Speed Racer and the Mach 5

I saw this picture posted on Facebook and I had an instantaneous visceral reaction. It was the warm glow of immediate recognition and the loving embrace of childhood nostalgia.

For the uninitiated, this is Speed Racer and his car, the Mach 5. Speed Racer (aka Mach GoGoGo) was a late 1960s Japanese anime that made its way to the United States at about the same time. I, however, did not see it until at least 1973 or 1974. I remember WKBD Channel 50 in Detroit aired it. (To be quite honest, I might be wrong about it being on Channel 50. It could have also been WXON Channel 20, which also showed stuff like the old 1960s animated Spider-Man, Thor, and Incredible Hulk shows). 

Like many loves and obsessions from childhood, I can't remember the precise circumstances of how they entered my life, and this is certainly true of Speed Racer. I assume it went a little like this: I had a kindergarten/1st grade friend named Claude, who went by the nickname "Scooter." After school, I'd frequently go to his house where we'd watch TV in their semi-finished basement. The viewing was the forementioned Spider-Man, Hulk, and Thor and I am damned near positive Speed Racer was included.

I was immediately drawn to everything about the show: Speed Racer's youthful earnest enthusiasm, the spunk of his girlfriend Trixie, Chim-Chim the mischief-making chimpanzee companion, and the mysterious Racer X, Speed's long lost brother. But most of all, I loved the exciting, spine-tingling races with their spectacular fiery crashes, and most of all Speed Racer's car the Mach 5. The Mach 5's design was beautiful, and I STILL think it's beautiful. Of course, I would not have described it thus as a six or seven-year-old. Maybe I would have just said it looked "neat". Of particular noteworthiness were its downward facing headlamps and it's curvaceous--dare I say "feminine"--outline. (It's hard to believe the elementary-age me was responding to this, but who knows?). In addition to its design, the Mach 5 could do an astounding array of tricks, all from buttons arranged around the center of its steering wheel. For example, all Speed Racer had to do was press a button and enormous saw blades would appear and cut away whatever obstacles were in the Mach 5's way. Or Speed could press another button and the Mach 5 would leap over boulders, fallen tree trunks, or other race cars.

Decades later, I discovered that there as a 1:18 scale model of the Mach 5, and of course I had to fork over the $39.95 to buy it. I still have it in a place of honor alongside another favorite fictional vehicle from my childhood, the 1966 Batmobile. It was so exciting to find these precise diecast replicas, because they did not exist when I was a kid. My poor mom tried so hard to find a toy car that looked like the Mach 5, but none of them matched my exacting specifications. (I was such a little shit. Sorry, Mom!).

In conclusion, it's fascinating how just a quick view of an image from the past can instantly release a flood of warm nostalgic emotion, and this was definitely the case with the illustration of Speed Racer and the Mach 5.