And no one wants to be caught behind her. The exhaust is murder

Ah the Hot Wheels Lakester.

Now *this* is fun.

nice vehicle

Killer!

This design reminds me so much of the "Belly Tank Racers" of the late 1950s which used cast off drop tanks from WW II era aircraft. There were versions that dropped everything from large motorcycle engines into them, and up to high powered race car engines. All in the quest for breaking the land speed record, usually on the Salt Flats of Bonneville, or in Nevada. I also like the little Female skunk driver.

That's exactly what it is. They call those Hot Wheels 'Lakesters'. They're drop tank racers with two big engines inside. The Skunk Racing one came out in 2000.

I still play with that one... the toy, not the art.

The first of those HW "Lakesters" I had was painted rocket red with yellow numbers, and at the time it seemed like a pretty good representation of those old drop-tank Bonneville salt-flat racers. Later, HW released another version painted up like a skunk, and I bought several of those. Later still, a metallic silver one, with lurid green trim, and another... and another... by then I'd gotten sick of the whole damn business. In fact, I've gotten rid of about 90 or 95% of my HW collection. While the seemed like a good deal when they were under a buck, and I was skimming off the cream, if you get too caught up in collecting, you can end up with an awful lot of second and third rate diecast cars. And then the price began to creep up. I haven't looked in a while, but it would't surprise me if HW was costing $1.50 now. Considering that WalMart was dumping overstocked superior Johnny Lightnings for $1, I felt cheated.

Apparently the original "Lakester" was found two or three years ago in a barn. It had been obsoleted, stashed out of the way and forgotten. A collector bought the car as it was and spend a tidy sum on restoration, but now it's good as new. The actual car didn't look too much like the HW version, mind you. It had a canopy, something like the one from a P-80 Shooting Star, which is probably the plane the tank itself was taken from.

There are a lot of variations on that model. I like the way the shell hinges, allowing the engine to be revealed.

wow, this is awesome. i really like the car. it reminds me of my favotite childhood toys.

I like this.

I have one of those!
(The Skunk Racing Lakester)