Gold Flame Diecast
In the roughly 600 square feet that comprise Gold Flame Diecast in Wilmore, more than 5,000 model cars line product racks, fill bins and glint inside a glass display case.
For kids, the breathtaking variety of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Johnny Lightning and other brands pales only in comparison with the bargain bin, in which unboxed cars, priced at $1 each, are piled to the depth of a 6-year-old’s elbow. An experience of similar glee—at a different price point—awaits collectors, who come to find rare and valuable models, like the ’55 Chevy Bel Air Candy Striper, priced at $1,600.
“It’s been a huge hit,” says 28-year-old owner Dalton Cox, a Blue Grass Energy consumer-member who previously worked as a NASCAR technician and as a firefighter. He now lives in Nicholasville with his wife, Emma, and their 1-year-old twin daughters, Lucy and Ruby.
Cox started the business in August 2023 as a side hustle while he worked with the Nicholasville Fire Department. Friends and family were skeptical. “They thought, ‘This guy has lost his mind,’” Cox recalls. But after more than a year in business, Gold Flame Diecast draws an estimated 150 shoppers per week—some driving long distances to experience the store.
“It’s just been crazy, the out-of-town traffic that it’s brought in from out of state,” he says. “Hot Wheels really brings people together.”
Cox enjoys special events, like the Main Street Motor Show he organized in June, and Wilmore Old-Fashioned Musical Christmas, coming up on December 7, when local businesses serve cookies and offer extended shopping hours.
Located at 311 E. Main St. in Wilmore, Gold Flame Diecast is open Monday– Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
