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When it comes to Hot Wheels, I love them, I love how detailed they've become, and I love collecting. But, back in the 1970s and 1980s, there was one serious Rival from Britain....Not Matchbox, who was also from Britain at the time, Corgi Juniors, the die-cast car wing of Mettoy UK. It was rare then for Hot Wheels and Corgi to make castings of the same car, as both catered to different markets as their mainstay source of revenue.

Corgi, being from the UK, made mostly European models into castings, vehicles like the Volvo 245 DL, Land Rover Series III, Jaguar E-Type 2+2 and the topic of this post; the Jaguar XJ-S. The XJ-S was the V12-powered Luxury Grand Tourer that replaced the E-Type in 1975. In 1978, Corgi and Hot Wheels made their own versions. The Hot Wheels was in Left-Hand Drive and the Corgi versions that had interiors and not blackout windows were Right-hand drive.

Hot Wheels & Corgi Jaguar XJ-S

Hot Wheels 1983 release in brown (Left) Made in Malaysia and it's Rival from across the Atlantic from around 1981-82 made in Britain by Corgi Juniors. One of the few times in my opinion where Hot Wheels didn't outdo it's Rival in detail. The albeit lighter and cheaper corgi replicates the XJ-S more gracefully, replicating the smooth lines in the bodywork and the texture of the front grille

So, who did the better job of capturing the Jaguar XJ-S's body lines and unique styling? Thoughts, anyone?

76 XJS

The Hot wheels version of the casting is heavier and made with thicker metal, but is less refined than it's British-made Corgi counterpart and is less beautifully sculpted, but still is a good casting

XJ-S 2

The front of the Corgi version is more realistic to the XJ-S than it's Hot Wheels counterpart in spite of it being made from cheaper materials. The Hot Wheels version feels very plain in comparison

XJ-S Rear fascia1

The rear of both versions are similar, but distinctive, with Hot Wheels adopting a thicker rear bumper moulded from the interior piece and the corgi going to more closely take influence from the Real XJ-S.

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