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* CIPSA Redlines *
CIPSA is an acronym for a now defunct Mexican company, Compania Industriale de Plasticos SA which produced an array of products from toys to housewares.
Under license, CIPSA produced many Mattel products for the Mexican marketplace crossing several product lines including "Big Jim", "Barbie" and "Hot Wheels".
The products from the Hot Wheels line include Sizzlers, Rrrumblers and Hot Wheels cars and track sets.
This page focuses on the redline era die cast Hot Wheels cars sold and produced by CIPSA.
Tip of the Iceberg...
A few redline cars have shown up over the years that were purported to be of Mexican origin, most notably,
a few Snake and Mongoose Funny cars in odd colors. Jon Schwartz in Minnesota has (had?) a pair in red/orange and purple?
Vito Mercorillo in Canada has a green one.
Another peculiar car which has surfaced twice is a Classic Cord, painted in yellow enamel with white interior.
I saw one of these in person at the 2001(?) Convention. I thought it so odd that I took a picture of it.
The guy also had an Odd Job in red with blackwalls. He claimed to have found them at a swap meet.
Another white interior yellow Cord showed up in 2003, also in southern California.
No one knew quite what to make of these two Cords.
Jon Schwartz also has a pair of the Rear Engine Dragsters and another one of those recently changed hands among two members of the Redlines Online group.
The name of CIPSA came up a few times but no one seemed to know too much. Few people had heard of the company at all and there was little supporting evidence.
The Beginning of the End..
2004 was the year of CIPSA discovery, i.e. the Mexicans discovered eBay...
It started with an inocuous post on the Redlines On Line Message board about a white interior Superfine Turbine in Mexico.
This purported discovery cascaded into quite a controversy over the authenticity of the car and its origins,
resulting in the subsequent sale of two loose ones and the sale of the first and only known CIPSA blister pack.
Throughout the year, there were a dozen or so auctions of CIPSA made redline era track accessories and lots of Sizzler stuff.
Additional discoveries include several catalog which show that CIPSA was likely quite active in the production of diecast, Sizzlers and accessories for both.
Just the Facts M'aam...
Some evidence for what may have been produced is found in CIPSA Catalogs and on the back of the blister pack.
This panel from one of the catalog pages lists four castings which are mostly 1970 (or earlier) castings.
A page from another CIPSA catalog shows eleven different castings most of which are 1971 or 1972 releases,
bringing the total to 15 different castings shown or listed in the catalogs.
It is noteworthy that all of the cars on these two pages are shown in their normal spectraflame or enamel colors.
The back side of the only known blister pack card lists ten more castings nine of which were either 1973 regular line castings
or Shell Promo castings, the exception being the Crew Car. These ten bring the total to 25 different castings.
Others??
These sources provide pretty strong evidence that CIPSA intended to offer these 25 castings.
Interestingly, the Snake and Mongoose Funny Cars are not listed. Based on the variety of accessories I have seen,
I suspect they are "set" cars from a yet unknown Mexican version of the Snake and Mongoose drag race set.
Other CIPSA track sets have been found with Grand Prix cars included with the set, some which came with the McLaren.
In addition, two Double Visions / Mantis's have been found which are known to have come from Mexico.
They both show characters which suggest that they may not have been assembled by CIPSA.
It is possible that Mattel sold finished product to CIPSA as well as loose unfinished parts.
Considering these unlisted castings, the total jumps to 29 different castings.
I have assembled a separate webpage to document the CIPSA made or sold castings which are either CIPSA made or sold.
(See the links at the bottom of the page)
Credits
My thanks to: Mike Stephenson, Juan Miguel Alcantar de Alba, Chuck Gaughan, Jack Kaye, Jon Schwartz, Mark Lewis Vito Mercorillo, Mike Otte, Gil Becerra, Al Rasmusson, Alfonso Martinez, Antonio Lara, Sid Mailhes
I hope you find the information I have compiled to be useful. I also buy CIPSA cars for my own collection.
Please e-mail me if you have any questions or cars for sale, and please do not use any of my photographs without permission.
Ted Gray
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