who created hot wheels

Hot Wheels was created by Elliot Handler, the co‑founder of Mattel, and launched as a brand of die‑cast toy cars in 1968.

Elliot Handler developed the idea in the late 1960s as a fast‑rolling, wild‑looking alternative to the more realistic Matchbox cars his son was playing with. He led the project at Mattel, where designers and engineers like Harry Bentley Bradley and Jack Ryan helped turn his concept into the first 16 Hot Wheels models shown in 1968. So when people ask “who created Hot Wheels,” the credit goes primarily to Elliot Handler and his team at Mattel.