Zowees

Zowees were a series of very small (1/125 scale) Hot Wheels vehicles produced in 1972. There were 8 different vehicles which were originally made for Shell Oil Company as a promotional item which one would receive after fueling up their car, or they could be purchased from the station for $0.49; these were packaged in baggies. After the promotion for Shell, slightly different versions of the original eight and an additional six new vehicles were released and were only available through retail shops. Zowees were made up of a metal piece which was the base and engine, to which the plastic body and wheels would clip in to.

At retail shops, Zowees were only packed in multipacks and not available singly. Zowees were available in multipacks featuring two, three, four or even six Zowees. A pack also exists where a car from Hot Wheels's 1972 lineup would be packaged with a single Zowees model. Each pack could have duplicates of a single type of Zowees model.

The eight Shell promotion Zowees were also sold in Germany by Mattel's German branch, under the name of Fun Buggies; all eight were given different names. They were advertised with standard Hot Wheels, RRRumblers and Hot Shots models, with their slogan being "Die Lustigsten Miniaturautos der Welt" (lit. "The Funnest Miniature Cars in the World").

List of Zowees

Name	German Name	Difference	Photo: Shell	Photo: Retail
Baby Buggy	Rasende Rosy	Shell: No Pole Retail: With Pole
Beddy Bye	Tijuana Taxi	Shell: Bed Posts protrude upwards Retail: Bed Posts are Flushed
Bumble Seat	Zitronen Expreß	Shell: No Pole Retail: With Pole
Covered Draggin'	Western Willy	Shell: No Pole Retail: With Pole
Desperado	Speedy Gonzales	Shell: Small Sombrero Retail: Large Sombrero
Diablo	Roter Teufel	Shell: Small Horns Retail: Large Horns
Good Knight	Ritter Kunibert	Shell: Small Ridge on Helmet Retail: Large Ridge on Helmet
Red Lighter	Blinky	Shell: Small Dome Retail: Large Dome
Fire Hydrant		N/A	N/A
Goin' Fishing
Home Sweet Home
Light My Fire
Numb Skull
Shifty

Zowees plus Hot Wheels 2-Pack

Below is a list of the Zowees plus Hot Wheels 2-Packs that came out in Canada in 1972. The variations are the exact same as the cars above:

• Green T-4-2 with Diablo
• Green Short Order with a Covered Draggin'
• Aqua Bye-Focal with a Good Knight
• Blue Special Delivery with a Baby Buggy
• Red Rocket-Bye-Baby with a Good Knight
• Red Jet Threat with a Beddy Bye
• Green Jet Threat with a Beddy Bye
• Light Green Mercedes C111 with Desperado
• Green Mercedes C111 with Covered Draggin'
• Funny Money with Diablo

Gallery

Zowee compared with a Mainline Hot Wheels

Comparison of Shell (L) and Retail (R) Desperado

Never released Paddy Wagon Zowee

1973 Zowees Fun-Buggies Germany Collection

1973 Fun-Buggies Good Knight (Ritter Kunibert) OVP frontside

1973 Fun-Buggies Good Knight OVP backside

List of 2-packs (March-May 2006 Newsletter)

Prototype

Notes

• Some Zowees-like vehicles were produced in the UK and featured bodies with themes specific to the UK, example: Royal Mail Letterbox. It is unknown if these were produced through Mattel.
• Some of the six 'Retail Only' Zowees use the same metal piece as a Shell Zowee. Example: Shifty has the same base and engine as Desperado.