Hot Wheels™ City Experience – what to expect

Race against time, design your own car and learn all about the history of Hot Wheels at this unique immersive experience

There aren’t many places where you can learn the history of the most popular scale model cars, build your own dream racer, enter a motorsports simulator and take a break on a shark-themed trampoline. In fact, there is only one place in the UK where you can do all of that and more, and that’s at the Hot Wheels™ City Experience in the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre, Manchester.

For the race-car enthusiast and toy lover inside everyone (big or small), the Hot Wheels™ City Experience is the ultimate family-friendly day out this summer, with so much in store for you and your little ones. After watching the one-minute introductory video with all the safety rules and regulations, as well as clips from Netflix’s 2024 animated Hot Wheels show, Hot Wheels Let’s Race, the guide aptly asks attendees, “Are you ready?” – and this is your moment to buckle up and enter the fast-paced Hot Wheels world.

The museum

A man looks a timeline exhibit in the Hot Wheels™ City Experience

Ever wondered how everyone’s favourite toy cars came to be? Well at the Hot Wheels City Experience, you can travel back through time to learn about Elliot Handler, the founder of Hot Wheels, his first scale model toy cars introduced in 1968, and every breakthrough moment since then. Learn all about the first remote-control cars, the first collaborations with Marvel superheroes, and limited edition car models, all while getting to see stacks of vintage Hot Wheels cars, including life-sized versions of the Bone Shaker and Bad To The Blade. Plus, you and your group can take pictures with the cars, as well as having official portraits taken by the Hot Wheels photographers, where you can pick a bespoke background with the cars.

The Gamer Zone

A boy sits in a replica driving seat to play a videogame in the Hot Wheels™ City Experience

Next, take the highway to The Gamer Zone, where kids and adults alike can get their official Hot Wheels driver’s licence: the perfect preparation for race-car simulators and the official Hot Wheels PlayStation game – both of which you can access in the Gamer Zone. Whether you want race against each other, or against time, the simulators and games have options for every speedster (even me, who managed to crash my Hot Wheels car within five seconds of starting my race while the very experienced children zoomed past me… I switched over to a solo time trial after that). Plus, for the more artistic car enthusiasts, The Gamer Zone is also kitted out with tables and art supplies to colour in your favourite Hot Wheels car.

Enter the lab(s)

A boy uses a tablet screen to customise the look of a digital car in the Hot Wheels™ City Experience

Speaking of art and time trials, if you’ve ever wanted to find out how quickly you could design your dream car, here is your chance. Kids can get creative with the digital design station, which gives you two minutes to use the Hot Wheels digital paint station on a tablet that projects your design onto a life-sized Hot Wheels car on display. Choose from the pre-made colours on the palette, or make a custom one using the colour-wheel function, and accessorise with various Hot Wheels decals to complete your car.

If painting isn’t enough, there’s also a station where you can digitally design your own car – from the model, to the paint job, to the style of the rims – and sign it off with your name. Your custom car will be displayed all day in a slideshow on the screens around the Hot Wheels City Experience.

And if becoming a digital car engineer isn’t enough, kids can enter two different areas for play: the Shark Frenzy play area with trampolines and soft-play; and the interactive Hot Wheels track set area, where kids can build intricate tracks and test them out with the toy cars.

Food, drinks and goodies

A boy looks at the merchandise on offer in the shop of the Hot Wheels™ City Experience

Round off your visit at the in-house bar, or with food vendors both inside and outside the centre. The vendors are located conveniently by the play areas, which gives kids time to play while parents can take a break from life in the fast lane. And finally, complete your visit with a trip to the Hot Wheels gift shop, where you can buy various Hot Wheels toys, Hot Wheels City Experience merch, and more goodies. Don’t walk, but zoom over to the B.E.C Centre this summer, and experience Hot Wheels like never before.

Now booking until 12 September 2024. Find tickets here.

_{Photo credits: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images for Hot Wheels}