1968 Custom Corvette


General information



  Custom Corvette (1968)
 


  In 1965, the Mako Shark II debuted at the New York International Auto Show giving the
world a glimpse of the body style that would that would become the third generation Corvette,
the 1968 Corvette Stingray.  The 1968 Corvette had a base price of $4663 for the coupe and
$4320 for the convertible with a 427 c.i. engine and option packages producing 350-435 hp.
Mattel would beat General Motors to the punch however, by having the Hot Wheels version
of the 1968 Corvette in stores before the real car hit Chevrolet showrooms!


 
The Hot Wheels Custom Corvette was a member of the original 16 in 1968.  Produced in
both the US and Hong Kong factories for approximately two years, the Corvette was a
popular casting with kids and eventually collectors alike.  The production in both factories
would lead to distinct variations between the US and HK models.
 
The US Corvette has a slightly smaller hood compared to its HK counterpart.  Underneath
this hood one can see the larger engine that the HK sports compared to the shorter US engine.
The body also gives one an easy identification between the US and HK cars- the rear end
which is part of the base on the US and is part of the body on the HK body.

 

US and HK Custom Corvettes.  Note that the HK car has blue tinted windows.

The US Corvette has a clear windshield as compared to the HK blue-tinted windshield.
Windshield placement is different as well; the US windshield inserts under the dash while
the HK sits on top of the metal dash.



  The US Corvette has a one-piece interior, as the steering wheel is part of the console.
The interior has been found in white, brown, and champagne gold colors. 


US Custom Corvette interiors.

The HK interior gets a bit more detailed with the steering wheel attaching to the console as a
separate part and shows up in two variations.  The most common variation is the standard black
steering wheel, which was used through most of the production of the HK 'Vette.  Later in
production, the steering wheel changed to a long steering wheel, which matched the color
of the car's interior.


HK Custom Corvette interiors.


Standard US (L) and HK (R) Custom Corvette interiors.

Both US and HK Corvettes came with the standard wheels for each respective factory of origin.
Some Corvettes have been found with deep dish wheels although very few of these have
surfaced in blister packs, leaving the significance of finding a loose Corvette with deep dish
wheels in doubt at this point.



As for base variations, three have been documented outside of the standard US vs. HK
differences.  All of these involve the trademarks for "Hot Wheels" and "Corvette".  On the
first type of base, "Hot Wheels" is followed by a copyright symbol.  On the second type of
base, "Hot Wheels" is followed by a trademark symbol.  And on the third base type, "Hot Wheels"
is followed by a copyright symbol AND Corvette is followed by a trademark symbol.



Above: three variations of the Custom Corvette base.

  In general, the HK base is more detailed than its US counterpart.




An interior view of the chassis allows one to appreciate some of the differences
as to how the US and HK Corvettes were assembled.




The Corvette is also collectible as part of the Muky line.  Muky cars were made in Argentina
using die tools mysteriously acquired from Mattel.  The Corvette shows up in the Muky collection
as #16 "Corvette Special".  These models use the standard US body and base.  However, the base
was altered by replacing the Mattel text with Muky information.  These cars also lacked interiors.


A group of Muky Corvette Specials.

For more information about the Hot Wheels Corvette, visit hwvette.com!

Home of the Hot Wheels Corvette



Color chart

US COLORS:
 COMMENTS:
red
 common
olive common
green common
blue common
rose
orange
purple
antifreeze
aqua
gold
magenta
 hard to find
"windex" blue
 hard to find
light blue
 hard to find
yellow
 hard to find
brown
 hard to find
HK COLORS:
 COMMENTS:
red
 common
olive
 common
blue
 common
aqua
green
purple
brown
 hard to find
orange
 hard to find
gold
 hard to find
creamy pink
 rare


A blue HK Custom Corvette in the blister!


A rare creamy pink HK Custom Corvette.


A blue HK Custom Corvette with all-white interior in the blister.


A blue US Custom Corvette.


An awesome group of HK Custom Corvettes!


Jamie Maner's rainbow of US Custom Corvettes!


A red HK Custom Corvette with an all-white interior.


A beautiful magenta US Custom Corvette!


