In 1966 Mattel recognized that the Matchbox line of diecast vehicles represented a very strong market both in toy sales and collector interest. Wanting to cash in on this growing market, Mattel hired a team of designers to begin producing their own line of diecast vehicles to compete against the Matchbox line.

In 1968 the first vehicles were released and took the market by storm. Hot Wheels are still going strong today.

It took the appearance of Harry Potter to convince Hot Wheels to release their first Anglia model in 2003