There is somewhat of a mystery surrounding the Hot Wheels Ferrari F430 Challenge casting. When did it appear? Many collectors, including myself had believed that the mystery lied within a mystery, in that the first occurrence of this challenge version occurred in the 2009 Mystery Cars–a segment series within the Hot Wheels mainline that had blacked out bubbles on its blister cards. Ferrari collectors rejoiced when it had initially been revealed by a few collectors that they had this stunning stallion to add to their stables.
While what “most” collectors didn’t know is that this Ferrari was actually released a year earlier in the 2008 Ferrari Racer line. The Ferrari Racer line was initially released in 2007 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Ferrari. It was also released initially in the United States but was not available at many of the larger retailers. Someone in the marketing ladder at Mattel decided to cancel this series in the US but continue it internationally. Here in lies the reason why “most” collectors didn’t realize this casting existed. Many series sold exclusively in countries outside the United States are not exposed to the domestic collector base and are often times forgotten–at least in this collector’s realm.
So please enjoy the “2nd release” of the Ferrari F430 Challenge…the 2009 Mystery Car version. For a look at the inital release, click HERE.
Wheel Close 
