.
The movie is directed by Ron Howard and stars Barcelona Spain-born German actor, Daniel Brühl, playing the role of Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth, playing the part of James Hunt.
We don’t know about you, but it looks like "Rush" is going to be a can’t-miss movie of 2013 for all automotive and racing enthusiasts.
