Mach Five

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Mach Five
Speed Racer franchise element
PublisherTatsunoko Production
First appearance
Created byTatsuo Yoshida
GenreScience fiction
In-universe information
OwnersSpeed Racer
FunctionDrives at high speed

The Mach Five (マッハ号, Mahha-gō) is the racing car driven by Speed Racer ("Go Mifune" in the Japanese version) in the anime series of the same name (known as "Mach Go! Go! Go!" in Japan). The car was designed, built, and created by "Pops Racer" (Daisuke Mifune), Speed Racer's father. It features a set of special devices which Speed Racer uses throughout the series. In the original 1967 series, the Mach Five is a white racing car with an "M" written on its hood (which stands for "Mifune", both the character's last name, and the name of his father's motor company). In the 1993 American remake, the design was completely changed.

The car is designed to compete in a type of open-rules Formula Libre, where cars are usually built with the maximum power and minimum of weight.

Portrayal in film[edit]

Mach 5 from the live action motion picture at the 2007 Comic-Con International

The Mach Five appears in the live-action film adaptation Speed Racer, directed by the Wachowski siblings, produced by Joel Silver, and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. The Mach Five is an actual vehicle and used in the major race of the film. Instead of being driven on the road, it was hung from a crane and had its effects computer-generated.[1]

Along with the Mach Five, the movie features the "Mach 4" and the "Mach 6", two different single-seater cars created specifically for stunt races. The designs of the Mach 4 and Mach 6 are vaguely reminiscent of the Mach Five's (as in the original American comics), although the only functions the Mach 6 features are the jump jacks, which are standard equipment in race cars in the movie.[2] Little about the Mach 4 is known, as it appears only briefly in the film and is portrayed as a red-colored companion to the 6.

The film portrays the Mach Five as initially a street legal family vehicle, allowing for it to feature a rear compartment that Spritle and Chim-Chim later use to stow away in the vehicle. The Mach Five is later modified with gadgets and becomes Speed's alternate car for off-track races such as the Casa Cristo 5000, as well as everyday driving like a normal car. The Mach Five originally belonged to Speed's older brother Racer X. Rex, who relinquished ownership of it to Speed before he left the Racer home. Speed's main car for races on the WRL track (Thunderhead, etc.) is the Mach 6. The Mach 6 was destroyed in a fixed race, but was later rebuilt for the film's final race.

In the animated 2008 series, which takes place about 40 years after the events in the original anime, the Mach Five appears only in the second episode. The protagonists find it in pieces in a junkyard near their school, and rebuild it. The second episode features the rebuilt Mach Five designed as it appeared in the original anime, though it is animated in CGI like all of the cars in the show, and the wheel rims are black while in the original show they were a silver white color.

The "real" Mach Five[edit]

In 2000, a prototype Mach Five with actual cutting blades was produced as a concept car. 100 production models were planned to be made in 2002 as a street legal vehicle. Built on a 2001 Chevrolet Corvette Chassis, the body was to be extensively modified to look like the Mach Five. It was to have 345 horsepower, and cost between $75,000 and $125,000 each.[3]

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California has a mid-engine prototype of the Mach Five in its collection.[4]

Mach Five in popular culture[edit]

  • A Speed Racer-themed catamaran, named after the franchise, was built in 2005, designed to resemble the Mach 5.[5]
  • Road & Track magazine released an article about a "real" Mach 5 prototype car on 31 March 2008 (the day before April 1st), about a "genuine running model" made for the 2008 film. The article included performance data and feature descriptions for the car that was "in a league by itself".[6]
  • In the online typing game, Nitro Type, it is available as an achievement car for completing 30,000 races and is renamed the "Wach 6". It was created as a commemoration to the player CarriePirc for being the first person to reach 30,000 races on one singular account.[7]
  • The Mach Five is featured in the 2018 movie Ready Player One during a car racing scene.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Scott Bowles (2007-05-31). "First look: 'Speed Racer's' demon on wheels". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  2. ^ IMDb Video: Speed Racer
  3. ^ "Buy a Mach 5". March 2024.
  4. ^ "Petersen Mach 5". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16.
  5. ^ Trulio, Matt (1 February 2023). "MTI At 25—Looking Back At Speed Racer". SpeedOnTheWater.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  6. ^ Sam Mitani (31 March 2008). "Racer Motors Mach 5". Road & Track. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Nitro Type News | Stone the Crows! CarriePirc Does It Again!". Nitrotype.com. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  8. ^ IGN (2017-12-10), Ready Player One Trailer #2 (2018), archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-02-19

External links[edit]