Most Johnny Lightning models are already "retro" cars from the 1960s, so what is Johnny Retro? You may be surprised to learn that Johnny Retro cars are stripped down versions of the Johnny Lightning cars you already collect.

But "stripped down" isn't completely accurate. Johnny Retro is as much about the look of the car as it is the make of the car. In 1969, the year Johnny Lightning began, the agenda for toy cars was going fast, and looking fast! To capture the appearance of these super-fast cars, Johnny Retro models feature a brushed-metal body, sprayed with a color-tinted, transparent lacquer. The resulting finish gleams in the light as if dipped in liquid glass.

Then we installed a set of hard, ABS plastic tires with mag wheels. Our factory recreated that "vanilla tan" color for the molded interiors. Even with the shimmering paint, custom wheels, and classic interior-color, the cars still felt "modern." So, like a real race car, we stripped away the unnecessary trim.

To get the effect of a "Johnny" from 1969, we limited painted trim to that found on toy cars from the late 1960s: primarily headlights, taillights, bumpers, and grills. This transformed the models into modern-day versions of the classics many of us played with as children.

The black GTO shows the usual Johnny Lightning style. What's missing from the candy-blue Johnny Retro GTO?

This last step—deleting painted details that normally enhance a model—proved once again the adage that sometime less is more.