Polestar, the boutique Volvo performance EV brand, held a 2024 design competition in conjunction with Hot Wheels, everyone’s favorite 1:64 diecast company. Contestants were invited to submit designs inspired by Polestar’s design language. Out of over 1,200 submissions, one winner of the Polestar Design Contest has been crowned.
It’s hard to make sense of Volvo these days if you feel you’re aging faster than Father Time. Polestar was a racing and tuning company from Sweden that was purchased by Volvo in 2015, then repositioned as an EV manufacturer two years later. The original company actually had been modifying Volvos since 2009, much like AMG used to do for Mercedes-Benz.
Now that it’s a stand-alone brand, Polestar has produced several of the more breathtaking Volvo models in recent memory. So far, there have been four Polestar models, with three still in production. A Polestar 5 is slated to reach production in 2025.
A designer from India, Shashank Shekhar, is the winner for 2024. His “Polestar TRX” earns the right to have his design rendered by Hot Wheels, which also happens to be the first Polestar developed by the die cast brand. “I’m thrilled to win. This will be the first design in my career to be produced, so it’s a big deal for me,” says Shekhar. “I never thought that someday, something I have created would end up as a Hot Wheels car. It has been a great journey, and I’ve had an amazing time so far. Something like this gives you a lot of confidence as a young designer.”
Says Juan-Pablo Bernal, Head of Interior Design at Polestar, “We were looking for innovative ideas with this theme, and the submissions definitely exceeded our expectations. We saw some of the most daring designs to date. I can’t wait to see what the ‘Polestar TRX’ collectible will look like in real life.”
Powei Chen from Italy was the runner-up of the Polestar Design Contest with his “Cyber Shaker,” followed by Germany’s Roman Moor and his “Polestar Track Toy.”
“It was a pleasure for Hot Wheels to collaborate with Polestar for this innovative design contest,” adds Ted Wu, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Design of Vehicles and Building Sets at Mattel. “We are looking forward to seeing the ‘Polestar TRX’ in a 1:64 scale and welcoming this die-cast to be included in our Hot Wheels history.”
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