The Supersonic Car


Race

No race in this adventure.

Characters

Good Guys Bad Guys
Speed Mr. Dante Ferno
Pops Mr. Tycootus
Sparky Mr. Blagget
Trixie
Spritle
Chim Chim
President of Vavoom Motors
Inspector Detector

Cars

Mach Five

Organizations

Vavoom Motor Company
Forthebird Motor Company


At the Saline Flats, testing ground for the world's fastest land vehicles, a new supersonic rocket car, designed by Pops Racer for the Vavoom Motor Company, is expected to smash all known speed records. While many unmanned tests have been conducted, Speed Racer has been chosen as the driver for the manned test. Excitement and tension build as the countdown progresses towards zero. As the car accelerates, Sparky reads of the speed: mach 0.3 ... 0.4 ... 0.5 ... At mach 1, the car cracks, spins out of control, and crashes and burns.

In the main office building of Vavoom Motor Co., a meeting is in progress assessing the performnce. Mr. Dante Ferno wants to blame either Pops' design or Speed's driving. An investigation, though, has shown that someone broke a screw, which led to the accident. The two engineers who discovered it are on their way to the meeting and talking about their find in the backseat of a car. The driver, Mr. Blagget, overhears and pulls a gun on them and ``escorts'' them to the meeting room. With the gun still to the guy's side, the engineer has no choice but to say that the cause of the accident was due to a bad design or to bad driving. Ferno is unpleasantly surprised when the president of Vavoom decides to build a new car but will use a new driver.

There's a long line of applicants to be the test driver for the next supersonic car. That surprises Blagget and his boss, Mr. Tycootus, who figured people would be too scared to want to drive it. Trixie, Spritle and Chim-Chim want Speed to apply. Inside, applicants are individually grilled on racing trivia. ``Who holds the speed record?'' ``In 1964, Dream #3, an American car, went 500.5 mph.''

Applicant #555 is called in. He sits and surprises the screening committee; it's Speed! The president says to put Speed through the same tests as everyone else. It looks more like astronautical training. They get spun in a centrifuge, have to do physical fitness routines, and drive a simulator. In the end, the top driver is...Speed Racer. Ferno objects and, privately, calls Mr. Tycootus. Tycootus says it's no problem. He's got plans for Speed and Pops.

On the way home, Speed and Pops have stopped. The Mach Five is on the shoulder by a cemetary in the country. While they're lounging on the hood of the car talking about Speed's reappointement as test driver of the supersonic car, a hearse drives by. But of course, this is no normal hearse. Five guys dressed in red hop out, armed with machine guns. They surround the Racer father and son and prepare to do them in. For a time, Speed and Pops manage to avoid bullets by hiding behind one gravestone after another. But just as they run out of hope, sirens are heard in the distance. With police on the way, the baddies jump in their hearse and make a quick exit.

Now, Supersonic Car #2 is built. With Speed inside, outside a mechanic laughs one of those evil laughs bad guys are so good at. The countdown starts. Again, as the car accelerates, problems begin. At mach 0.8, cracks form. From the instrumentation, Pops and Sparky can see that something is wrong. Pops tells Speed to stop. He does, but not in time to keep the car from splitting and crashing and burning again. Though Speed is safe, he wonders if he or someone else is at fault. The president of Vavoom is there and says since he's a qualified engineer, he'll undertake the investigation himself. This worries Blagget and Ferno. When the president finds a bad part, he demands to know of Pops who made it. Pops says it was made by Mr. Twert of Forthebird Motor Company. Twert runs but Speed is faster. With a small amount of roughing up, Speed convinces him to talk, but it's no good. From a distance, Blagget shoots Twert.

Trixie drives up in the Mach Five. Speed gets behind the wheel and chases Blagget. [Blagget's driver seat is on the British side of the car.] Blagget radios a chopper, which comes and drops bombs that narrowly miss the Mach Five. When Speed catches up with Blagget, the chopper lands and the five guys in red get out. Saying they always give someone a chance (guess they forgot about the graveyard incident already), the leader gives Speed a rifle. The didn't count on Speed being so handy with a gun. He fires so quickly that they all run away behind some boulders. Blagget, meanwhile, jumps in the chopper to take. Speed gets in the Mach Five and uses the auto jacks to jump into the blades of the chopper, breaking them off. Speed runs to Blagget and demands to know who's behind it all. He just laughs.

At Vavoom Motor Co., the president tells Speed and Pops that everyone was so demoralized by the supersonic car crashes, that they all quit. Speed tells him, though, that the cars were sabotaged and the employees shouldn't feel that way. The president vows to build one more supersonic car. He, Pops, Speed, Sparky, Trixie, and even Spritle and Chim-Chim work like mad to build Supersonic Car #3.

When Tycootus is told that Blagget has been caught, he tells Ferno not to worry; that Blagget has been paid well to keep quiet. Then Dante Ferno tells Tycootus that he has a plan to destroy the third supersonic car.

In the spectator stands -- which are amazingly crowded considering this is just a test course in the middle of nowhere! -- Ferno tells Tycootus that there is a time bomb at the finish line. Ferno didn't count on Spritle and Chim Chim overhearing their conversation. It's 1pm now and Ferno tells Tycootus that the bomb will go off in 30 s. Spritle and Chim Chim run into the supersonic car to tell Speed what they heard. They do, but it's too late for them to get out, and the car's rockets ignite! Knowing there's a bomb waiting, Speed puts the pedal to metal and rips down the track at mach 1.6. The car goes so fast that it passes the finish line seconds before the bomb goes off. Inspector Detector is even there and arrests Tycootus of Forthebird Motor Company, as Speed thanks Spritle. Trixie comes up and says that Tycootus and Ferno confessed to their crimes. And the president of Vavoom Motor Company thanks Speed for saving the company.