You Can Turn All Of Your Favorite Hot Wheels Into Radio Control Cars, But It Won’t Be Cheap

One of the easiest ways to cultivate new gearheads and to keep your own car enthusiasm alive is through collecting Hot Wheels. These inexpensive little cars let you own an example of your dream car for just over a buck. Sadly, you can’t actually drive the diminutive diecasts, but what if you could? Well, good news, there’s finally something you can do about that. With a big heaping of time, some skill, and a few tools, you can turn any and practically all of your Hot Wheels cars into running, driving, and drifting radio-controlled cars. There’s just one really big catch that’ll bum you out.

I’ve been a lifelong fan of 1:64 diecast cars. I grew up collecting Matchbox cars and amassed 2000+ of the tiny metal models, and while I don’t have that many today, I do have a huge suitcase filled to the brim with 300 or 400. These tiny cars, along with influences like go-karts and Gran Turismo, have turned me into the car addict I am today.

One of my favorite variations of tiny car has long been the nano-sized radio control car. When I was a kid, the coolest of those cars were RadioShack’s ZipZaps. Launched in 2002 and were frequently sold out, these tiny R/C cars had shells that looked like real-life cars, and they had a crazy assortment of mods. I didn’t realize it, but these cars taught me the basics of car mechanics. You could slap different wheels and real rubber tires on ZipZaps, change their gearing, and punch up the speed with more powerful baby motors. You could even hook up working brake lights and headlights. These things were basically Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars on steroids!

ZipZaps and RadioShack are both gone, but I was able to find my old favorite ZipZap on eBay still sealed in-box. Sadly, the car doesn’t work on account of the battery having spilled its guts out long ago. Still, getting a taste of the roots of my car enthusiasm made me feel all warm inside. Oh wait, that might be the battery acid.

But, this car made me wonder: Are there modern-day version of ZipZaps? Sure, there are lots of tiny RC cars out there, but none of them quite have the magic that my old ZipZaps did. For example, you can buy an Adventure Force Nano Racer at Walmart for $10, but there’s no customization and you have the choice of only four bodies.

You can also buy all kinds of micro RC cars and such on Amazon, and they’re sort of loosely accurate representations of real-life cars. But again, they’re nothing like my old ZipZap dream.

Then I found Kyosho Mini-Z cars. The Kyosho Corporation has been around since 1963, and for decades, the company says it has been known for building “World Championship Winning Radio Control Machines.” Sure enough, the Kyosho Inferno series of 1/8-scale 4WD nitro-burning buggies has an impressive eight 1/8-scale IFMAR World Championship titles to its name. I didn’t even know there were championships for RC car racing! [Ed note: you can watch the 2024 1/8 scale nitro buggy Worlds right here  – Pete]

Kyosho says its Mini-Z line launched in 1999, and honestly, these little 1/28-scale cars look shockingly similar to the ZipZaps I know and love. They have the same sort of blocky chassis, fine controls, and even higher levels of customization as the cars from RadioShack. Whereas a “wheel swap” on a ZipZap was really just changing hubcaps, you can actually swap out the whole wheels on a Mini-Z. You can even replace the wheel bearings in a Mini-Z, which is just insane.

Mini-Z cars also come in a large assortment of highly-detailed bodies. But I wanted more. These Mini-Z cars are a bit bigger than my old ZipZaps and they just aren’t available in the bodies I’d want to put on them. I want to make a baby R/C Smart Fortwo, a tiny R/C school bus, or a Matchbox R/C truck towing a camper.

When in doubt, YouTube can help you out. There are countless videos out there of creators turning Hot Wheels cars and HO-scale trainset model cars into fantastic working RC cars. But, let’s be honest here: I don’t really have the time to break these videos down second by second to copy what these guys are doing.

Two YouTube creators, TLS Garage and DKE Builds, respectively, recognized that there a lot of weirdos like me out there who want to turn Hot Wheels cars into slick RC cars. We just don’t have the resources they do to spend a weekend tinkering on a $1 diecast car. Thus, both of these guys are now selling kits to help you turn just about any 1/64 car on the planet into an RC car.

Both of these channels have viral videos about turning Hot Wheels cars into RC cars, and the response from the community was strong. People are clearly interested in having tiny RC cars of their own. So, here we are!

The U.S.-based TLS Garage will sell you a kit that contains a frame, steering gear, and connectors for $20. Meanwhile, UK-based DKE Builds sells a kit that contains most of the parts you need to convert any Hot Wheels car into an RC car for $63. Or, if you don’t want to do the work yourself you can just buy the pre-assembled chassis for $189 and just slap your car body into it.

The awesome thing about both of these kits is that you get a frame with an easily adjustable wheelbase and track width. In theory, that means you can turn just about any 1/64 car into an RC model with relative ease.

I will note that DKE Builds sets its prices in Pounds, so the price for an American will vary based on exchange rates. Last year, I saw the kit as high as $81 and the pre-assembled chassis was over $200. Sadly, the TLS Garage kit has been on backorder for months, so I went ahead and bought the DKE Builds kit.

The first thing you need to know about either kit is that you’re going to wait forever. As I said before, the TLS Garage kit has been on backorder for months, so you can’t even buy that one. The DKE Builds kit can be ordered, but the current lead time appears to be about two months before it’s even shipped. I ordered my DKE Builds kit on November 23 and as of publishing, the order is still showing as just “confirmed” with no ETA on when the kit will arrive.

While I was waiting, I went ahead and bought the first Hot Wheel I want to convert. I loved the real-life Lotus Emira so much that I want an RC version of it. Sadly, I couldn’t find any blue Emiras in the wild and the ones I found online were usually priced for about $8 for one car after tax and shipping. Then I found a seller offering three of them for $10 plus tax but with free shipping. So, heck, now I have three Lotus Emiras.

