Porsche used its Rennsport Reunion gathering currently underway at Laguna Seca to unveil a one-off 944 Safari that will become a limited-edition Hot Wheels car.
“With Porsche being as culturally relevant as ever and off-road builds being very on-trend, this is the perfect addition to our fleet of life-sized vehicles,” Ted Wu, vice president and global head of vehicle design for Hot Wheels parent company Mattel, said in a statement.
Dubbed Dirtmeister, the modified 1987 Porsche 944 was built to celebrate Porsche’s 75th anniversary this year. It features a custom body by California’s Kudensport that extends the rear hatch, giving the 944 a shooting brake-style profile.
Other modifications include suspension that borrows components from Trophy Trucks, Pirelli off-road tires, a racing radio and navigation system, a roll cage, Recaro seats, and off-road lights. Powertrain modifications weren’t discussed, but the 944 was sold with a series of naturally aspirated and turbocharged 4-cylinder engines.
Hot Wheels has inducted Dirtmeister into its Garage of Legends, a collection reserved for real-life cars considered extreme enough to be turned into Hot Wheels, alongside classic Hot Wheels designs like the Twin Mill and Bone Shaker. The first Porsche to get this treatment, Dirtmeister will be available as a 1:64-scale die-cast car on a made-to-order basis.
Porsche and Hot Wheels have a long history. The Porsche 917 endurance race car became part of the now-collectible Hot Wheels Redline series in 1970. Since then, 54 Porsche vehicles have been recreated as Hot Wheels cars. Hot Wheels added a 1989 Porsche 944 Turbo to the lineup in recent years, but the Dirtmeister die-cast shows there is even more love for this under appreciated sports car.
Rennsport Reunion also saw the debut of the limited-edition 911 GT3 R Rennsport track car. Just 77 will be built, each priced over $1 million.
