Many of us car enthusiasts grew up loving our collection of Hot Wheels cars. While some of them inspired our dream cars, we were disappointed to find out some weren’t real cars.

Teegray

The Teegray looks like something a supervillain could drive and was my favorite Hot Wheels car I had growing up. Even though the car wasn’t real, and obviously didn’t have an engine, you could tell from the body lines that it was designed to be a mid-engine supercar. The scooping side skirts funneled into a rear air intake. One plastic bubble stretched from the front of the car and served as both the front windshield and roof the Teegray like a bubble.

Twin Mill

The Twin Mill models of Hot Wheels were well-loved and would have been a cool car if they were ever put into real production. Hot Wheels did eventually make a full-sized replica which can be found at car shows but is not currently – and has never been – for sale. The Twin Mill had a long, shark-noise front end and came in a variety of bright colors. The car’s obnoxious dual engines remained exposed and had long exhausts that followed down the outside of the car.

Double Shotz

The Hot Wheels Double Shotz was based on an actual concept car created by Mitsubishi, but to our dismay would never become a real car. Aggressive and exotic, the Double Shotz is unlike anything Mitsubishi has ever produced, and the closest any of us will get to owning one is to order the smaller, toy version online.

La Fasta

Based on the DeTomaso Pantera, we can’t be all that disappointed that the La Fasta never became a reality. The Hot Wheels car did have some cool features that the real-life Pantera didn’t, which made it just a little bit cooler than the real deal – and let’s face it, the Pantera itself was already really great. The La Fasta Hot Wheels had an air intake mounted to the roof of the car and supposedly a rear-engine supercharged V8.

Driftsta

The Hot Wheels Driftsta looks like something that could have been produced as part of the Fast and Furious franchise, and a real-life version would fit in well with other JDM cars at a tuner-oriented car show. You can probably guess by the name that this toy car was designed with drifting in mind. The car even goes so far as to have a fakely removed front lip exposed intercooler to give it that authentic well-drifted aesthetic often sported by Nissan 350z cars. The Driftsta would have made a fantastic car for Tokyo Drift, and 240z drivers may have opted to make the switch if this car ever become a reality.

When it comes to childhood memories, some of our favorite Hot Wheels cars may have grown up to become real cars in our garages, while others just remained toys. Although a few made it to full-sized replicas or concept cars, others remain miniature forever.