hot wheels

The story

From Hot Wheels, an American brand of scale model cars invented and coined by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on 18 May 1968; likely from hot rod (“a passenger vehicle modified to run and/or accelerate faster”) + wheels (“an automobile or other vehicle”), as the company was made to produce fantasy hot rods, but also proposed to be from hot (“very good, remarkable, exciting; nice”) + wheels due to the uniqueness of the cars. The proper noun sense, specifically about the American politician Greg Abbott, is from his use of a wheelchair since a paralyzing accident in 1984.