Harry Bentley Bradley was an American automotive designer who is often considered the father of Hot Wheels designs; as Hot Wheels's very first designer, he created the original "Sweet 16" cars of 1968. Bradley worked for Mattel from 1966 to 1969.
Born in Boston in 1936, Bradley suffered polio from a young age; despite this, he nurtured his talents drawing automobiles and continued sketching in hospitals as he received treatment for his condition. Prior to working for Hot Wheels, Bradley worked for General Motors, having been recruited in 1962, as well as being a builder of his own show cars such as the La Jolla, Blind Faith and the Deora. Bradley was recruited by Mattel in 1966, who wanted a designer from one of the Big 3 automakers to help design their vehicles. Bradley drove his 1964 Chevrolet El Camino to California; it is said that Mattel founder Elliot Handler saw Bradley's El Camino in the parking lot and quipped "Those are some hot wheels."
Bradley's ties with GM were pivotal to the creation of some of the earliest Hot Wheels models. Lore has it that to design one of these GM models, the Custom Corvette, Bradley drove to Detroit in 1967 and snuck into GM's offices after working hours. Having worked in GM's design offices in the past, he was able to locate the area where the design blueprints were stored; he would take the blueprints for the upcoming 1968 Corvette by hiding them in his crutches, then drive back to California where he designed the model off those blueprints. Due to this it is often claimed the Hot Wheels version of the Corvette came out before the actual Corvette hit dealerships, much to GM's consternation, although various dating of prototypes and the corroboration of other dates states that this might not have been the case. Regardless, the Corvette was a highly popular model and caused great publicity for Mattel.
Bradley left Mattel in 1969. The story behind how he left varies; some sources say he felt Hot Wheels would not take off and as such left the brand thinking it would only be a fad, while other sources say he was fired due to his refusal to be reassigned to the staples division of Mattel, with his manager fully convinced that the Hot Wheels line would fail. Others state that his firing might have been related to the aforementioned stunt he pulled regarding the Custom Corvette if indeed he did pull it off. This thought about failure held true for a time as Hot Wheels as a brand was not making any money with Mattel many a time considering killing off the brand and making numerous changes to cut costs, although in retrospect, he should have stayed and continued designing as the brand began turning a profit quickly during the mid 1970s. Prior to leaving Mattel, he recommended his friend Ira Gilford for the position, which the latter accepted.
After leaving Mattel, Bradley started a design firm and did work on a number of projects. He then went on to become a lecturer at the Art Central College of Design, the institute from which many future Hot Wheels designers would graduate; he would also sporadically design new cars, with one of the last cars he did around the tail end of his "active period" being his "shark fin" 1993 Infiniti J30, although his last project was apparently a Pontiac he did for a friend circa 2010. Bradley passed away on 13 May 2023, aged 86.
1/64 Scale[]
| Year | Casting Name | Debut Series | First Edition # | Toy Number | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Beatnik Bandit | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6217 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Barracuda | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6211 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Camaro | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6208 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Cougar | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6205 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Corvette | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6215 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Eldorado | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6218 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Firebird | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6212 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Fleetside | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6213 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Mustang | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6206 |  |
| 1968 | Custom T-Bird | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6207 |  |
| 1968 | Custom Volkswagen | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6220 |  |
| 1968 | Deora | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6210 |  |
| 1968 | Ford J-Car | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6214 |  |
| 1968 | Hot Heap | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6219 |  |
| 1968 | Python | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6216 |  |
| 1968 | Silhouette | Sweet Sixteen | - | 6209 |  |
| 1993 | Oscar Mayer Wienermobile | 1993 Hot Wheels | - | 3029 |  |
Gallery[]
