By Brad Bannach
Anyone can drift. Hop in a rear-wheel drive (RWD) vehicle with enough power to spin the tires and get the back end loose, and you have the makings of a beginner’s drift car. Find a grassroots event, do a ride-along, or fast-track your learning by going to drift school. There are plenty of tutorials, parts, body kits, and other items available as you continue your drifting education. Oh, and let’s not forget the tires!
At some point, drifting becomes more than a hobby: it becomes a lifestyle. Here are some of the most popular drift kits / modification houses the pros use, along with their Hot Wheels releases.
Liberty Walk (LBWK)
Liberty Walk made a name for itself by producing body kits that have a way of over-accentuating certain car models’ features. Their kits are aggressively awesome, featuring huge fender flares with exposed rivets, elongated front splitters, and enormous rear wings. Compare that to the history of the Hot Wheels brand and you’ll notice some parallels in how they both design cars.
Exuberant aesthetics packed with performance epitomizes the Liberty Walk vehicles, and there are several LBWK castings in the Hot Wheels garage now:
- LB-ER34 Super Silhouette Nissan Skyline
- LB-Silhouette Works GT Nissan 35GT-RR Ver.2
- LB Super Silhouette Nissan Silvia (S15)
- LB-Works Lamborghini Huracán Coupé
- Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R LBWK
Liberty Walk has recently entered the Formula DRIFT arena with their LB Super Silhouette Nissan Silvia (S15), now part of Formula DRIFT Japan and driven by Tetsuya Hibino. The car is beloved by Hot Wheels collectors as well. A version of the 1:1 car in white was released earlier this year in the basics line, and an alternate colorway in yellow is in stores now.
GReddy
Performance outfitter GReddy is a subbrand of TRUST Company, Ltd. in Japan. In the drifting world, car owners look to GReddy for parts to constantly upgrade and tweak their drift machines. From exhaust systems to turbochargers, to exclusively imported aero body kits by Rocket Bunny/Pandem, GReddy has been a trusted name in the business of automobile tuning for a long time.
Several Hot Wheels castings have been licensed through GReddy. On top of that, their logo and iconic color scheme have been used on dozens of Hot Wheels vehicles. The ‘20 Toyota GR Supra, Subaru BRZ, and Pandem Subaru BRZ, are three must-have GReddy Hot Wheels castings. They’ve all appeared with drift liveries, and drift legend Ken Gushi’s Formula DRIFT GReddy ‘20 Toyota GR Supra was included in the Car Culture: Slide Street mix in 2021.
HKS
Talk about an iconic livery: the HKS SUPER OIL wrap in purple, teal, and red over black is as well-recognized as they come in automotive racing. HKS is also headquartered in Japan and specializes in aftermarket auto parts used in drifting.
Since 2019, Hot Wheels has released several castings sporting the HKS livery, starting with the Nissan Skyline GT-R in the Car Culture: Open Track mix. The GT-R has long been a popular model for drifting in Japan, but its overall rarity the United States doesn’t lend itself to the grassroots drifter looking to race GT-Rs.
One of the more obscure HKS-liveried vehicles Hot Wheels released is the MBK Van in the Pop Culture line in 2021. It’s not a drift vehicle per se; it’s more like a track support vehicle that carries extra parts and tires, which would come in very handy at the track.
The Hot Wheels team has worked directly with many aftermarket part manufacturers over the years, producing some die-cast replicas with authentic decos. What have been your favorites? Let us know and share pictures in the comments below!
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