East Ridge collector joins Hot Wheels for 40th anniversary tour

For a mere collector, Frank Generazio of East Ridge said he felt like a rock star on the recent Hot Wheels 40th Anniversary Road Trip.

Traveling with representatives from toy maker Mattel, the toy’s original designer and event publicists, he followed the group from appearances before thousands of fans of the die-cast cars from Utah to New York.

“I was on this trip tripping,” said Mr. Generazio, 44, who works at Greyfriar’s Coffee & Tea Co.

The husband and father of three has collected Hot Wheels since he was a child and more than eight years ago sold some 35,000 of them to buy a life-size 1965 Shelby Superformance Cobra 427 S/C sports car.

Since then, Mr. Generazio has continued to collect the cars and remains active with the toy’s fan sites. It was on the Hot Wheels Web site and chat room, he said, where Mattel officials got his name and invited him to be part of the trip.

When they called, he said, he didn’t believe it was them and hung up. Fortunately, he said, they called back.

Even with only three days’ notice, he said, his employers gave him the time off. A call from his wife, Jill, three hours into the trip across the country in his blue Cobra, though, nearly turned him back. Their 7-year-old dog, Titus, was dying and would have to be put down.

After taking time by the side of the road to grieve, Mr. Generazio drove on to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, for the tour’s first public event. From there the group went to Speed, Kan., Indianapolis, Detroit and Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Along the way, they were met by crowds from 1,500 to 10,000 people.

On the return trip to Chattanooga, Mr. Generazio got four inches of water in his car and had his camera and cell phone ruined from the aftereffects of Hurricane Gustav.

Yet, he said, “I would do this again in a heartbeat.”