Firebird Funny Car (1982)

Firebird Funny Car
Debut series	1982 Hot Wheels
Produced	1982 - 2002
Designer	Larry Wood
Number	3250

Description

This casting is a representation of a funny car with a second-generation Pontiac Firebird body.

This casting was named Side-Splitter for its 1995 release, a name which would also be used for its successor for some releases. This release is also notable for having a highly valuable misprinted card (271 instead of 277) of which around only 12 examples are known to exist.

Versions

The Firebird Funny Car has come out in the following 1/64 scale versions:

Col #	Year	Series	Color	Tampo	Base Color / Type	Window Color	Interior Color	Wheel Type	Toy #	Country	Notes	Photo
	1982	Mainline	Magenta	Yellow, Orange & Black birds on sides & hood, White headlights	ZAMAC	Blue tint	ZAMAC	BW	3250	Hong Kong
	1982	Mainline	Magenta	Yellow, Orange & Black birds on sides & hood, Yellow headlights	ZAMAC	Yellow tint	ZAMAC	BW	3250	Hong Kong
	1982	Mainline	White	Red & orange flames, "Fireball" on sides	ZAMAC	Blue Tint	ZAMAC	BW	3955	Malaysia	Appears in the Loop & Chute set
	1983	Mainline	Metalflake Dark Red	Yellow, Orange & Black birds on sides & hood, white headlights	ZAMAC	Blue tint	ZAMAC	BW	3250	Malaysia
	1986	Kellogg's Mail-in	Black	Red, Orange & Purple birds on sides & hood	ZAMAC	Blue tint	ZAMAC	BW	3003	Malaysia	Available only through mail-in offer,also found at Mattel's Toy Club Store
	1987	Speed Fleet	Metalflake Blue	Red & White Stipes	ZAMAC	Blue Tint		BW	1483
	1988	20th Anniversary 3-Pack	Chrome	None	ZAMAC	Blue Tint		BW
	1988	20th Anniversary 3-Pack	Gold Chrome	None	ZAMAC	Blue Tint		BW
	1988	Speed Fleet	Yellow	Blue, Orange & Black Trim	ZAMAC	Smoke Tint	ZAMAC	BW	5121
	1989	Speed Fleet	Yellow	Blue, Orange & Black Trim	ZAMAC	Smoke Tint	ZAMAC	BW	5121		Reverse trim, Orange on outside
	1990	Speed Fleet	Yellow	Blue, Orange & Burgundy Trim	ZAMAC	Smoke Tint	ZAMAC	BW	5121
	1990	Funny Car Gift Pack	Yellow	Pennzoil Logo	ZAMAC	Smoke Tint	ZAMAC	BW
	1995		White & Black	Yellow, Orange, Black, Green, Blue & Red "Spawn" on sides	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	BW	11390	Malaysia	Came packaged with a Spawn comic book (Left Side) Known as "Spawnmobile" for this release 5,000 produced
277	1995	Race Team Series 3/4	Metalflake Blue	Hot Wheels Race Team Deco	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	BW	12795		Known as Side-Splitter for this release
277	1995	Race Team Series 3/4	Metalflake Blue	Hot Wheels Race Team Deco	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	5SP	12795	Malaysia	Known as Side-Splitter for this release Appears in the Hot Wheels Race Team 5-Pack
	1997	Race Team II 5-Pack	Light Blue	Hot Wheels Race Team Deco	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	BW		Malaysia	Known as Side-Splitter for this release
	1997	Funny Car Racing Team 4-Pack	Metalflake Blue	Hot Wheels Race Team Deco	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	5SP		Malaysia	Kmart exclusive Same as Race Team Series I release?
	1998	30th Anniversary (1982)	Metalflake Maroon	Yellow, Orange & Black birds on sides & hood, detailed headlights	ZAMAC	Clear	ZAMAC	BW	18871	Malaysia	Came in a Blue Box
043/240	2001	Fossil Fuels 3/4	Metalflake Silver	White, Red & Black Bones	ZAMAC	Orange Tint	ZAMAC	5SP	50086	Malaysia
	2002	Final Run Series #6	Metalflake Orange	White, Cyan & Black graphics, 2002 Final Run Logo	ZAMAC	Tinted	ZAMAC	DDRRGY	55816	Thailand

Gallery

1982 Prototype for a promotion that was never released

...more info (Randy Leffingwell)

Probably the same Prototype found in a June / August 1996 Newslette article

Prototype Card #1

Prototype Card #2

Prototype Card #3

"Originals" Prototype Blister (Larry Wood Collection) #4

Right side of Spawnmobile

Spawnmobile

Back of the blister which reveals the Pontiac Funny car is based on a Mopar Plymouth Funny Car

open up Pontiac firebird dragster

Firebird Funny Car open

Firebird Funny Car Base

Found in a 1991 Mattel Catalog

Funny car in Vintage HW Pop Up Garage