The Hot Wheels CAT Dump Truck was first released in 1980 and has been produced in about 12 different variations. I found these two examples recently at R&S Resale and thought it would be a good chance to highlight the subtle differences in these two variations. This first model is from the 1982 Workhorses series. It was cast in Malaysia, has a yellow body, a yellow metal bucket and yellow construction tires. It also has C 777 cast into the left side of the cab and the word CATERPILLAR cast just above the front grille.

Hot Wheels | 1982 Workhorses | 1171 | CAT Dump Truck | yellow with C 777 cast in left side, Caterpillar cast in front, yellow metal dumper | MY | yelow ct

This next example, is the Collector #38 from 1991. It was also cast in Malaysia, has a yellow body, a yellow metal bucket and yellow construction tires. But on this variation, the C 777 has been removed from the left side of the cab and the word CATERPILLAR is no longer found on the front. Scroll to the bottom to see a photo showing a side-by-side comparison of the two.

This was the last version of the CAT Dump Truck to be released with a metal dumper; after 1991 variations had a plastic dumper.

Hot Wheels | 1991 | 38 | CAT Dump Truck | yellow with yellow metal dumper | MY | yelow ct

Other Hot Wheels CAT vehicles in my collection include a partial example of the CAT Forklift, the CAT Wheel Loader, the CAT Road Roller and the CAT Earth Mover.