I think it’s delightfully insane that someone thought it a good idea to take a slightly offbeat Hot Wheels model and make it a fire-breathing 730hp super-charged reality. Dubbed “Whatta Drag” the Hot Wheels model was first designed and released in 1998 by Phil Riehlman, the model was hugely popular and was included in seven different Hot Wheels series.
Microcar collector Bruce Wiener had a spare BMW Isetta and in 2005 he decided to commission a real, fully functioning, 730hp Isetta – following the Hot Wheels model down to the smallest detail. It’s fitted with a 502-cubic inch Chevrolet “big block” crate engine, a BDS supercharger, twin Holley 750 CFM double-pumper carburettors and Zoomies exhaust headers rigged to blast flames 4 feet into the air.
In keeping with the car’s heritage all the suspension elements are from a BMW M3 as are the logos on the front wheels, the transmisson is a drag-race specific unit with 2 gears and the rear suspension and sub frame is bespoke as not surprisingly, no one in the world is producing tricycle drag racing frames.
“Whatta Drag” is due to be auctioned on the 16th of February 2013 at the Bruce Wiener Microcar Auction run by RM Auctions, the car is listing with no reserve and has an estimated price of $75,000 – $100,000 USD
Take a look at the official listing here.
Images courtesy of RM Auctions 2013
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
