Hot Wheels Creator Remembered

Elliot Handler, who co-founded the Mattel toy company in 1945, passed away on July 21 at the age of 95. He leaves behind a corporation that grew to become the largest toymaker in the world today. Much of its success can be traced back to 1959 when Handler's wife, Barbara (seen next to him in this photo) created the Barbie doll, which went on to become one of the most successful toys of all time. Looking to create a product that would be as popular with boys, in 1967 Handler asked his head of design to develop a die-cast car that was faster than the others on the market - such as the ones sold by Matchbox. A year later, Mattel introduced what has become known as the "Sweet Sixteen," its first line of Hot Wheels cars. They were based on both real models and the kind of fantasy hot rods popular in the 1960's. Since then the company has built over 800 different cars, sold more than 4 billion of them and even bought Matchbox in 1996. Click through the slideshow for a trip down memory lane with the ones that started it all. (Mattel)

Beatnik Bandit (Mattel)

Custom Volkswagen (Mattel)

Silhouette (Mattel)

Custom Camaro (Mattel)

Hot Heap (Mattel)

Custom Mustang (Mattel)

Python (Mattel)

Custom Firebird (Mattel)

Deora (Mattel)

Ford J-Car (Mattel)

Custom Corvette (Mattel)

Custom T-Bird (Mattel)

Custom Fleetside (Mattel)

Custom Eldorado (Mattel)

Custom Cougar (Mattel)

Custom Barracuda (Mattel)