Hot Wheels Artwork*
*Artwork not owned by Bruce Pascal
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Biography
Phil Riehlman grew up in Eatontown New Jersey. While growing up he was always fascinated with cars and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a car designer. He went to school at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California for Transportation Design.
Phil started working for Mattel about 27 years ago, although for a little over a year he worked as a temp. During that time, he was designing product such as the Attack Pack line, 1/64th vehicle deco projects, track sets and working with Bruce Baur on the Silhouette II and Twin Mill II. When he was a temp for Hot Wheels, he applied for a permanent position in Male Action Figures. After working for about six months in that role, he was transferred back to the Hot Wheels® division where he worked mainly on Attack Pack and track sets. The first Hot Wheels® model Phil designed was the VW (DRAG) Bus for the 1996 line. In 1997 he moved to the die cast team to become one of the main designers working on the 1998 Hot Wheels Basics line. He has continued to design for the die cast team ever since.
Since 1997 Phil has created well over 220 castings for Basics, Premium, HWC, Extensions and Character Cars. He has done some of the most popular cars among collectors including the’56 Ford Truck, Dairy Delivery, ’70 Chevelle SS, Fiat 500C, Anglia Panel Truck, ’68 El Camino, ’41 Willys, Mini Cooper, Surfin’ School Bus, La Troca, Ford Thunderbolt, Plymouth GTX, Fright Bike, ’40 Ford Coupe, Rocket Oil Special, Volkswagen New Beetle Cup, Corvette Stingray, Swoop Coupe, Meyers Manx,’69 Dodge Charger, ’68 Chevy Nova, VW Pickup, ’49 Chevy Fleetline, Mustang Funny Car, Hummer H3T, ’69 Pontiac GTO, Karmann Ghia, ’69 Corvette, Datsun 240Z, 65 Volkswagen Fastback, Nissan Skyline GTR (R34), 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe,’55 Chevy Panel,’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger, ’66 Chevy Nova, Blown Delivery, Volkswagen T1 Rockster, Drag Dairy. For a more complete listing of Phil’s castings, visit Hot Wheels WIKI.
Full -size car projects include working with GM in the development of the 2013 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro and the 2018 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro. He also directed the build of the 67 Camaro for the Hot Wheels Challenge Accepted Commercial.
Phil’s current title is Principle Designer, most recently leading the design and development of the die cast component of the Hot Wheels ID line while supporting other lines with Design. Some new castings for that line include the Volkswagen T1-GTR, Hiway Hauler 3.0 and 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400SV to name a few. Much more to come in ’21 and ’22.
Outside of work, Phil spends time working on his vehicles, traveling and driving his Jeep on off road trails in the western United States.
Phil started working for Mattel about 27 years ago, although for a little over a year he worked as a temp. During that time, he was designing product such as the Attack Pack line, 1/64th vehicle deco projects, track sets and working with Bruce Baur on the Silhouette II and Twin Mill II. When he was a temp for Hot Wheels, he applied for a permanent position in Male Action Figures. After working for about six months in that role, he was transferred back to the Hot Wheels® division where he worked mainly on Attack Pack and track sets. The first Hot Wheels® model Phil designed was the VW (DRAG) Bus for the 1996 line. In 1997 he moved to the die cast team to become one of the main designers working on the 1998 Hot Wheels Basics line. He has continued to design for the die cast team ever since.
Since 1997 Phil has created well over 220 castings for Basics, Premium, HWC, Extensions and Character Cars. He has done some of the most popular cars among collectors including the’56 Ford Truck, Dairy Delivery, ’70 Chevelle SS, Fiat 500C, Anglia Panel Truck, ’68 El Camino, ’41 Willys, Mini Cooper, Surfin’ School Bus, La Troca, Ford Thunderbolt, Plymouth GTX, Fright Bike, ’40 Ford Coupe, Rocket Oil Special, Volkswagen New Beetle Cup, Corvette Stingray, Swoop Coupe, Meyers Manx,’69 Dodge Charger, ’68 Chevy Nova, VW Pickup, ’49 Chevy Fleetline, Mustang Funny Car, Hummer H3T, ’69 Pontiac GTO, Karmann Ghia, ’69 Corvette, Datsun 240Z, 65 Volkswagen Fastback, Nissan Skyline GTR (R34), 2006 Dodge Viper Coupe,’55 Chevy Panel,’70 Dodge Hemi Challenger, ’66 Chevy Nova, Blown Delivery, Volkswagen T1 Rockster, Drag Dairy. For a more complete listing of Phil’s castings, visit Hot Wheels WIKI.
Full -size car projects include working with GM in the development of the 2013 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro and the 2018 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro. He also directed the build of the 67 Camaro for the Hot Wheels Challenge Accepted Commercial.
Phil’s current title is Principle Designer, most recently leading the design and development of the die cast component of the Hot Wheels ID line while supporting other lines with Design. Some new castings for that line include the Volkswagen T1-GTR, Hiway Hauler 3.0 and 1971 Lamborghini Miura P400SV to name a few. Much more to come in ’21 and ’22.
Outside of work, Phil spends time working on his vehicles, traveling and driving his Jeep on off road trails in the western United States.