Custom modified black car with gold wheels parked in front of a white building.

Every year since its 50th anniversary in 2018, Hot Wheels has embarked on a worldwide journey to find the ultimate custom car worthy of becoming set in die-cast immortality. The Legends Tour is no joke, and this year’s finalists included a 1961 Morris Minivan transformed into a pickup truck, a custom 1990 NA wide-body Miata, and a bespoke 1992 Chevrolet Salaya SP.

A customized black car with gold wheels parked in front of a modern building under a clear sky.

But above the exotic and the absurd, Matt McEntegart’s custom 1979 Chevrolet El Camino, named the “SS Monte Mino,” brings the trophy home. McEntegart, a Florida native, spent thousands of hours designing and fabricating the build. While the SS Monte Mino wears an El Camino shell, it’s anything but stock, taking parts and inspiration from Corvettes and Monte Carlos.

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The SS Monte Mino rides on a modified sixth-generation Corvette chassis. McEntegart stretched the El Camino’s wheelbase by 12 inches and crafted a custom Monte Carlo–inspired wide-body kit using foam prototypes and molds.

Engine compartment showcasing a high-performance engine with multiple chrome intake tubes and various mechanical compone

The Frankenstein car is powered by a modified Chevy V-8 engine, complete with exposed velocity stacks and performance upgrades. The car practically sits on top of its 22-inch gold wheels thanks to a custom air suspension system.

McEntegart’s low-slung custom ute is a sight to behold, and it truly looks like it was born to speed down a bright orange Hot Wheels track. The exterior is painted in a dark maroon color and uses red-tinted forged carbon-fiber panels to bring out the details along the bodywork.

Interior view of a car featuring red leather seats with plaid patterns and a sleek black dashboard.

Inside, the car is all-out retro, with a custom red leather interior to match the exterior red accents. The seats feature a red, black, and gray plaid pattern, and the center console seamlessly blends a few bits of modern tech with the car’s vintage-styled interior.

The SS Monte Mino will be transformed into a 1:64-scale die-cast Hot Wheels car and join the brand’s Garage of Legends, where it’ll sit among past global winners. The scale model will eventually be available to buy worldwide.

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Alayna Wilkening grew up reading motorsport magazines and following her grandpa around his Chevrolet dealership's showroom floor. In true Hoosier fashion, her first car was a hot pink custom cardboard "Fiero-vette" for her kindergarten Kindy 500 race. She now autocrosses a 1994 Miata with her dad, which she learned to drive the night before her first event. Alayna went to Indiana University and graduated with a degree in journalism and a minor in graphic design. As a testament to her great taste in cars, her first real one was a metallic orange 2007 Chevy HHR, which she lovingly called "The Dumptruck."  

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