IWC and Hot Wheels create Gullwing limited edition

It’s a limited edition Hot Wheels model of IWC Racing’s 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing – a car we are used to seeing at Goodwood driven with gusto by David Coulthard – when its wheels really could be said to be on fire. For the Moss Trophy at 78MM, behind the wheel was Austrian driver Laura Kraihamer.

Watch and model car come together (in a smart metal toolbox) to make what is called the IWC x Hot Wheels Racing Works collectors’ set. There will be 50 of them and the first is being auctioned by Bonhams which believes it could make as much as £50,000 – all of it for charity – when the online hammer drops on 22^nd October. The other 49 sets are available to buy at £9,350 each.

For that you get one of IWC’s most exclusive watches – a special version of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition – and among the most exclusive models that Hot Wheels has ever produced. Each of the 50 are made in Hot Wheels’ prototyping workshop. It’s said to be the most detailed Hot Wheels model ever, with its opening gullwing doors, interior with bucket seats, roll cage and red sill trims.

Most important, the 1/64 version of IWC’s Merc 300SL comes on a stand which bears the yellow-on-red flames logo that will be instantly recognisable to any child who’s ever played with toy cars since 1968 (when Hot Wheels was started).

The flame logo has even been engraved on to the side of the watch’s titanium case. Without it, it would still be a pretty cool watch with its grey matte finish, black dial with chequered flag pattern and smoked glass case back.

IWC and Hot Wheels might sound unlikely collaborators but they have partnered up before: in 2020 they released a model set of the IWC Mercedes together with its race transporter.

With the new Racing Works set they are hoping the first of the 50 will set Bonhams’ wheels on fire ­– with an amazing auction price All the money is going to the Two Bit Circus Foundation, a non-profit organisation that creates learning experiences for children to inspire entrepreneurship, encourage young inventors and instil environmental stewardship.