WILMORE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The final countdown to Christmas may have you racing to finish shopping.
If you have a need for speed, we found the perfect pit stop.
Rev your engines and take a short drive down Wilmore's main drag. That's where you'll discover Gold Flame Diecast, a small toy store with a big personality.
"I like to joke and say I'm a used car salesman, but I sell Hot Wheels for a living," said Dalton Cox, who opened the shop just over a year ago after stints working as a firefighter and for NASCAR.
"Since I couldn't afford the real cars, I decided to get back into little cars," he told LEX 18. "I started off playing with monster trucks as a kid, and beating other Hot Wheels cars with a hammer to look like I crushed them with my monster truck."
These small but mighty diecast cars aren't your typical toys. Many of them are collector's items worth hundreds of dollars.
But it's not all luxury vehicles. Some Hot Wheels cost as little as $1 or $2.
And as a new dad to twin girls, Cox says it's not just boys who collect small metal cars. Gold Flame now draws up to 200 customers each week from all backgrounds.
"The best feeling about the whole place is when someone comes in and picks up a car you have and says I've been looking for this car for five years," he said.
"That makes it all worth it."
Gold Flame Diecast is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The store is located at 311 E. Main Street in Wilmore.
