The Engineering Superhero Who Inspired Generations: Speed Racer

The engineering genius of the Mach 5 race car made Speed Racer a driving superhero.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

April 30, 2020

7 Slides
Speed Racer, behind the wheel of the Mach 5.
Speed Racer, behind the wheel of the Mach 5.Image source: Tatsunoko Productions/Funimation via YouTube

Speed Racer and the Mach 5 have so powerfully captured viewers’ imaginations that the original 1960s show has spawned sequels, such as the critically panned 2008 live action film and a 2009 Nickelodeon animated series, Speed Racer: The Next Generation. (Another Star Trek parallel.)

  • A: Auto-Jacks. These are built in jacks for lifting the car during pit stops, just like the air jacks we see in today’s endurance racing sports cars such as those at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A key difference is that Speed can deploy the Mach 5’s jacks while driving, to launch the car over obstacles.

  • B: Belt tires. These are deployable tracks that let the Mach 5 gain traction on any surface. Significantly, the Mach 5 sends power to all four wheels, just like modern supercars such as the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.

  • C: Cutter Blade. Button “C” deploys giant spinning blades from the front of the car. As a kid, I thought Speed was negligently slow in applying this solution to more of the bad guys’ cars. A lot of problems could have been nipped in the bud with some timely Cutter Blade action.

  • D: Defensor/Deflector. This is a clear bubble that encloses the Mach 5’s open cockpit to provide occupant protection bullets, water and that evil-doer go-to, sleeping gas.

  • E: Evening Eye. This is a night vision system like today infrared systems seen on numerous high-end cars. Rather than a head-up display projected on the inside of the windshield, as modern cars use, the Mach 5’s evening eye works with special goggles attached to his helmet, like military pilots use.

  • F: Frogger Mode. This lets the Mach 5 operate under water. The car carries its own oxygen supply that is sufficient for 30 minutes submerged. The car’s periscope relays the image from the surface to a video display in the cockpit, much like today’s back-up cameras and around-view parking camera systems do.

  • G: Gizmo. This is the name applied to the Mach 5’s deployable drone, which is operated remotely by controls built into the car’s dashboard. The drone, which is disguised to look like a bird, is employed primarily to carry images, voice messages and other information to other people.

Part of the reason for the show's enduring appeal is that the zoomy Mach 5 still looks contemporary after half a century, mused Speed Racer English voice actor, the late Peter Fernandez in a 2001 interview. “The Mach five looks so modern, it will be a long time before our cars look like the Mach five,” he observed. 

If growing up watching Speed win races and defeat bad guys using his driving talent and his father’s engineering skill doesn’t motivate you to grow up to be a racer or an engineer, I don’t know what will!

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Dan Carney is a Design News senior editor, covering automotive technology, engineering and design, especially emerging electric vehicle and autonomous technologies.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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