Hot Wheels is a brand of miniature diecast toy cars produced by the toy company Mattel. The series began in 1968 with the release of 16 cars (known as the "Sweet 16") and quickly became a massive success. The toy cars are often based off of real life cars, but there are several completely original designs as well. A lot of variants and subseries of Hot Wheels cars have been released, which tend to have a particular gimmick not found in the main series' toy cars