Do you own the RARE Hot Wheels 271 Funny Car? It seems that a few times each year the Hot Wheels 271 Funny Car pops up and becomes the hot topic for a short while. Chances are very, VERY slim that the carded Funny Car you have in your collection is a carded #271. Below I’ll discuss what makes this car rare and how you can tell them apart.
It’s ALL About The Card
The first and most important point that I must make regarding the Hot Wheels 271 Funny Car is that the #271 card is where ALL of the value lies. It’s 100% about the card and not one bit about the car. I can’t stress this point enough. The car itself was released carded on the #271 card as ‘Funny Car’ (1994) and on the #277 card as ‘Side-Splitter’ (1995). It was also used in playsets. Once removed from the package, they are identical.
How Many 271’s Are There?
It is not known exactly how many 271 cards were produced but from what I’ve gathered, there are a few numbers floating around. It is thought that anywhere between 12 to 288 were produced. A list has been started and only between 10 to 20 carded 271 Hot Wheels Funny Cars have been validated and located.
It’s Not The Right Color And Has The Wrong Wheels
A lot of people that believe they have a loose #271 have the darker blue car with 5-spoke wheels. It’s not correct. The real 271’s were a lighter shade of blue and had basic (BW) wheels. Even if your car matches this description, if it’s loose it’s nothing more than a regular car.
But… Mine Is From 1977
Oh, one more thing to note. I see a lot of people dating this release of the Funny Car/Side-Splitter as a 1977 release. This is not fact either. The casting copyright was granted in 1977 and pertains to the base only. It’s a little strange as the copyright usually pertains to the entire design and not just the base. The Firebird Funny Car, Pepsi Challenger, Probe, Side-Splitter, and Vetty Funny all used this same base. 1977 was on the base every year this casting was produced. To learn more about these dates on the base of your Hot Wheels, click here for another article I wrote specifically on the subject.
