The Great Plan

Part 1

The very first episode of Speed Racer starts with Speed telling us about the Mach Five and that Pops, an automotive genius, built it. (We also see that there are 2101 km on the odometer as Speed goes between 160 and 180 kph.) Speed is in a race weaving through the traffic on the circuit. After winning, Speed is asked to join the team sponsored by Pops' employer but says he can't since Pops doesn't want him to become a professional driver.

At a company board meeting, Pops is presenting plans he worked on for a year for the improved Mach Five. As he, dressed like a true engineer in work pants and casual shirt, presents his plans to the suit and tie crowd in the board room, Mr. van Ruffle says Pops' plans are impossible and that he doesn't even want to hear them. Because a unanimous decision is required, the chairman (CEO, I guess) says he can't allow Pops to proceed with his work. In a typical moment of anger, Pops quits and vows to rebuild the Mach Five himself. [Hmm, notice any parallel here between Pops' leaving the company and Rex leaving home?]

As Speed and Pops are driving home in the Mach Five, four motorcyclists are awaiting them. As they chase the Mach Five, they get close enough to steal Pop's brief case with the plans for the new Mach Five. Speed leaps from the Mach Five to one motorcycle, then to another and then still another as the drivers toss the briefcase between them while driving. Speed jumps off one just before it crashes. By then, Pops has followed the others into a mountain tunnel. He says something to the effect of being a former champion of the West Side Grunters and Groaners and that there's going to be a lot of groaning going on now.

Outside of the tunnel, Speed sees Trixie in her helicopter. He radios her and explains the problem, and she flies off to track down the biker with the plans. Cute little Trixie isn't a girl to mess with though. She gets a good laugh out of running the biker off the road.

Back in the tunnel, Pops is doing well fighting the other 3 guys until one knocks him out with a wrench. Just then Speed arrives. It turns out he is an expert martial artist and has no trouble taking care of the 3 bad guys. Pops and Speed can then go pick up the plans from where Trixie ran the guy off the road.

At their very nice home, Mom doesn't seem the least bit concerned that Pops quit his job. As a matter of fact, she decides it's a good opportunity for Pops to remodel the kitchen, plant some shrubs, and so on. Pops is more concerned with how to get money to work on the new Mach Five.

Elsewhere, Mr. van Ruffle is bawling out his four motorcyclists for being so incompetent; they are all wearing bandages and slings. Just then, someone else, Ace Deucey walks in. For $5,000, he offers to get the plans for Mr. van Ruffle.

Speed, however, has been worrying about how Pops will get the money to work on his new Mach Five. He decides to give up his goal of being a pro racer and will sell the Mach Five and give the money to Pops. After telling Sparky this, Sparky suggests instead that Speed should enter the Sword Mountain Race which has a winner's prize of $5,000. After convincing Speed, Sparky sets to work modifying the Mach Five with high traction tires so that it can race in mountainous terrain.

Back at the Racers' garage, Ace Deucey uses a gun to threaten Pops to give up the plans. When Speed comes home, that scares away Ace Deucey for some reason. Pops realizes he better do something clever to keep the plans hidden. He takes the Mach Five's windshield and etches the plans onto it using invisible ink.

After Sparky finishes modifying the Mach Five, Speed takes it to the track for a road test. During it, Duggery, in his red car numbered 2, purposely hits Speed's car putting it into a spin and causing Speed to crash and lose consciousness. Apparently he just did it out of maliciousness.

Later, Sparky can't find the Mach Five's windshield. Spritle, proud of himself for doing a good deed, unwittingly gives Sparky the windshield with the secret plans on it. Being a good boy, Spritle calls Pops and tells him; Pops is not happy. As Pops talks to himself worrying about the possibility of the windshield being damaged or stolen, it turns out that Ace Deucey has been standing behind Pops listening. He knocks out Pops and leaves. When Pops regains consciousness he calls the track to have the race canceled but is too late. As he is explaining what happened, the flag to begin the race drops.

Speed and Duggery are the first to hop in their cars and pull onto the raceway. Duggery purposely causes many crashes, and soon Speed sees him coming up on him. Meanwhile, Ace Deucey in car 13 and five of his men in black cars all numbered zero, enter the circuit. To get other cars out of the way, their hubs have spikes which they use to flatten tires of the cars. Spritle and Chim Chim, who have stowed away in the Mach Five's trunk, peek out and realize they're in trouble with so many bad guys on the way. Even Duggery gets worried. As Deucey's guys catch up to Speed, they threaten that he won't finish the race unless he gives them the windshield.

Part 2 begins with Speed giving us some more info on the Mach Five. He explains the function of each button on the steering wheel.

Elsewhere, Trixie flies overhead in a small airplane and warns Speed that the plans are etched on his windshield. Speed, though, has already figured this out since the bad guys are so intent on getting it. As the race progresses, Speed need to pass Duggery, but just then Ace Deucey's gang shows up and block the road ahead. Duggery tells Speed about a path to the left where they can avoid Deucey. Speed uses the Mach Five's rotary saws to cut through the underbrush. Duggery follows with Deucey's gang in close pursuit.

Trixie sees what's going on and drops what look like grenades. Deucey's gang stops and hits the dirt thinking grenades are about to explode. But resourceful Trixie has simply dropped harmless smoke bombs. This irritates Ace Deucey who grabs a rifle and shoots down Trixie's plane. Our heroine parachutes safely but is then captured by Deucey and company.

Meanwhile, Duggery has unknowingly begun heading for a volcano. Speed realizes this and follows to warn him. As Speed gets to the mouth of the volcano, he sees Duggery's empty car and realizes he must have fallen in. A small quake topples Speed, and he falls in barely catching himself on the wall. He spots Duggery who is in an even more precarious spot than Speed. Speed helps Duggery and the each get out just in time...only to see that Ace Deucey and his boys are there with their hostage, Trixie.

From their favorite hiding place in the Mach Five's trunk, Spritle and Chim Chim see the difficult spot Speed and Trixie are in. They distract the bad guys by throwing and slingshotting rocks at them. Finally, they beat the bad guys, but Decey gets away in the Mach Five. Speed takes one of the car #0s and pursues him. The car is slower than the Mach Five, but Deucey keeps hitting the wrong buttons in the Mach Five, like the auto jacks, which slows him down. Speed catches up and leaps in. He and Deucey fight. Eventually they stop the car and get out at a cliff edge. Speed throws his helmet at the windshield breaking it, so that no one can get the plans. When Deucey is distracted by that, Speed kicks his gun away. During the fight, Deucey falls off the cliff (but is ok).

Like a good racer, Speed continues racing. At the finish line, Pops is happy Speed is ok then is mad when he sees the smashed windshield. Speed crosses the finish line first, but Pops is still mad because Speed raced going against Pops' advice. And as it turns out, the race is canceled because of the bad tactics used by Ace Deucey which was unfair to the racers.

[During one of the race scenes, I spotted a yellow car, #9, that looks amazingly like Racer X's. I wonder if that was on purpose...]