Mach 5

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 does not stand for "Mach 5", but instead stands for "Mifune", both Go's last name, and the name of his father's motor company). In the 1993 American remake, the design was completely changed.
Its name probably derives from the fact that speeds above Mach 5 are known as hypersonic.

The name is also a pun in two languages: the word for "five" in Japanese is "go". However, the "go" used for the car's name is a suffix attached to the names of ships, etc.

Thus, the car is known in the Japanese version as simply the "Mach".
An actual race car that most closely resembles the Mach Five would be an early Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa , which has an eerily similar body, designed by Scaglietti around 1958 through 1961. Retrospectively, the Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray of the 70's and the McLaren M1A also have a similar shape.
The car is designed to compete in a type of "open formula" racing, where cars are usually built with the maximum power and minimum of weight.


Special features


The Mach Five's steering wheel hub.

The car has seven mechanisms triggered by buttons labeled from A to G on the steering wheel hub.The car no longer releases these jacks to boost it for any repairs and adjustments. The jacks can be activated in pairs to perform various kinds of flips, and at specific intensities to control jump height.
Control B = Bullet-proof polymer deflector (D in the original, B activated the Grip Tires in the original) When pressed, the car sprouts a bullet- and impact-proof shield that encloses the cockpit.
Control C = Tire Shields (C activated the rotary saws in the original, replaced Frogger Mode)
When pressed, the car sprouts shields from its tires to prevent tire damage from secret weapons of other racing competitors.

Speed can control the motion of the shields by remote control inside the cockpit.
Control D = Hexodyne emergency spare tires (D activated the Deflector shield in the original, replaces Evening eye)
If a tire does get heavily damaged, this button causes it to regenerate. This function applies to any of the Mach 5's four tires.
Control E = Zircon-tipped cutter blades (C in the original, E originally activated the special Evening Eye)
When pressed, the Mach Five releases two rotary saws from the front of the car that can cut through almost anything.

The cutter blades can pivot around for more dynamic combat in racing.
Control F = Tire crampon grips (B in the original, F originally activated Frogger mode in the original)
When pressed, the Mach Five sprouts special spiked grip tires for traction over any kind of terrain (firm, icy, unsteady ground, and significant slopes).
Control G = Homing robot (As in the original)
When pressed, the Mach Five releases a remote control robot bird capable of transmitting footage back to the Mach Five from wherever it is. The protagonists find it in pieces in a junkyard near the school they attend, and rebuild it.

The second episode features the rebuilt Mach Five designed as it appeared in the original anime, the only difference's is that 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.
Minor changes have occurred in the Mach Five in this series. Although the function for the Homing Robot is present, the overall design of the actual robot has changed.The new car features a transparent, holographic screen over the dashboard that the driver can use to interact live with his crew, and with other racers. http:www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-05-30-speed-racer_N.htm.