DEARBORN, Mich. – To celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Hot Wheels this year, the 1/64-scale die-cast toy car company launched a 15-stop Legends Tour for 2018 as part of a travelling car show in search of an owner’s custom car worthy of being made into a Hot Wheels die-cast car.

The Legends Tour had launched at Hot Wheels Headquarters on April 28 before making car show stops at Walmart stores across the United States in cities that have deep-rooted ties to the car culture (get full Hot Wheels Legends Tour details here). One of the stops included Detroit, with a Legends Tour show set up at the Walmart in Dearborn, Michigan, on August 11. Being that the show was held in Ford’s own back yard, it should be no surprise that Ford Performance was there, along with a brand-new Ford F-150 Raptor decked out in an array of Ford Performance accessories and parts.

The Ford Performance tent was among the busiest displays on the show field, which was set up in the expansive Walmart parking lot in front of the store. Some 1,000 free, full-color posters of the Ford GT supercar were handed out during the show, where more than 2,500 fans had come out to see some 200 cars competing for the chance to become a Hot Wheels die-cast.

In 1968, Hot Wheels launched with a line of 16 toy cars – the “Sweet 16” – that reflected the landscape of the car culture at that time. For the last 50 years, Hot Wheels cars have themselves influenced the car culture in America, so this year’s Legends Tour, which drew more than 10,000 fans nationwide, set off to find the next “Sweet 16” that meets the Hot Wheels appeal standards and is also a reflection of today’s car culture. At each stop, judges – comprised of members of the Hot Wheels design team, automotive influencers, and Walmart Store Managers -- cast their votes for the cars that made up the 2018 version of “Sweet 16.” The top picks from each stop won a trip to the 2018 SEMA Show, where they were displayed at the Hot Wheels Legends Pavilion.

Hot Wheels is planning a major announcement (see:hotwheels.com/legendstour) to reveal which one final winner’s custom car -- out of the more than 1,000 cars that were entered -- was chosen to be immortalized as a Hot Wheels die-cast toy for fans around the world to collect. During the Dearborn stop, we sent a photographer from Artisan Rich Media to walk through the show lot and take photos of some of the Fords he found on display there. Check out some of his favorite shots in the gallery below:

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / COURTESY ARTISAN RICH MEDIA