How to Identify a Hot Wheels Chase Car
The chase is the hard-to-find bonus car hidden in a premium series like Car Culture. Here's how to spot it, starting with the number on the card.
Quick version: in a Hot Wheels premium series (Car Culture and friends), the chase is a special version of one of the cars, short-packed into cases so it's much harder to find. Since 2022 it's marked 0/5 on the card while the standard cars read 1/5 through 5/5. If the card says 0/5, you're holding the chase.
What a series chase is
Hot Wheels premium lines, Car Culture, Team Transport, Boulevard, Pop Culture and the like, are built around themed sets, usually five castings. The chase is the secret extra: a special version of one of those cars, produced in far smaller numbers and short-packed into cases so most collectors never spot it on the peg. It's the "gotta land it" car of the set, which is exactly where the name comes from.
Important: this is not a Treasure Hunt. A Treasure Hunt is a mainline car marked with a flame logo. A series chase lives inside the premium lines and is identified a completely different way, by the number on its card.
The tell: 0/5 on the card
The fastest way to know is the little fraction printed on the card. The five regular cars in a premium set are numbered 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5 and 5/5. The chase gets the odd number out:
- Set numberingThe five standard cars are numbered 1/5 through 5/5 on the card.
- The chase numberThe chase is marked 0/5, that zero is the giveaway.
- Same premium buildMetal body, metal base, and Real Rider rubber tires, just like the rest of the set.
- Special finishA distinct colorway or finish versus the standard release of that casting, historically a blacked-out or Spectraflame look.
- Since 2022The 0/5 chase system started in 2022. Older premium chases exist but weren't numbered this way.
- Car Culture sets onlyThe 0/5 number is a Car Culture (five-car set) thing. Other premium lines like Team Transport number their releases differently, so their chase carries a normal number and you spot it by the special finish, not a 0/5.
So flip a Car Culture card over: if the fraction reads 0/5 instead of 1/5 to 5/5, that's the chase, the rarest car in the set.
What it looks like
For years the chase was the "blacked-out" car, a stealthy all-black variant of one casting. That's still common, but recent chases break the pattern: the first two 2026 chases are a Datsun 510 Wagon and a '55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser, and neither one is black. So don't rely on color alone, the 0/5 number is the reliable tell. What stays consistent is that the chase gets the full premium treatment (metal/metal, Real Riders) plus a finish that sets it apart from the standard version of the same car.
How rare it is
A Car Culture case holds ten cars, two of each of the five castings. In the cases that include the chase, one of those two copies is swapped out for the chase variant. That works out to roughly one chase per case, and noticeably harder to pull than any standard car in the set, which is why chases carry a real premium on the secondary market.
Spotting one at a glance
The number
The card reads 0/5, not 1/5 to 5/5. This is the definitive tell on modern sets.
The finish
A different color or finish from the standard car, often blacked-out or Spectraflame.
Short-packed
You almost never see it on the peg, about one per case versus two of every standard car.
The line
It's inside a premium series (Car Culture, Team Transport, Boulevard, Pop Culture), metal body and Real Riders.
Chase vs Super Treasure Hunt
People mix these up, but they're different animals. A Super Treasure Hunt is a mainline car with a hidden gold "TH" flame logo, Spectraflame paint and Real Riders. A series chase is a premium car marked 0/5 inside a set. Both are "the rare one," but you identify a Super by its TH flame logo and a chase by its 0/5 number.
Why collectors chase them
It's the mix of scarcity and a standout finish. Because the chase is short-packed and dressed differently from its setmates, it's the hardest car to complete a Car Culture set with, and the one that jumps in value once a set sells through. For a lot of premium collectors, landing the 0/5 is the whole point of the hunt.
One caveat: the card never literally says "chase", you're reading the 0/5 and the odd-one-out finish. And premium chases from before 2022 won't carry the 0/5, so for older sets you'll be going by the special finish and a known checklist rather than the number.