Speed Racer Returns: Real Live Mach 5

Motoring Channel Staff - 1/June/2007

Berlin, Germany — Fans of the late 1960s Japanese cartoon Mach Go Go Go - known in English-speaking countries as Speed Racer, will probably already be well informed that the makers of the Matrix trilogy and V for Vendetta action films, the Wachowski Brothers, have just started filming the live action version of the cartoon in Germany.

The new Speed Racer film is due in cinemas in mid 2008, but the news we're more interested about is the iconic car that's going to be the film's major attraction for a lot of people, called the Mach 5. 

Warner Bros. has released the first image of the new car, which sits on large wheels with Yokohama tyres and features a triple pointed front cowl.

In the cartoon the Mach 5 race car was owned by a racing family and its monkey, Chim Chim, and the car was special in number of ways - a real gadget car.

The Mach 5 had a special keypad that could activate a number of interesting features, such as an instant hit of 5,000 horsepower to all four wheels, a submarine mode, and even extendable rotary saws to cut down trees (it was 1967...). Whether these key features will make it into the film is still unknown, but computer graphics will play a large role in the film so it's likely many of the zany features from the cartoon will appear in the film.

Emile Hirsch is the actor who will be playing Speed Racer and told USA Today, "My first thought was, 'Yeah, they got the car right. That's one of the best things about the show, so it was always going to be one of the most important parts of the movie."

The storyline revolves around Speed Racer attempting to make a name for himself on the race track, and will be aimed at a younger audience. The Speed Racer film also stars Matthew Fox as Racer X and Christina Ricci as Trixie, plus John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer and Pops Racer. Chim Chim will also be in the movie, and will be played by a chimpanzee.