Cancer has taken on another legend of the automotive community. Ryu Asada, who has designed cars for both Hot Wheels and Matchbox, has died of colorectal cancer at the age of 42.
The announcement came through Asada’s Instagram. He battled stage IV colorectal cancer for nearly five years, underwent a variety of treatments while remaining on die-cast design teams. He died on March 23, 2021 with his longtime partner, Hazel Diaz Asada, by his side.
Born and raised in Japan, Asada later moved to the United States to pursue higher education. He graduated from the ArtCenter College of Design in 2004, after which he immediately started working at Mattel as a car designer at Matchbox. There he estimated that he had created more than 150 different diecast designs.
He switched to the Hot Wheels team as a guest designer. His first design was the Gearonimo in 2009. He joined the Hot Wheels team full-time, making an estimated 20 to 30 1:64 models per year. He took charge of the $ 1 lineup in 2012. You can find a full list of his designs here
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But some of his shining design stars were the cars from his native Japan. Asada helped spark the JDM diecast craze through his passion for his designs. People have since fallen head over heels for his Honda S2000 NSX designs, his FC Mazda RX-7 and his Lancia Delta Integrale HF.
Two of Asada’s most recent designs were part of the J-Imports mini collection, which featured several Japanese classics. He was responsible for the custom 1970 Honda N600 and 1999 Honda Civic Type-R.
Diecast collectors around the world have shared friendly messages about Asada, a man well respected by many.
Asada’s loved ones are on our minds right now. Cancer is worthless.