Speed Racer Mach 5 for sale, and the Deathrace truck found!

Jason holds the title of StarCar Detective extraordinaire, and often finds starcars others would miss.

First he found a black Buick just like the one in American Graffiti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then he spotted this perfect truck that if some letters were added on the side, would be the Sandford and Son Truck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason also found a Shelby Mustang that was interested in being the NEW KITT and once that red light is installed he can join the line up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got contacted by the owners of the Deathrace truck (no it wasn’t smashed, that was CGI! CGI IS GREAT it saves star cars from crashing!)
And it’s in Canada now. They are filming a sequel for Deathrace in Africa so many of the original cars were bought back by the studios to make a second film. Gary, one of the welders that worked on the trucks sent me this info: ”

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“well we actually built 2 of them one hard and one soft being thinner metal  1\8 as opposed1/4 in steel there was only one tanker and it was destroyed along with the soft truck they were built in calgary and shipped to montreal it took six weeks to build with abuot 15-20 poeple working on it there were only a few of us welders working on it because we let the props guys and painters weld on it so it looked worse believe it or not . the tanker was an aluminum tanker we were sent that still had fuel in it we put dry ice in it before cutting it open with skill saws!”  Thanks for the inside info, Gary!

In the past Jason has often “discovered” old friends of mine, but this time his constant looking on ebay turned up a great find! A street legal Mach 5 just a few miles away, and we both went down to check it out.

For the Speed Racer fans, there are very few options out there. The owners of the cartoon had one builder make a few that I think are the best at reproducing the cartoon, inside and out. In an effort to not get sued, a second builder made these molds, and changed a lot of the details to make his Mach 5 tribute different enough that he was not infringing on the rights of the original design.
Below is a shot of the official Speed Racer Mach 5.

As far as I know parked behind it is the only Racer X car in the world. But there are several of these Mach 5’s built under license. I like these the best, and was hoping it was one of them that had surfaced.

The movie Version

Here is the only Mach 5 from the movie. The Mach 6 was all CGI and the actor was just driving a “green screen gimble” so the Mach 6 car never existed! Stupid CGI!!
The movie version changed the look from the cartoon car as well. Mostly the rear fins. I have heard that this car doesn’t even have a motor in it, it is a “pusher”.
The Petersen Museum ended up with the very first Mach 5 built in the 90’s for a tour to promote safety for kids and even though it has the doors painted on, it’s the best replica from a looks point of view of the cartoon. It was made under license as well by the same builder who did some great work on my batmobile.

All of the drivable replicas are built on old Corvettes.

The owner of the car lot that was selling the Mach 5 discovered the instant notoriety of driving a starcar and I think he has “the disease”. He was looking to buy a 1966 Imperial (green hornet) and I think he is hooked! Hey, if he can’t sell it, I suppose he can convince the owner to come out and play!

I had a choice of ending with a shot of Jason or his girlfriend in the car. Sorry Jason, she looks better behind the wheel (you better agree)! So get it for her!
🙂

Jason, you can get this one for yourself…it’s a lot cheaper…