After picking a low-riding 1989 Volkswagen Cabriolet as a Legends Tour finalist, the Hot Wheels team traveled to the opposite end of the modified car segment. It selected a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado nicknamed Kymera and built into a rock crawler as the Tour’s second finalist.
Tim McDonald of Monroe, North Carolina, spent over a year building a one-of-a-kind off-roader that looks ready to tackle every boulder in Moab. Many of the modifications made immediately stand out; this isn’t a stealth build. The truck sits considerably higher than a stock model thanks in part to a Baja-style suspension system with Fox coilovers and massive triple bypass shocks that poke through the hood. McDonald also chopped the fenders for additional clearance and replaced the cargo box with custom-made panels bolted to a custom tubular frame.
What’s under the body — or what’s left of the body — is just as impressive. Power for this Colorado comes from a twin-turbocharged diesel engine mounted directly behind the cab, which explains why the front shocks go right through the hood. Chevrolet didn’t offer this generation of the Colorado with turbodiesel power in the United States, and it has certainly never made a street-legal truck with a mid-mounted engine.
There’s a four-wheel steering system to help the truck maneuver its way out of tight situations, beefier axles, and rails added to protect the underbody components from expensive (and potentially crippling) encounters with rocks. Hot Wheels hasn’t released interior photos yet.
McDonald’s Colorado won the Legends Tour’s Charlotte stop, but its toughest battle still lurks on the horizon. It will move on to one of the two semifinal rounds taking place in late 2023, where it will compete against other finalists (including the aforementioned Cabriolet) for the chance to join the Hot Wheels catalog as a 1/64-scale model. This year, the Legends Tour is visiting eight American cities and 17 countries.
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