So boys and girls, it’s time to put on out time-travel helmets and go back to the magical year of 1970. Mattel Toys had the hot toy with the Snake vs. Mongoose Hot Wheels Race Set. Now when I was a kid my Hot Wheels went every where with me, including my grandparent’s house. But Grandma had a rule, I was to absolutely NOT put that plastic clamp that held the race track, on any of her furniture. So my options were to push the cars (BORING!!!) or get creative by stacking books high enough and slipping the end of the track between the top two books to build my starter hill. Hours were spent watching the Snake and Mongoose battle it out on that orange track and watching to see which car got the flag to drop on their side of the track showing who won.
Today, that same racing excitement can be found with Auto World’s Mattel Hot Wheels Pro Racing Dragstrip with the Snake vs. Mongoose VW Drag Vans (SRS340). Wait-a-minute! VW Drag Vans???? That’s right! Something wild and woolly, and definitely from the that 1970’s era. This set even has the orange track, bringing back that same feeling of setting up your Hot Wheels track across the living room floor and watching your Hot Wheels cars roll down that starting hill. But no plastic clamp needed here (Grandma would be relieved!), this is a full bore electric slot racing track!. Let’s get that box open and see what comes with this new set.
Everything comes packed securely in the carry-case box. The set comes with two thumb-style controllers, power pack, 13 feet of track, guardrails, a starting banner, pop-up finish line marker and two very cool 4-Gear VW Vans decked out with the Snake and Mongoose paint jobs .
The set comes with color-coded controllers that match the colors for the Snake and Mongoose liveries. The track is the same orange that was on the original Hot Wheels track from back in the day. The Terminal Track has a cool “Hot Wheels” logo painted in the starting area.
The race set makes a 13 foot dragstrip and comes with the 3 inch “dead strip” and 2 end caps for a nice, finished look. There is also a clip on Starting Banner and a pop-up finish line that will show which car finishes first.
Of course the stars of any race set are the cars. And this set comes with two very cool and what will surely become very collectible, Snake and Mongoose liveried VW Drag Vans. The vans are very nicely done with push bumpers and a cool wing across the back!
SRS340 1 VW Drag Van – Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen
SRS340 2 VW Drag Van – Don “The Snake” Prudhome
Everybody’s staged at the starting line and ready to go.
And it’s the Mongoose that is first to finish on this pass!
The Snake brings it to the line for the second pass!
The Mongoose makes the best out of three and takes the flag on the third race.
There’s nothing like reliving a bit of the past. Running the new Snake vs Mongoose Pro Dragstrip race set across my living room floor took me back to being that kid watching my Hot Wheels roll down my Grandma’s hallway. This set will be out in February of 2022. Look for it at your favorite hobby shop or outline store and start making those new memories.