The winner of today’s Hot Wheels Legends Tour Chicago stop has just been announced! More than 118 cars participated and over 5,000 Hot Wheels fans attended the event at Walmart in Morris, IL.
Mark Cryer has claimed the top spot at the Chicago event with his custom 2009 Smart ForTwo.
About the 2009 Smart ForTwo
After purchasing a wrecked Smart car, Mark Cryer went to work with his son and a few close family friends to build this incredibly unique vehicle over the course of six months. This one-off hot rod drew inspiration from the classic “No Big Thing” drag car of US 30 Drag Strip fame, a legendary Northwest Indiana and Chicago-area drag strip closed in 1984. Working almost exclusively in Cryer’s garage, the Smart ForTwo features many homebuilt pieces to achieve his vision, such as the custom front axle, roll-cage, and tube-chassis featuring a wheelie bar. To make big power in the little car, Cryer dropped a 555 Chevrolet Big Block motor into the Smart before attaching it to a power glide transmission with a Ford nine-inch rear end. The car is not just for show, with the 90.5-inch wheelbase and the iconic drag radials it’s able to run the ¼ mile in 9.8 seconds @ 137 MPH. The judges were impressed by Mark Cryer’s creativity and garage spirit enough to award him the winning spot at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour Chicago stop.
Judges included:
- Cody Ingrassia
- Preston Ingrassia
- Christopher D. Ingrassia
- Cherise Threewitt
- Jim O’Brill
- Sohail Khan
- Eric Han
