Paul Tam, Larry Wood
Background
Paul Tam — Paul Tam was hired by Mattel in 1970, after going to the company's headquarters in California to ask for a job. He worked with Larry Wood and Ira Gilford in Hot Wheels' early years and stayed until 1973. His first creation was the Whip Creamer (1970); the wiki also cites him as the designer of Evil Weevil, Open Fire and Six Shooter and as co-designer of the Double Header, with Larry Wood. He is the father of Alec Tam, who followed the same career.
Larry Wood — Larry Wood, known as 'Mr. Hot Wheels', studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. He was recruited by Ford in 1965 and joined Hot Wheels in 1969, building a career of about 50 years with the brand: he was full-time chief designer until 2009, then a consultant and ambassador, and officially retired in 2019. His projects include Bone Shaker, Rodger Dodger, Tri-Baby and Purple Passion.
He has received the Hot Wheels Hall of Fame (2003), the Model Car Hall of Fame (2009 and 2014), the West Coast Kustoms Hall of Fame (2019), the Pop Culture Hall of Fame (2021) and the Automotive Hall of Fame (2023). Today he works as a freelancer, at Larry Wood Design LLC.