I’ve decided not to buy anything else until the chassis actually arrives. Until then, I’ve decided to see what I’m going to need to prepare for this project. The description at DKE Builds’ website says:

This is a 1/64 RC DRIFT Kit, Designed for 1/64 Diecast. The D64 has Adjustable Wheelbase And track width to fit a vast majority of 1/64 diecast cars. THIS KIT COMES UNASSEMBLED YOU NEED TO BUILD THE KIT YOURSELF, READ DISCLAIMER AT THE END!
Kit comes with 1 UNASSEMBLED D64 Chassis, 8x m1x3 & 6x m1x6 screws, electronics bag (motor,esc,servo,receiver,battery connector) A Thank You Card, with QR code Links to the Build video, or the Full Write up with photos for each step to guide you.

If you’re lucky, you might receive a big discount code inside your kit for your next purchase with us. Enjoy Your Diecast Desktop Drifting! Controller, battery and charger are NOT included. These can be purchased on Amazon, you’ll need the Radiolink RC4gs v3 controller. 3.7v 80mah 1s lipo battery and USB jst1.25mm 2 pin 1s lipo charger.

**DISCLAIMER** This kit requires soldering and engineering skills. The kit was created to aid in the process of ones 1/64 rc drift car build, that being said, The build is still difficult and without good problem solving and engineering skills, you may not be able to complete this build. PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

Alright, I can handle that. There’s a handy link to the build write-up and it should get you to the finish line. The build starts off by explaining that your chassis will be made out of ABS plastic and that it’s fragile, so don’t try to torque down the tiny screws that come with it. The instructions note early on that you will need to drill out the rivet on the bottom of a Mattel diecast. You may also need to remove the stud and other internal parts to get the chassis and its guts to fit. So, you will need a drill and a rotary tool.

There’s also some basic wiring needed to mate the motor and steering servo with the radio transmitter. You’ll also need to do some additional wiring for the charge port and any add-ons light LED lights. Alright, toss a soldering iron onto the pile of things you need.

Once you have those tools you should be set. You otherwise just need a small screwdriver, some patience, a steady hand, and maybe a little creative thinking. The build guide takes you through an adventure of trimming down any diecast parts that may be in the way, attaching the wheels, bending small metal steering gear parts to fit, and working the microscopic screws. The hardest part of this project appears to be the soldering as the wiring diagram isn’t easy to follow.

I mean, look at the wires that just randomly terminate into the servo:

I’ll go through the work in detail when I do my project, but that’s the gist of what you’re looking at here: It looks like you should be able to convert a Hot Wheels car into an RC car over a few hours on a weekend. Heck, maybe you can just work on it 30 minutes at a time during a work break.

The Drive actually covered the DKE Builds version several months back, but that article didn’t really cover the work and costs associated with this project. If you buy the pre-assembled chassis you’ll still need to buy a transmitter, battery (like the tiny soft-case LiPo below), and a charger.

Really, the biggest hurdle of this project appears to be the cost. When I bought my DKE Builds kit in November, I paid $77 after tax and shipping. To finish this project, I will need to buy a rotary tool. Let’s just say you buy the WEN 2305 corded rotary tool that’s on the jungle site. That’s $20. If you buy the best-reviewed soldering iron on Amazon that’ll be another $14.

Now, at least for the DKE Builds kit, you’ll need a Radiolink RC4GS v3 controller. I’ve found used ones for as cheap as $50 and new ones for as much as $75, and I went with this one for $65. Next, you’ll need a 3.7v 80mAh 1S LiPo battery. I found one of those for $12. The charger you’ll need to top it up is also about $12. I wonder if it’s possible to get these parts for cheaper, but I haven’t found a cheaper source as of publishing.

Add it all up and my first build will cost me approximately $210. That’s more expensive than a Mini-Z car! It also hurts to think that I’m spending over $200 to turn a $1 car into an RC car. In fairness, a lot of that cash is for one-time purchases. I won’t need to buy the controller, charger, or the tools. Say I spend $77 to buy another DKE Builds kit. Next time I’ll just need to buy the battery. That’s $89 total depending on exchange rates, which is so much better.

I also tallied up the costs of the TLS Garage kit. The $20 frame comes with far fewer parts than the DKE Builds kit, which means you’ll have to buy them separately. When I added up the costs of buying the radio transmitter, steering servo, and other parts, I arrived at the same price as the finished DKE Builds kit.

Likewise, the pre-assembled DKE car is expensive. It’s currently $210 after shipping and tax. That’s $299 after buying the controller, battery, and charger. If you bought a second, that would be $222 because you still need to buy a battery. So, there’s no real way to avoid the cost, but the better deal will be to build it yourself.

Before someone mentions it, I did consider removing the body from one of the $10 Adventure Force cars. People have done body swaps on these cars before, but the problem with them is that you can’t change the track width or the wheelbase, so you’re limited in what you can do. That’s a shame. Ed note: The Adventure Force cars don’t offer the fully proportional control that Merc’s hobby-quality conversion does, not to mention the ability to set the amount of steering throw (independently for left and right inputs, even), alter the steering and throttle response curve, save multiple models to memory, and more. Plus, the RadioLink transmitter (below, with the Adventure Force toy for comparison) has a standard wheel-and-trigger form factor that’s much more comfortable and intuitive.

Either way, the great news is that with some time, some money, and some tools, you can now turn pretty much any car in your Hot Wheels library into a tiny RC car, which is so cool. I’m committed to this silly project, so you’re going to see it go down. Hopefully, the chassis will arrive soon because I’m excited.