In 1968, Mattel's Hot Wheels brand took the die-cast world by storm, offering American boys affordable collectible cars that sported styling uniquely in sync with California's custom car culture, but were designed especially for track racing.

Now 40 years—and more than 3 billion cars—later, the company is continuing to promote the legacy of the brand with an expansive selection for 2008, including a 40-car anniversary line, pricing guides for both kids and adults and a line of concept cars solicited from U.S. automotive companies' top designers.

“The brand authentically stands for what boys crave—speed, power, performance and attitude,” says Tim Kilpin, Mattel's general manager and senior vice president, boys and entertainment. “Hot Wheels is all about letting boys imagine and play out fantastical scenarios, whether it's racing, driving fast, performing awesome stunts or even saving the world.”

According to Hot Wheels design director Alec Tam, the “Since '68” anniversary line reintroduces fan's favorite castings. “We specifically asked Hot Wheels collectors. And the way we executed them was pretty close to what we might have done in the exact year, as faithfully as we could get.”

The line also includes new castings that put a fresh spin on collector favorites, Kilpin says. “We wanted to make sure we were involving our loyal fans and coming out with product they would want and be interested in.” The new tools represent “a menagerie of licensed cars and original designs,” he says.

New releases will continue to debut throughout the year, Kilpin says. “We've just started! Our collectors are asking for checklists, color variations, basically anything we can give them as they want to make sure they're not missing anything from their collections.”

It's an urge that Tam, a self-confessed gearhead, can identify with. He proudly displays more than 600 Hot Wheels in his office (pictured), though he admits his childhood favorites were Sizzlers, 1:64-scale cars with built-in motors and rechargeable batteries. “It was the fat oval track that looked like Nascar,” Tam says. “You could get a Mustang, or a Trans Am, all these great looking cars from the 1970s.” The line was relaunched at Target in 2006.

“I'm a second generation designer, by accident,” Tam notes. “I wanted to follow a real car design path, which I did out of school, but my dad [Paul Tam, who designed Hot Wheels in the 1970s] got me on that thinking because he was always bringing home these wild cars.” Tam's experience with Hot Wheels had additional benefits beyond play; he says it taught him how to “stick to things, focus and solve problems.”

That focus will come in handy in 2008 as the Designer's Challenge cars debut, a collection Tam helped brainstorm and nurture along with other Hot Wheels staffers. It's the first time Mattel has solicited Hot Wheels designs outside the company, Kilpin says.

“Designer's Challenge celebrates the potential for our future,” adds Tam. “We invited six major car manufacturers [Dodge, Ford, GM, Honda, Lotus, Mitsubishi] to design what their vision of a Hot Wheels car should be. We picked one from each to be produced as a 1:64 Hot Wheels car. Essentially, we got concept cars designed exclusively by car manufacturers.”

All of the cars in the spring line will be track compatible and will include information about the creators, which Tam calls “the heroes of their design studios.” Variants and line extensions are expected in 2009.

“The reaction, even from collectors, has been phenomenal,” Tam says. “Every car is different from every other. That's the great thing about Hot Wheels. Even a hardcore car designer can only do so much on a real car, but with a Hot Wheels car, it's whatever comes to your mind. Creativity, imagination, a passion for cars—that's all available with Hot Wheels.”