Hot Wheels Bye Focal (1971)

I think I mentioned in a previous post that every year for Christmas and my birthday I buy a redline of some sort to remember the day. This year for Christmas, I purchased a Hot Wheels Bye Focal redline. No, it’s not mint and may leave a lot to be desired for some but it’s perfect for my collection.

I’ve wanted to add a Bye Focal to my collection for a long time now. At the time I was looking, I was never able to find one within my budget. This year luckily things changed.

Hot Wheels Bye Focal Details

Aside from the collecting and photography aspects, I have grown to enjoy the history / research part of this hobby. Early on, I found out this car was considered a ‘crumbler’. The bases were made of a poor quality batch of metal. They tend to fracture or ‘crumble’ quite easily. I have not been able to identify if all Bye Focal castings suffer from this issue. A variation that I found not too long ago was the difference in hood color. Roughly 75% of Hot Wheels Bye Focal castings had a blue-tinted hood. The remaining 25% had a clear hood. It seems like one of the rarer variations is the smooth/no injector engine. I guess what I find most interesting is that the Hot Wheels Bye Focal is based off of a 1970 Dodge Challenger with two engines. Want to take a guess on who designed the Hot Wheels Bye Focal? Larry Wood…

My Hot Wheels Bye Focal pictured below is aqua in color with a standard engine. Aqua seems to be a pretty common. I believe it has a clear hood. Aqua bleeds into it in the pictures. When I hold a white card behind it, it is clear (non-tinted). Maybe one day if I ever get a nicer piece I will restore this one. Until then, it has filled the spot in my case right next to the Fire Chief. Replacement decals may be in order though. 😉

Hot Wheels Bye Focal Images

Here are a few pictures of my Hot Wheels Bye Focal Redline.