The passion for cars for many automotive enthusiasts started in childhood, with kids racing their Hot Wheels cars around a track or throughout the house. For some, the love for Hot Wheels continues into adulthood, with collectors amassing many toy cars. In Colorado, a man has a massive collection of over 30,000 Hot Wheels cars, including many rare types.

Kevin Feeley: Huge collection of over 30,000 Hot Wheels cars

Kevin Feeley, from Firestone, Colorado, is very serious about collecting Hot Wheels cars — and this passion started at an early age. He obtained his first Hot Wheels car in 1974 when he was eight years old. His grandfather gave him a “Thundershift 500 race track that came with a red Monte Carlo Stocker and yellow Torino Stocker.” As detailed by Times-Call, “Feeley wore out the track and cars, but his love for Hot Wheels has far from faded.”

In the nearly 50 years since then, Feeley’s Hot Wheels collection has grown to over 30,000 cars. The collection includes many Drag Buses, with “a top that flips up to show off the engine.” Also, Feeley, a retired director of laboratory services for the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District, has an employee-only collection devoted to Mattel workers. 

Feeley has many rare Hot Wheels cars from when Mattel first started making them in 1968

In addition to its massive size, part of what makes Feeley’s Hot Wheels collection so unique is that it features many rare cars. Some of these cars date back to 1968, when Mattel first started making them. This includes the “redline era from 1968 to 1977.” Hot Wheels cars from the redline era “have red stripes on the wheels, which is indicative of ’60s-era hot rods with redline tires.” 

Another unique aspect of Feeley’s Hot Wheels collection is how it’s displayed. Instead of keeping the cars in the original packaging, Feeley has most of them in display cases. In every room in the house that he shares with his wife, the walls have cars on display. Most of the cars are “parked” at an angle so that people viewing them can “see the detail from front to rear fender.” Also, the display cases can “be opened, allowing someone to touch the cars, look at them and play with them.” 

Feeley is president of the Rocky Mountain Hot Wheelers club

Feeley shares his passion for Hot Wheels with others. He is the president of the Rocky Mountain Hot Wheelers. It’s a “local Hot Wheels club that has shrunk from 100 to about 10 members.” By sharing his passion for Hot Wheels, Feeley hopes that “he can inspire other people to join and therefore renew the club’s energy.”

Peter Kistler is the former president of the Rocky Mountain Hot Wheelers Club. With 25,000 cars, he also has a massive collection, but is especially impressed with Feeley’s collection. Kistler said, “[Feeley] has “an amazing collection” and “it’s right up there with some of the best ones I’ve ever seen.”

Along with hoping to grow the membership in the Rocky Mountain Hot Wheelers club, Feeley hopes to create a place to “talk shop” about the cars. He said, “It’s a great place to trade cars, learn about the hobby, and just to talk Hot Wheels. It’s not something you can talk about every day to people at work or your friends.”