How many first editions cars were there in 1998 hot wheels set?

Question

I found out that some of my 1998 first editions cars say that there is 48 cars, some say 45 and then some also say 40 in the set. How many are there really? Thanks.

Answer 1

Its 40, pluss veriations.

Here is an artical:
What's going on with Hot Wheels?

With the recent purchase of Corgi, Mattel has flooded the market with loads of "new" castings, adding to the bloat of "Collector #" cars. Unfortunately, these cars, commonly referred to as "China Cars" are not available in Canada. Fortunately, Canucks do have access to the newly expanded line of First Edition cars for 1998, along with the usual name variations. Add to that the fact that even Mattel didn't appear to know how many cars would be in the 1998 lineup, and you have a recipe for confusion.

As the first '98 First Editions started to hit the stores, it became apparent that there was going to be trouble. Cars like the '65 Impala Lowrider were appearing on 1997-style cards, bearing the label "8 of 48", while other cars on the new cut-corner 1998 cards like the Slideout were labelled "2 of 45". But even more turned up marked as "of 40", wich turns out to be the correct number. And variation fans will be pleased to hear that the mis-labelled cars are now turning up with the correct number designation.

In addition to these 40 new First Editions for 1998, there are the usual 12 4-car series.

Answer 2

i counted 45