A supercharged BMW-engined 1963 Ford Anglia created by a former estate agent has won the UK round of a competition to find a real-life enthusiast-owned car to turn into a die-cast toy model.
Judges Helen Stanley, Ian Callum, Jonny Smith and Hot Wheels Legends Tour host Alex Kersten choose ‘The Misfit’ that’s used regularly on the road to bring a smile to fellow road users.
Beating a record number of more than 100 entries, the car will now represent the UK in the global Hot Wheels™ Legends Tour and stake its claim to be a 1:64 scale die-cast in the 2023 line up.
Built by Michael Charalambous and only finished in 2022 after a final push during COVID Lockdown, ‘The Misfit’ was also voted the fans’ favourite at this year’s event.
Michael is not an engineer by trade, but with an incredible eye for detail, coupled with the ambition of buying his dream car, a Ferrari 308GTB, he set out on a mission to build and restore a series of cars with a plan to ultimately trade up to the Italian classic.
The Ford Anglia is his most ambitious project, pouring hundreds of hours into the project after purchasing a rotten body shell.
Propelled by a four-cylinder now supercharged engine and drivetrain from an E30 BMW, mounted on a bespoke chassis using a mix of Ford and Hillman Imp parts, ‘The Misfit’ cleverly weaves old and new custom trends and components.
“My vision was for a car that if you pulled up at the traffic lights, you would never pull alongside something similar,” said Michael.
“Hot Wheels played a major part in what we build, inspiring some of design elements such as the exposed engine and wheels. I often thought, how would Hot Wheels do it, so to win is just incredible.”
The “Anglia” will now face cars in the Semi Finals on November 10th with the Global Final on November 12th.
Fans can watch the produced episode from the UK event on Car Throttle’s YouTube channel. To learn more about the Hot Wheels Legends Tour visit www.hotwheels.mattel.com and follow #HotWheelsLegendsTour.
