Description[]
In April 1994, Mercedes-Benz won its first German Touring Championship (DTM) victory with the car based on the new W202 C-Class. In 1995, a new European racing series began: the International Touring Car Championship (ITC). Mercedes-Benz entered that year’s competition with a C-Class touring car, tuned by AMG, its performance tuning division. The car’s unibody construction based on the production road car formed a single structure together with the integrated roll cage, giving this new generation of racing touring cars up to 300% greater rigidity than earlier cars. Klaus Ludwig finished first on the drivers’ standings in 1994’s DTM and Mercedes won its fourth consecutive constructor title. Bernd Schneider won the DTM and ITC Championships in 1995, and Mercedes-Benz took the constructors title in both series. During the years between 1986 and 1996, Mercedes-Benz and AMG, was the constructor with the most victories over the entire DTC/ITC period, with its 190 E and C-Class cars. Mercedes had earned 84 wins, 4 drivers’ and 5 constructors’ titles, and were runners-up for the constructors’ title 10 times.
Hot Wheels’ car represents the first generation of the successor to the 190 (W201) “Baby Benz”. This new W202 Chassis was produced from 1993 to 2000. The casting is designed as it would have been prepared by AMG to homologate cars for the current DTM and later ITC Racing Series, with cast racing aero and performance kit which included wing, side skirts, fender flares, air dam, side air intakes for brake cooling, road-hugging suspension and roll-bar. The air dam is cast at a high angle from horizontal to make the car perform well on Hot Wheels tracks.
Versions[]
The Mercedes C-Class has come out in the following versions:
| Col # | Year | Series | Color | Tampo | Base Color / Type | Window Color | Interior Color | Wheel Type | Toy # | Country | Notes | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 516 | 1997 | 1997 First Editions 1/120 |
Black | Silver "3", "Mercedes-Benz", Hot Wheels logo | Gray / Plastic |
Clear | Gray | LW Gold | 16669 | Malaysia | 
| |
| 726 | 1998 | Race Team IV 2/4 |
Metalflake Blue | Hot Wheels Race Team Design, "1" | Metalflake dark blue / Plastic |
Grey tint | White | 5SP | 18792 | Thailand | 
| |
| 945 | 1999 | X-Ray Cruiser 1/4 |
Met. Black | Purple & Silver x-ray graphics | Black / Plastic |
Yellow tint | White | Gold LW | 21104 | Malaysia | Design not approved, later removed from lineup and replaced with '63 Corvette | 
|
| 1015 | 1999 | Mainline | Yellow | tiny Black Hot Wheels Logo | Black / Plastic |
Clear | Red | LW | 23822 | Malaysia | 
| |
| 131 | 2000 | Mainline | Red | tiny Black Hot Wheels Logo | Black / Plastic |
Clear | Black | 5DOT | 27098 | Malaysia | 
| |
| 171 | 2001 | Mainline | Metalflake Blue | White, Gold, Red. Hot Wheels white logo on side | Black / Plastic |
Grey Tint | Black | LW | 53714 | Malaysia | 
| |
| 129 | 2003 | Mainline | Plum metallic | White, Gold, Red. Hot Wheels white logo on side | Black / Plastic |
Gray Tint | Gray | 10SP | 57104 | Malaysia | 
|
Gallery[]
