Since 2016, the Brooklyn-based art collective MSCHF has directed their performance art projects and often hilarious satire at business, capitalism, and consumer culture.
In their latest collaboration with Mattel and Hot Wheels, MSCHF has released what they call Not Wheels, a “not totaled yet” car missing a wheel but with “tons of personality.” Modeled after Japanese imports from the 90s, the limited-edition release pays tribute to our first set of wheels, that faithful but lovingly weathered chariot that took us from school and our first jobs at Baskin Robbins or Pizza Hut.
The car sports a rusted undercarriage, a handful of parking tickets under the wiper, a cracked front windshield, a scrawled “wash me” in the rear window, seatbelts hanging from underneath the door, and some DIY repairs. Packaging-wise, it’s absolutely Hot Wheels-esque, with “MSCHF” in the flaming banner. Cement block, it says, is not included.