Richard Rawlings and Gas Monkey Garage have created plenty of epic cars, and one of those is the awesome Hot Wheels Midas Monkey.
Richard Rawlings and his team at Gas Monkey Garage have come up with some truly amazing builds over the years. From the very first Gas Monkey Garage build, the 1952 Chevrolet Fleetline, right up to some of their more recent projects showcased on YouTube, the team have done it all. With 135 cars made by the garage over the years, there are plenty of builds that Rawlings likes and that he doesn’t, and of course, some of these builds Rawlings is more fond of than others.
Updated March 2023: With the Midas Monkey being one of the most affordable Gas Monkey Garage builds ever, that literally anyone can own, we’ve gone back to this story to add more details on one of the coolest Corvettes ever.
One of the builds that Rawlings is most proud of is the Midas Monkey Chevrolet Corvette. This is the first car that Gas Monkey Garage built as part of a collaboration with Hot Wheels, whereby the car would become a model within the Hot Wheels range. It also marked the first time that Hot Wheels had reached out to a tuner about building a car from scratch for the team, and it went on to spawn more vehicles from Gas Monkey Garage, for Hot Wheels, that also got turned into super cool models.
Hot Wheels Commissioned The Build And Then Made The Model
Hot Wheels usually creates models based on their own designs, or production cars. This is the first time that a project car built in a garage was then turned into a Hot Wheels car. And what a build it is. When the garage first got the car, it was a black, 427 ci four-speed 1968 Chevy Corvette T-top with all the available options, and it was already a very nice car when they got it. It was then ripped apart and turned into the wild and super cool build that we know and love today.
It was a super fast car when the garage was all done with it, and this was a build that Rawlings was really excited about, and it was of course the first of the Hot Wheels cars they were actually asked to do. The build is exceptional, featuring a chrome supercharger poking through the hood, and the Gold Flake paint gave the car its name, Midas Monkey. Side pipes and flared fenders are more epic features of the Midas Monkey Corvette.
Where Is The Midas Monkey Hot Wheels Today?
This is a car that Rawlings and his team love and there is a funny story about where it ended up today. After the car was then completed, Rawlings and the team sold it on to a collection. But some time after that, the car was actually bought back by Rawlings and when he went to get the car, Rawlings found out that the guy who owned the Corvette also owned the Hi-Po Hauler that the Gas Monkey Garage team had created. This was another of the Hot Wheels cars created by the Gas Monkey team.
So, what did Rawlings do then? He bought the Midas Monkey back, for an event that sadly fell through, but he then sold the car on to Hot Wheels, who placed the car in their permanent collection in their museum. This has the bonus that the car is well looked after so millions of people can go and enjoy looking at it. And of course, you can actually buy the Midas Monkey Hot Wheels car from the Gas Monkey Garage shop! A Christmas present for someone perhaps?
Hot Wheels Builds Are The Coolest Gas Monkey Builds Ever
The Hot Wheels cars are some of the coolest and most well-loved builds that the garage ever did, and Rawlings was able to at least take the Midas Monkey onto the Hot Wheels Legends Tour in 2020, which also saw the car united with the model that Hot Wheels had then made of it. The Gas Monkey Garage team then went on to produce some more Hot Wheels builds. One of those was the Hi-Po Hauler, a heavily modified Ford Econoline Hauler that the Gas Monkey team created. These two cars were reunited with each other at Gas Monkey Garage a few years ago.
Just One Of Over A Hundred Of Cool Builds
This Midas Monkey is certainly one of the most special to come from Gas Monkey Garage. But of course, there are over a hundred builds that Gas Monkey Garage has created, and not all of them, of course, can achieve the same status as the Midas Monkey. This is one of the most popular Gas Monkey Garage builds ever created, and thanks to the Hot Wheels model it’s probably one of their builds that has achieved automotive immortality as well. Together with the Hi-Po Hauler, it shows just what the team is truly capable of.
Sources: Gas Monkey Garage YouTube Channel, Gas Monkey Garage Facebook
