Hot Wheels RLC 1949 Volkswagen Beetle – KAWABUGA FEATURETTE
Once upon a time...
At the end of 2022, you could order it exclusively on mattelcreations as a Red Line Club member, and now it has finally arrived: the "KAWA-BUG-A". In short, in order to be able to purchase this model at all, you had to buy a one-year membership at Mattel Creations, the shopping platform of Mattel itself for some exclusive and rare items though.
So it happened that on 13.12.2022, as announced, this model, limited to 30,000 pieces, was sold out within 8 minutes. And the wait was definitely worth it! In the video below, we received 2 more Red Line Club models last week, in addition to the Kawabuga, which we don't want to deprive you of! But our highlight is and remains the 1949 VW Beetle!
COWABUNGA!
Kawabuga may first and foremost be more reminiscent of a Hawaiian scream than a correct naming of a special Volkswagen Beetle. But there is so much more behind the name! In short, today's most famous use of the word comes from the mouth of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Michelangelo. Cowabunga is a typical exclamation of the character, but the word itself predates the fighting teenage turtles.
The origin of Cowabunga can be traced back to the 1940s and is commonly attributed to the character Chief Thunderthud from the children's programme "The Howdy Doody Show". The show ran from 1947 to 1960 and the character of the Indian chief used the newly created word cowabunga to express surprise or anger. Only a few years later, the term was adopted by the Californian surf scene - but now with the changed meaning as a greeting or a joyful exclamation about a positive event.
In 1965, the word cowabunga was used by the most famous dog in comic book history - Snoopy, who was appropriately surfing a wave in the strip. Thus, the derivative nickname of the vehicle "Kawabuga" provides the perfect reference to the surfing scene and the abbreviation "Bug", which is cut from the VW Beetle.
Great features!
The Kawabuga is bursting with attention to detail! A roof rack with surfboard on board, plus luggage and cool box. The windscreen is permanently open for that extra portion of sea breeze, but the boot at the front with the spare wheel cannot be opened. Instead, we can marvel at the engine compartment. Once the cover is opened in so-called "Spectraflame Aqua" (the name of the paint colour, by the way), we can see the 1.6 litre 34PS four-cylinder engine of the VW Beetle.
Striking are the 5-spoke silver VUM wheels, which lower the Kawabuga by quite a bit! Freedom, peace and love: the Volkswagen Beetle and surfing fit like a glove! While the VW Bus was designed for whole week trips, the little Beetle had to serve more as a day trip vehicle for surfing enthusiasts. The 60s to 80s were the heyday of the VW Beetle. Around 21.5 million vehicles were produced by the end of production in 2002. The Kawabuga model, with its 30,000 units, is much rarer...and a lot cheaper!
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