Photo & info credits: Jamie Maner


Variations: 63
Sort: Label   Toy number   Year   Name  
A3 Aqua - HK, White Int
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
A7 Aqua - US, White Int
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
B1 Blue - HK, Grey Int
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
B2 Blue - HK, White Int
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
B6 Blue - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
D1 Brown - HK, White Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
E2 Copper - HK, White Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
E4 Copper - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
F2 Gold - HK, White Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
F5 Gold - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
G4 Green - US, White Int
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
J1 Olive - HK, Dark Brown
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
J3 Olive - HK, White Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
J4 Olive - US, Brown Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
J6 Olive - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
K3 Orange - HK, Grey Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
K4 Orange - US, Brown Int
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
K5 Orange - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
M1 Purple - US, Black Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
M5 Purple - US, White Int.
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
N5 Red - HK, White Int.
Hong Kong flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
N8 Red - US
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
P1 Yellow - US
United States flag
6215 1968
Packaging
Inventory: 0
Image Toy # Variation Country Year Wheels Inventory
Aqua - HK, Brown Int, Long Steering Wheel 6215 A1: Aqua - HK, Brown Int, Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Aqua - HK, Light Brown Int 6215 A2: Aqua - HK, Light Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Aqua - HK, White Int 6215 A3: Aqua - HK, White Int Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Aqua - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheel 6215 A4: Aqua - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Aqua - US, Dark Brown Int 6215 A5: Aqua - US, Dark Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Aqua - US, Dark Brown Int 6215 A6: Aqua - US, Dark Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Aqua - US, White Int 6215 A7: Aqua - US, White Int United States 1968 rlb
Blue - HK, Grey Int 6215 B1: Blue - HK, Grey Int Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Blue - HK, White Int 6215 B2: Blue - HK, White Int Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Blue - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheels 6215 B3: Blue - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheels Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Blue - US, Dark Brown Int. 6215 B4: Blue - US, Dark Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Blue - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 B5: Blue - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Blue - US, White Int. 6215 B6: Blue - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Light Blue - US, Dark Brown Int. 6215 C1: Light Blue - US, Dark Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Light Blue - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 C2: Light Blue - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Light Blue - US, White Int. 6215 C3: Light Blue - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Brown - HK, White Int. 6215 D1: Brown - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Copper - HK, Dark Brown Int. 6215 E1: Copper - HK, Dark Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Copper - HK, White Int. 6215 E2: Copper - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Copper - US, Dark Brown Int. 6215 E3: Copper - US, Dark Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Copper - US, White Int. 6215 E4: Copper - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Gold - HK, Dark Brown Int. 6215 F1: Gold - HK, Dark Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Gold - HK, White Int. 6215 F2: Gold - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Gold - US, Dark Brown Int. 6215 F3: Gold - US, Dark Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Gold - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 F4: Gold - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Gold - US, White Int. 6215 F5: Gold - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Green - HK, Dark Brown Int. 6215 G1: Green - HK, Dark Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Green - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheel 6215 G2: Green - HK, White Int, Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Green - US, Light Brown Int 6215 G3: Green - US, Light Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Green - US, White Int 6215 G4: Green - US, White Int United States 1968 rlb
Lime Yellow - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 H1: Lime Yellow - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Lime Yellow - US, White Int. 6215 H2: Lime Yellow - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Magenta - US, White Int. 6215 I1: Magenta - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Olive - HK, Dark Brown 6215 J1: Olive - HK, Dark Brown Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Olive - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 J2: Olive - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Olive - HK, White Int. 6215 J3: Olive - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Olive - US, Brown Int. 6215 J4: Olive - US, Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Olive - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 J5: Olive - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Olive - US, White Int. 6215 J6: Olive - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Orange - HK, Dark Brown Int. 6215 K1: Orange - HK, Dark Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Orange - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 K2: Orange - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Orange - HK, Grey Int. 6215 K3: Orange - HK, Grey Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Orange - US, Brown Int 6215 K4: Orange - US, Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Orange - US, White Int. 6215 K5: Orange - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Creamy Pink - HK, Light Brown Int. 6215 L1: Creamy Pink - HK, Light Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Creamy Pink - HK, White Int. 6215 L2: Creamy Pink - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Purple - US, Black Int. 6215 M1: Purple - US, Black Int. United States 1968 rlb
Purple - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 M2: Purple - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Purple - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 M3: Purple - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Purple - US, Light Brown Int. 6215 M4: Purple - US, Light Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Purple - US, White Int. 6215 M5: Purple - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Light Purple - US, White Int. 6215 M6: Light Purple - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Red - HK, Dark Brown Int. 6215 N1: Red - HK, Dark Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 N2: Red - HK, Dark Brown Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - HK, Light Brown Int. 6215 N3: Red - HK, Light Brown Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - HK, Grey Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 N4: Red - HK, Grey Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - HK, White Int. 6215 N5: Red - HK, White Int. Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel 6215 N6: Red - HK, White Int., Long Steering Wheel Hong Kong 1968 rlb
Red - US, Light Brown Int 6215 N7: Red - US, Light Brown Int United States 1968 rlb
Red - US 6215 N8: Red - US United States 1968 rlb
Rose - US, Dark Brown Int. 6215 O1: Rose - US, Dark Brown Int. United States 1968 rlb
Rose - US, White Int. 6215 O2: Rose - US, White Int. United States 1968 rlb
Yellow - US 6215 P1: Yellow - US United States 1968 rlb