Father and son’s 14-year build of classic BMW 3 Series wins Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK
Race car style 1982 E21 BMW 3-Series wins the UK leg of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour at Gravity Show held at the Birmingham NEC
Essex-based father and son Paul and Ethan Foster’s unique creation claimed victory over more than 200 entrants to win the UK leg of the world's largest travelling car show
The BMW now progresses to the European final, closing in on the chance to be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends™ and transformed into a globally available 1:64 Hot Wheels die-cast
A classic BMW 3-Series build inspired by Group 2 race cars, has won the 2025 Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK at SlammedUK’s Gravity Show, held at the NEC, Birmingham. The result of a passionate 14-year build, the 900kg track-ready E21 was created by a father-and-son team Paul and Ethan Foster from Wickford, Essex.
Paul Foster’s 1982 BMW E21 3-Series combines aggressive Group 2 styling with bespoke engineering in a true life-size Hot Wheels car. The 345/35/15 rear tyres, fibreglass wide-arch kit, alloy diffuser and deep front splitter give it a muscular stance, while the race livery featuring violet, red and blue accents, is a nod to 80s and 90s BMW touring cars. An original Group 5 rear wing, now with a carbon blade, adds downforce and drama in equal measure, whilst under the bonnet sits a 420 bhp 5.0 litre Rover V8 with twin Jenvey throttle bodies. Other performance features include flame spitting side pipes, DTM Getrag gearbox and Quaife LSD whilst GAZ coilovers and uprated Willwood brakes ensure it handles as well as its looks.
“It’s amazing to win the Hot Wheels Legends Tour UK. Built together with my son Ethan, it’s part of our family and we’ll never sell it. We’ve both been huge Hot Wheels fans since we were kids. I just can’t believe it,” says Paul Foster. “Representing the UK at the next round of the competition is so exciting. Thank you to everyone for the support.”
Together with Hot Wheels designer Charlie Angulo, judges Nicola Hume (host of Red Bull’s ‘Talking Bull’ podcast), Jordan Clarke (founder of Slammed UK) and influencer Mat Armstrong scored each entry against design, authenticity and garage spirit criteria.
“This year, the UK once again delivered a lineup of jaw-dropping contenders, each brimming with raw garage spirit, authenticity and the kind of imagination that Hot Wheels enthusiasts crave,” says Ted Wu, senior vice president and Global Head of Design for Vehicles and Building Sets at Mattel.
Historic race cars, JDM drifters, time attack competition cars and off-road conversions were all considered as Hot Wheels whittled a diverse array of more than 200 of the UK’s finest custom car projects down to a shortlist of seven. Two of these, the Jaguar Mark VII and BMW 3 Series, were fast-tracked to the final, whilst the Volkswagen Polo faced four other contenders in the Legends Tour’s biggest UK fan vote yet, receiving 37,006 votes. For the third time, the UK final was open to the public, taking place at the UK's largest modified and supercar show; SlammedUK’s Gravity Show at the Birmingham NEC.
Paul’s BMW will now head to the European final, one of a number of virtual regional competitions, the others being the Middle East, Latin America and the United States. At each regional final, one vehicle will be selected to compete at the Global Grand Finale where the winner will be inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends™ – a collection of the brand’s most iconic and historic vehicles and transformed into a 1:64 scale die-cast, and available to buy around the world.