Nathan Proch, 42, Hot Wheels Designer

The Sunday Age

Sunday August 21, 2005

Interview by Heather Gallagher

Nathan Proch, 42, Hot Wheels designer

Have you always been a Hot Wheels fan?

I used to collect Matchbox cars but when I was about six years old, Hot Wheels cars came out and I was converted. The spectra-flame paint, the red-line tyres, the mag wheels, the opening hoods and big engines - I loved the big engines. I played with these cars when I was a kid. I was the little drag racer on the floor. The thing about Hot Wheels cars back then was they were rebellious. It wasn't the kind of car your dad drove, it was the bachelor car.

How did you get into designing cars?

Ever since I was old enough to draw - at about three or four - I drew cars. I drew all through my grade school and high school years. In my senior year of high school I painted a mural of a car on the art-room wall - it lasted there for several decades. That piece and other cars I designed got me into the University of Cincinnati's design school. While I was there I started working for the Chrysler Corporation.

What was your first design?

Because I was a young man at the time, they asked me to design a car for young people between 18 and 25 which would cause them to buy a new car rather than a used car. I thought about how we could use a motorcycle engine to keep the cost down. The car had no doors - the glass went all the way down to the bumper. Then I thought - why do a fancy interior that's just going to get mucked up with fast food and junk - so there wasn't a stitch of cloth in it, they could hose it out.

Did it get made?

No. There are guys who spend years and years working in car companies and they never get a car into production. That's the great thing about Hot Wheels. Great car designers migrate from real world car companies to our company. It's the excitement of being able to come in and design a car and put it into production and then go on to another car. I've heard of one guy who had 20 of his designs made into cars in a year.

Is designing toy cars a come-down after designing the real thing?

I think it's liberating, very satisfying, because what we're selling is emotion. When a kids says "that's bad and I've got to have it", then you know you've done your job.

What things do you have to think about when you're designing a toy car?

Track performance - is this car going to work on track? Which means it needs a low centre of gravity with no overhang over the wheels. We've got the famous orange loop that cars have to be able to go through. You think about whether the body shape is going to complement the car when it's going at high speed. And you think about who's the end consumer. Who's going to buy this car? Kids or adults - we have collectors as old as 80.

And you're an enthusiast for using work-experience students?

We've had students here (in California) from all over the world and we're constantly looking for students. Young people can bring an unclouded view. The chances of them paving new ground, getting off the beaten path, is quite good. Almost every student we've had has put products into the marketplace.

Interview by Heather Gallagher

© 2005 The Sunday Age

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