98 Rav4 2door (Hot Wheels)(past vehicle)

Hi gang! Reminiscing here about a 98 2door Rav4 I had back in 2007;) I wanted it to look like a little Hot Wheels Rav! you know~ flashy~ sassy and HOT!

These are the most Awesome of the Rav4’s I believe! They’re small, cute, functional, get fantastic gas mileage, but relatively hard to find~ which led me on a little trip from Houston to Florida! I found this 98 Rav4 down south of Florida, but I was also interested in an Aprilia RS50! So in order to get it all back, I’d needed a trailer! OMG, the things I get myself into:)

So, I bought a trailer to fit the rav4 and actually took it on the plane, can you believe it, I actually was able to carry onboard a heavy bulky trailer hitch! So, the fella with the Rav picked me up at the airport, I test drove it, paid him, then at his home I installed the trailer hitch.

Then drove further down south (Pompano) to where the Aprilia was. So at this point, I bought a 4×6 trailer from Pep boys obviously to pull the Aprilia back home. The man and his wife insisted I spend the night at their home(he’s a doctor), I accepted! So I got up early the next morning, wired the Rav4 for trailer lights, loaded it up after a test drive, and off I went back for the long drive to Houston!! 😉

Though the story here isn’t so much about the Aprilia RS50, it’s just a bike that I had, loved, then said fare-well to it later on:(. Just wish I had kept it, along with all the other bikes I’ve owned!:( The Aprilia Rs50 is a 2 stroke 50cc engine water-cooled, capable of 70 mph @ 11,000rpm! It’s not considered a motorcycle, but a scooter; so anyone can drive one without a license(so I’ve heard).

So, let the rumble begin! I started off simple with some decals and a new set of wheels/tires from Discount Tires. Just wasn’t enough!

And the stock seats had to go!!!! However they were quite comfortable, but just didn’t fit the ticket for a HOT Wheels car!

So Ebay saves the day: A leather steering wrap, and some Netami bucket seats with carbon fiber! Actually, I got the idea of the Red and Black from a previously owned Izuzu vehicross!!

And let’s pay attention to detail, notice the carbon fiber console a with the Hurst shifter handle and boot! Darn I’m good! 😉

To match the front seats, I sewed some seat covers for the rear seats, luckily, the fabric store had some carbon fiber material.  Now the interior is all tied together!!

My goodness, can’t have a Hot Wheels Rav without a cowl on the hood!!

And dual exhaust!

and always a bunch of TRD decals! Notice the Hot Wheels decals!;)

Well the engine compartment didn’t come out quite a well as I had hoped, but sure looked better than the bland engine compartment previously. I could do a lot better today.

The brakes n Tires, n wheels~ I generally go a little overboard, but this Hot Wheels Toy looking Rav had to look good! I did a complete brake job including zinc coated rotors and caliper covers which showed very well!

These drums n rotors came out of Canada from a company the took pride in their products~rust proof! I spared no expense!

As the first picture shows~ it is an awesome vehicle which got lots of looks! It not only looked great, it ran great @ 30 mpg! Though I don’t remember, but I must have installed new headlights cause those are just too shiny new looking! 😉

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little blast from my past of vehicles and little projects here and there, and my motorcycles along the way! Thanks for stopping by and visiting my Classic Cars and Tools!

dne’ 😉